BRIDGE with Bob Jones

Charles Goren required six points to respond to partner’s opening bid, but many modern players will respond with only five, even four if it’s an ace. Modern computer studies have shown that the 4-3-2-1 point count slightly overvalues queens and jacks while under-valuing aces and tens. Kings are valued correctly. The South hand, with the worst possible distribution along with two queens and one jack, doesn’t get up to five points on our abacus.

On a good day, declarer will escape for down one in two diamonds, but EastWest were Clay Hall and Mark Jones (no relation), en route to victory in the recent national Imp Pairs held in Philadelphia. The defense was perfect.

Hall shifted to the queen of clubs at trick two and the defense took three rounds of clubs before East shifted to a spade. Declarer won in dummy with the ace, cashed the ace of diamonds, and led another diamond. East rose with his king, returned a heart to West’s king, and ruffed the spade continuation. A fourth round of clubs promoted West’s diamond jack into a winner and the result was down three for 800 points to East-West.

This event was scored at imps, not match points, and this proved to be a huge result when scored across the field. The 11 imps that Hall and Jones picked up on this part-score deal was almost the equivalent of a slam swing.