Ishmael Del'Monte - Part 1

Article series — Ishmael Del'Monte

Ish was a giant of Bridge, one of the very best players the bridge world has seen.

This is a look at the last US national Ish would ever win, the Soloway 2022 Knockout Teams. Going through some of these hands gives a glimpse into his style. He was dynamic and hard to figure out, he would consistently find ways to get to good contracts, or pressure the opponents into bad ones. He was a nightmare opponent - In the final of this event (will be covered in future articles) Thomas Bessis said posthumously - that he was uneasy knowing that Ish was at the other table as his opposition.

Quarter final, 2022 Soloway Knockout Teams, Phoenix. Cope (Simon Cope, Kevin Rosenberg, Finn Kolesnik, Ishmael Del'Monte) against Cayne (Bob Drijver, Bart Nab, Danny Molenaar, Tim Verbeek; Patricia Cayne npc). Cope won 167-130.

Features of when to do more

1. Competitive auctions where the opponents have the majority of the points
2. Early on in the auction, before both opponents have bid, or at least before 1 of them has bid. Opening the bidding was a time, especially NV, where Ish liked to bid more.
3. Not vulnerable
4. When fits or big fits were possible, Ish would see more upside in bidding.

Features of when to do less

1. He has the majority of points - he did not like overbidding and going down.
2. Competing with not many points vulnerable - the time to be sensible.
3. When he thought his hand was more suitable for defending and therefore would get a better score from defending rather than declaring

Ish was keen to open the bidding NV, especially when the opponents were vulnerable (referred to as favourable vulnerability). Here with 12 points opposite an "opening hand" Ish did not want to get too high, so he started off with a non forcing 1NT. He did not want to game force opposite partner's 10 or 11 point opening hand, and get a minus score with a combined 22-23 points.

There is a nice bid available I've talked about before (The unusual 2♠ bid · practice it: Better Rebid Fundamentals (2)).

Ish bid 2♠ - this is a somewhat common idea - since he has denied Spades already, his 2♠ is artificial - it shows a maximum raise in clubs - stronger than just bidding 3♣ which can be done on a lesser hand.

Going positive again

With the big club fit its easy to get carried away. Ish saw a bad hand here. Once he showed a cue raise with his 2♠ bid, he was very happy to not go higher than 3♣. Don't get carried away with 11 points opposite an opening hand

Going positive - slow to slam

Don't overbid slam on boring flat hands

On this bidding Ish knew his partner had 18-19 points and 4 hearts - should he bid on?

Ish took the view that he has already invited slam, and he is giving his partner leeway to decide whether his hand is good or bad. Putting his faith in fundamental bidding ideas - if you can show your hand, do it, and then leave the decision to partner.

Generally when you have two balanced hands, you really want around 33 points for slam. It's only when you have those big 5 or 6 card side suits that you can have good chances of making 12 tricks with less points.

The result was 11 tricks, opposite partner's minimum and bad hand, perfectly judged.

Nil vul competition

Ish bid 3♣ here, not deterred by the bad balanced hand, why?

1. Bidding early on in the auction, before east has had a chance, is worth more than bidding later - Bid your hand as soon as possible!
2. It may well be the opponent's hand, the opponents probably have the majority of the points, it may be time to get in the way
3. Not vulnerable
4. The possibility of a big club fit, partner opened 1♣ and sometimes has clubs - uncovering big fits in competition can be like hitting the jackpot.

The result was a dazing auction, where the opponents had no idea whose hand it even was. Ish's side quickly got to 5♣ undoubled, whereas at the other table East West played and made 4♠.

At the other table, north passed with Ish's hand instead of bidding the explosive 3♣.

Opening 1NT

Classic 1NT opening

Ishmael routinely opened this 1NT, why? The opening bid of 1NT communicates a lot about your hand in a single bid, the point range, the approximate nature - there are hands that qualify for it, and others that don't. Learning to judge that is a great skill that will lead to winning decisions.

What happened at both tables

9 IMPs to Ish's team.

More coming soon.

Read next: Favourable Vulnerability: When to Bid Aggressively · Hand Evaluation in Suits: Do More with a Good Suit · Do Less with a Weak Trump Suit · Should You Invite with 11? Practical Guide

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