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Youth Pairs - Session 1 - 5th July, 2008
Here are the Hand Analyses from the afternoon session, with links to related articles and Bridgeopedia archives from previous Wednesday Games. For example, on Board 2, Declarer's line of play is influenced by recalling the auction and placing the enemy cards accordingly. Next to the text for that board you will see a link >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Remembering the Auction”>> which links to hands with a similar theme.
Those who would like to test their bidding skills can follow the link to the Bidding Quiz, which contains 20 bidding problems from this afternoon's hands.
What’s the minimum needed to open the bidding with one of a suit? Grandpa needed 13 high-card points (HCP’s), Mom and Dad made do with 12, but the modern style is to open with exciting elevens and even with terrific tens.
Are you familiar with the Rule of Twenty? It’s a useful guideline for evaluating borderline hands. Add your HCP’s to the length of your two longest suits, if the answer is 20 or more then the hand is (usually) worth an opening bid. Here, North has 11 HCP’s, 5 Spades, and 4 Hearts, that’s 11+5+4 “Rule of Twenty” points, so worth an opening bid. The basic concept is simple enough, the more distribution you have the fewer HCP’s you need. So, with a 5-5 hand, you’ll need just 10 HCP’s to qualify using the Rule of Twenty. Conversely, if you have an ugly 4-3-3-3 distribution with 12 HCP’s you can pass and make Grandpa proud.
Next, look at the hands from the E-W point of view. The opponents have bid and raised Spades, and yet E-W have the balance of the points. If E-W are to avoid a bad board they must get into the auction. Whose job is that? That East fellow who has 13 HCP’s, or West who has just 10? In these cases, it’s usually the player with shortness in the enemy suit who must make the extra effort to compete, and so it is here. East has a nice hand but nothing to say over 1♠ … no suit worth bidding and not strong enough to overcall 1NT. West has only 10 HCP’s and the opponents are already up to 2♠, but even so he is the one who must venture into the auction. A Takeout Double is required. Yes, it’s sub-minimum point-wise, but that perfect shape dictates action. If West feebly passes, East’s only sensible choice is to pass also.
Now you are in the East seat. Partner doubled 2♠ for take-out, and you decided not to take a shot at 3NT, instead passing and trying for a juicy penalty. It’ll be less juicy if you find the wrong lead, what would be your choice? Not a Spade, that will surely blow a trick. Leading an Ace without the King to back it up is not usually a good idea, and this deal illustrates that point. The A♥ opening lead will save Declarer a guess in the Heart suit, and the A♦ lead will allow Declarer’s King to score an undeserved trick. By a process of elimination, the lead that stands out is a Club, and that sets the contract two or three, depending on Declarer’s Heart-guessing skills. Even if Declarer guesses the Heart right, +300 for E-W will probably be a good board, we don’t suppose that many E-W pairs will score +400 by making 3NT with their paltry combined 23 HCP’s.
An interesting first hand! Advice has been offered on the subjects of opening bids, competitive strategy, and choice of opening lead. Here’s one more piece of advice, and it’s for those Norths who opened 1♠ on 11 HCP’s and then went for -300 or -500 … don’t tell Grandpa!
Assuming the hand is suitably weak, we open Weak Twos with 6-card suits, preempt at the 3-level with 7 cards, and at the 4-level with 8. The exception is in Clubs where there is no Weak Two available, a 2♣ opening being reserved really strong hands. No problem, East’s suit is good enough for a 3♣ bid, all the more at this favorable vulnerability, a situation where it pays to jump into the fray and harass the bad guys.
When 3♣ gets passed around to North, she can take one of these two actions: Either, Double for takeout Or, bid 4♣ for the majors. The advantage of doubling is that it will allow N-S to play at the 3-level if that is where they belong. Bidding 4♣ gives the partnership the better chance to play in the right suit, but at the risk of getting too high. We could go either way on this one, but the important thing is to offer South a choice of suits, it would be a clear mistake to bid 3♥ or 3♠ here.
Playing in 4♠, there are the black Aces to be lost. Will Declarer also lose a second Spade trick? All things being equal, the percentage play, after the Q♠ loses to the Ace, is to play for the drop of the J♠. But all things are not equal here. East has length in Clubs and West has Club shortness. Therefore, there’s considerably more space available for the J♠ to be in the West hand. So, remembering the auction (always a good idea!), Declarer will finesse West out of his J♠ and score these tricks: 4 Spades in the North hand Heart ruff in South’s hand A♥, 4 Diamonds and the K♣ That’s 11 tricks for a good board. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Remembering the Auction”>>
E-W stumble into 5♣ in unconvincing fashion, but it turns out to be a good contract. How do you propose to make 11 tricks? Assume the defense cashes a Heart at Trick 1 and shifts to a trump.
Without that trump shift at Trick Two, you could have had some fun, merrily cross-ruffing your way to 11 tricks, scoring 6 trump tricks in your hand, 4 Diamond ruffs on the board, plus the A♠. But the trump shift deprived you of a ruff on the board, so the cross-ruff will no longer provide enough tricks.
No matter, that wasn’t the best line of play anyway! Better for Declarer to play on Spades and give himself a chance of making 12 tricks. So, win the trump shift on the board and take an immediate Spade finesse. That loses, but now Declarer gets home by pitching Diamond losers on the Spades. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Cross Ruffing”>>
Just as on Board 1, North has 11 HCP’s and a 5-card major. On Board 1 we advocated a 1♠ opening (although that didn’t work out very well!), but this hand is by no means an opening bid. First of all, it does not pass the Rule of Twenty, coming to only 19 via 11+5+3. And, looking beyond the arithmetic of points, the hand has some serious defects, such as the rotten Hearts, lack of fillers, and those two dangling minor suit Queens. As 11-counts go, this one is poor indeed.
After North passes, it’s East’s turn to evaluate an 11-count. This one does pass the Rule of Twenty and has some plus features, such as the singleton and the trump fillers. A clear 1♦ opening. And, after West responds 1♠, East should not be afraid to raise on 3-card support. With a Heart ruff or two in the Dummy 2♠ is likely to play well even if it does turn out to be a 4-3 fit.
As North, on lead against 2♠, what would be your choice? Leading away from a King against a suit contract is an aggressive attempt to establish tricks for the defense, but it also runs the risk of blowing a trick. And, the longer the suit, the more the risks outweigh the rewards. So, we won’t be leading a Heart here. Nor will we start out with a Diamond, a doubleton Queen lead is not particularly attractive, all the more so as the suit was bid by Dummy. There’s something to be said for leading a low trump (not the Ace), but our own choice would be a low Club.
Over to West, declaring 2♠ with the opening lead of a low Club. It looks as if Declarer has only 5 losers (2 trumps, a Diamond and 2 Clubs), but it’s not obvious where he might find 8 winners. The defense won’t let him ruff 3 Hearts on the board, and there are not the entries to set up the Diamonds. It’s a difficult hand to play, here’s one obscure but successful line for 8 tricks: Duck the opening Club lead (hoping in vain for a shift) Win Club continuation with Ace Exit a Club Win Heart shift with the Ace Run 9♦ around to South’s Ace Ruff the Heart continuation Cash the K♦, pitching a Heart J♦, ruff with 8, overruffed with A Heart ruffed on the board K♠ is cashed Diamond is ruffed high Heart lost to South’s Queen Declarer’s trump wins last trick Phew! 8 tricks, but it took some good guessing and delicate timing. Going down one is more likely in real life, we would say.
Back to the bidding. With a combined 23 HCP’s, it may seem rather timid for N-S never to make a peep in the auction, but actually they were well out of it. If North overcalls 2♥ (after passing originally), then South will surely compete to 3♥. That is a contract that is destined for down two or three and a bad matchpoint score.
As if to demonstrate further that all 11-counts should not be opened, the computer has dealt North another real stinker. This one is a clear Pass … dull shape, doesn’t pass the Rule of Twenty, and extremely quacky. Not even close to an opening bid. To reinforce the fact that there’s more to hand evaluation than counting HCP’s, compare North’s 11-pointers on Boards 1, 4 and 5.
What does West’s 1♠ bid tell us? Supposedly 5+ HCP’s, but also with no upper limit, so that makes the bid forcing, of course, at least for one round. How many Spades? Yes, the answer to that question is “at least five”, if West had only 4 Spades he would have made a Negative Double.
North’s 2♣ was a support-showing cue-bid, saying “I have at least 3 Hearts and some values”. As North is already a passed hand, those values can be no better than game-invitational.
After all of that fencing around, it seems likely that West will declare the hand in 2♠. Suppose that North leads a Heart. Let’s count Declarer’s losers. Two or three Spades, depending upon whether the J♠ can be picked up … two Diamonds … and also a Club unless the Q♣ and J♣ are both mercifully in the North hand. So, Declarer wins the K♥, and finesses the Spade Nine, losing to South’s Jack. Rats! Now the contract needs a lot of Club luck. Declarer must use his entries wisely. Let’s say the after winning the J♠, South shifts to a Diamond. The Ace is played, and, rather than play on trumps, Declarer must use the A♦ entry for a Club finesse. North might split her honors but to no avail, Declarer will eventually score up 8 tricks. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Entry Management”>>
Just as on the previous board, that 1♠ showed 5+ Spades (with only 4 a Negative Double would be required). East has a pretty good 2♥ raise, wouldn’t you say? It’s not far removed from a stronger action, for more on which please see Board 26.
When 2♥ gets back to North she is reluctant to pass. After all, she does have 9 HCP’s. That gives her side at least half of the points, and you don’t win Pairs events by letting the opponents play in too many cozy low-level part-scores. One small problem, though. She won’t know whether to try 2♠ or raise Diamonds, either could be right. When in doubt, double! When the opponents have bid and raised, and are only at the two-level, it’s not so likely that you’ll need a penalty Double, far more useful to have available a Double which says “I don’t know what to do, Partner, so you decide”. This treatment is all the more useful when in the pass-out position, where there is a premium on keeping the auction alive, one way or another.
East, who was feeling a tad guilty for bidding only 2♥ on the previous round, is delighted to redouble, telling Partner that he has a good hand for that 2♥ raise. The main purpose of the Redouble is to encourage Partner to compete to 3♥ if necessary, or to double the opponents if appropriate.
We wouldn’t fault that Redouble but it does make life easier for South. Rather than guess which minor to bid, South can now pass the buck back to North. How about West’s 3♥? West knew that the opponents were about to find a home somewhere, and he knew that, after they had done so, he was going to bid 3♥. So, with no reason to delay, West bids 3♥ directly, getting quickly to where he wants to be and depriving the opponents of bidding space. Of course, East will not interpret this as a game try, he’ll remember that West was willing to play in 2♥.
After 3♥, North has nothing more to say. Her balancing Double has achieved the desired effect, namely to push the opponents up to the 3-level. So she passes, hoping that N-S can go plus by beating 3♥.
A complex part-score auction, and well bid by both sides. But if the auction was subtle the play is certainly not. Defending against Hearts, N-S can take 4 quick defensive tricks and Declarer claims the rest.
There’s not much to the bidding, this deal is all about South’s opening lead. What would be your choice?
A Spade? We noted back on Board 1 that the lead of an Ace without the King is generally not a good idea. So we are delighted to report that it is fatal to the defense on this board, allowing Declarer to escape with only one Spade loser. And while it’s fine to underlead an Ace against a No Trump contract, doing so against a suit contract is most dangerous, all too often Declarer or Dummy has shortness in the suit and the Ace never scores a trick.
A Trump? A reasonable choice, it looks safe enough, and cutting down on the ruffs in Dummy could be the winning defense on some hands.
A Diamond? If you really had to lead a Diamond it would be the Queen, and that’s another dangerous lead. On the actual hand it gets what it deserves by saving Declarer from having to make a guess in Diamonds.
A Club? A low Club would be another reasonable choice, and one which is suitably rewarded when it turns out to give nothing away.
So there you have it. The sensible leads of a Club or a trump both work well, and Declarer will be down one or two (depending on his Diamond-guessing skills). If South leads the highly ambitious Q♦, then Declarer no longer requires the Diamond guess and will be down by only one trick. Finally, if South is so impatient as to lay down the A♠ on the opening lead, then this gets what it deserves when Declarer is presented with the chance to make his contract (with the right Diamond guess). >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Opening Leads vs Suit Contracts”>>
Perhaps North’s 3♠ was a little bit out there with such a mangy suit, but she did have a couple of singletons and was non-vulnerable, so we wouldn’t categorize it as completely nuts.
East’s Double was Negative, showing the unbid suits. How high do you play your Negative Doubles? It used to be common to play them up to 2♠, with higher-level Doubles being played for penalties. Nowadays, it’s more usual to play the Double as Negative up to 3♠ or 4♥. There’s no right or wrong here, but we do recommend that (a) you play Negative Doubles higher than 2♠, and (b) you and Partner make sure that you are on the same wavelength! How many HCP’s does East need for that Negative Double? He’s forcing his partner to bid 3NT or go to the 4-level, so decent values are required, something not too far away from an opening bid.
After East’s Double, West has a pretty good hand in the circumstances and may have toyed with the idea of slam. She eventually guessed to bid just 3NT, and it really was just a guess, being opposite a Partner who might have doubled on just 10 HCP’s, or with somewhat more.
If North starts out with a Spade against 3NT, Dummy’s Queen wins the trick, and Declarer is a moment of carelessness away from blowing this contract! If he cashes the A♦ and K♦, he will notice the 3-1 split, and then there will be the sudden awful realization that, after the third round of Diamonds has been lost to South, Dummy will have no entries and those long Diamonds will be wasted. Correct play is for Declarer to concede the first or second round of Diamonds, leaving a high Diamond on the board as a Dummy entry. True, conceding that Diamond will cost a trick when the suit is 2-2, but more often the split will be 3-1, all the more so after North’s preempt. Anyway, Dummy’s Q♠ wins the opening lead, a Diamond is conceded, South shifts to a Heart, and the Diamonds are rattled off. Declarer’s last 5 cards will be A♠, K♥, and AQJ♣. In the end-game, he can either cash his three winners for 10 tricks, or else he can cross to the A♠, and play A♣ and out a Club, making 11 tricks if the K♣ is with South, but only 9 if the K♣ is with North. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Entry Management”>>
Did any pairs reach 6♦? This is a pretty decent slam, although with the K♠ certain to be offside, it may appear that trumps must be 2-2 to bring this one home. However, this is not the case. South leads a Heart won by Dummy, Declarer cashes the A♣ (pitching a Spade), ruffs a Club, draws just one round of trumps, crosses to the A♥, ruffs a Club, ruffs a Heart, ruffs a Club, ruffs a Heart. Now the 13th Club is played and South can do no better than score that one trump trick.
Anyone for an Unusual 2NT bid with the South hand? After the opponents have opened one of a suit, that’s a bid which shows the two lower-ranking unbid suits (at least 5-5 in those suits). South certainly has those suits, but with 7-5 we’d bid the long suit first, planning to introduce Clubs later if Partner fails to support our first suit. In fact, after bidding Diamonds initially, we’d bid Clubs all the way up to the 5-level opposite a silent Partner, such is the playing power of this shapely hand.
In 5♦ it will be 11 or 12 tricks. What’s the percentage play in Diamonds? The Dictionary of Suit Combinations, says that the finesse works 50% of the time, playing for the drop works just 26% of the time. But you don’t need to buy the book, a little thought arrives at the same conclusion. The finesse works when East has Kx or Kxx (3 cases), whereas playing for the drop works only when West has the singleton King (one case). As luck would have it, the King is indeed offside and singleton. Rats! So much for percentages! >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Suit Combinations”>>
West’s 4♥ was something of an overbid, but we had to get to that contract in order to enjoy a delightful play problem. We’ll play this one “double dummy”, which is to say that the line of play that we come up with may not be realistic in real life, only with all the cards exposed. But nonetheless it is a lot of fun!
North leads the K♠ and Declarer’s general plan is to ruff out the Spades, in preparation for an end-play against North. Here’s the “simple” line: K♠ lead won by the Ace Spade won by North Heart to Dummy’s King Spade ruff A♦ is cashed Diamond ruff Q♥ is cashed Spade ruff A♥ is cashed Low Diamond to North’s King Now North is end-played as planned, being forced to surrender a trick to Declarer’s K♣.
Nicely played by Declarer, but that was just the simple line. Let’s give the defense a second chance and see if Declarer can still prevail. The play to the first 9 tricks (up to where the A♥ is cashed) is the same as before except that, on the second round of Diamonds, North ostentatiously jettisons the K♦! Great play, but resistance is futile. Declarer will have been watching South’s pitches on the Spade ruffs, and, if those pitches were a Club and a Diamond, then this is the end-position:
Declarer has 8 tricks in the bag with the Q♦ still to come. This time the 10th materializes by throwing in South. The Q♦ is cashed, then a Diamond to South’s Jack, forcing her to lead a Club and surrender a trick in that suit.
Finally, suppose that South discards differently, this time coming down to: ♦ J96, ♣ Q. No problem! Declarer cashes the Q♦, then lays down the K♣, squashing South’s Queen and setting up a trick for Dummy’s Jack.
If any Wests found this exotic line of play at the table then they are in the wrong event, there’s a World Championship being played in China in a couple of months’ time. The same applies to all you Norths who found the brilliant (but futile) unblock of the K♦.
North had two decisions to make in this auction. Opposite a 12-14 2NT rebid she had to decide whether the hand was worth a slam try. We don’t think so, considering that square distribution, there’s something to be said for subtracting a point with hands that are 4-3-3-3. The second decision was whether to play this one in 3NT or 4♠. Assuming that N-S play 5-card majors, North knows they have an 8-card Spade fit and it is customary to play that in the major. But here are some good reasons to make this hand an exception: (a) North has a square hand, so there will be no ruffs in Dummy to add to the trick total. (b) If the same number of tricks can be made in Spades and No Trump then clearly N-S would prefer to be in the higher-scoring No trump contract. (c) North can see that her side has a combined point count of 29-31, and with so many high cards it’s unlikely that a trump suit will be needed to guard against the run of the opponents’ suit. Everything points to a 3NT contract, against which West will lead a Club. Declarer counts 9 top tricks and the best source of extras is to play on Hearts, hoping to guess the whereabouts of the Jack. With no obvious clues Declarer will finesse into the East hand to protect against an awkward Diamond lead through Dummy. Bingo! That works fine and it’s 11 tricks.
Playing in 4♠, making 11 tricks is easier. As before, West leads a Club, then trumps are drawn, and a Diamond led to Dummy’s Jack, forcing the Ace and establishing the 11th trick. If the J♦ had lost to the Queen then Declarer has a second chance at the 11th trick by playing on Hearts and successfully guessing the location of the J♥.
Which of our protagonists was dozing during this auction? Yes, it was West, of course, he failed to take advantage of the favorable vulnerability. The result of this inaction was to let the opponents play in 4♠, when his side had a profitable sacrifice in 5♣ or 5♦, contracts which go down for 300 or 500 only. Actually, West had two ways to get into the auction:
The Unusual 2NT: We encountered this back on Board 9, and stated that the bid required 5-5 in the lower-ranking unbid suits. Well, it wouldn’t be a capital offense to try it with 5-4, considering the vulnerability. One disadvantage of 2NT here is that not only are the Diamonds longer, they are also so much stronger, and there is the definite danger that East will pick Clubs when Diamonds plays better (as on the actual hand, in fact). Then again, it’s helpful to offer Partner two places to play rather than just one.
2♦ Overcall: Diamonds are by far the better suit, and if we end up defending we’d certainly like Partner to lead a Diamond against their contract. But that latter is perhaps not so much of a consideration with West likely to be on lead himself (against 4♠).
As is often the case, there are pros and cons for either action, but there are only cons for West’s actual sleepy Pass.
Do you have any thoughts on North’s 4♠ bid? It gets the job done on the actual hand, but some scientists might deride it as positively Neanderthal. The North hand may have only 8 HCP’s but it becomes extraordinarily powerful once Partner has bid Spades, and those scientists will no doubt be lobbying for a double jump to 4♦, a bid that is known as a Splinter. What’s a Splinter? Game-going values, Spade fit, Diamond shortness. Just what North has! Splinters are a useful slam bidding tool, and if you are not playing them already then include them to your list of “Twenty Conventions I Really Need to Learn”
East doesn’t have the world’s best ever two-level vulnerable overcall, but it’s reasonable enough, if only to get a Club start when West winds up on opening lead. After 2♣, South might have tried a Negative Double, but the hand is minimum, and the square shape makes it even less appealing.
How about North’s Pass? We’ve been extolling the virtues of competing and pushing the opponents to the 3-level, so what explains this sudden timidity? North guessed (correctly as it happened) that East might be in a bad spot, and with the undertricks worth 100 a pop there was a good chance of scoring +200, invariably a great matchpoint result on a part-score hand. It’s not 100% obvious for North to pass here, far from it, and the good old trusty Double is also possible. Such a Double would be primarily for take-out, and North will need to bid again if Partner selects Hearts.
Anyway, we’d expect numerous different contracts and outcomes on this board, the results are likely to be all over the place. 2♣ is down three (the defense must be sure not to let Dummy’s singleton trump score a Diamond ruff) and scores a lovely +300 for N-S. But even that is unlikely to be a top board as N-S can make a very lucky 3NT, an optimistic contract that will no doubt be reached at a few tables.
Does your partnership have some super sophisticated methods for bidding minor suits opposite a 1NT opening bid? Well, that’s absolutely wonderful, just don’t use those methods on this hand. Slam is most unlikely, so West simply bids 3NT immediately, giving the opponents the minimum amount of information as they prepare their defense.
After this uninformative auction it’s hard to imagine South leading anything but the Q♠. Declarer wins the Ace, and rattles off Dummy’s six Clubs, pitching Hearts and a low Spade from his hand. The defense will take a while figuring out what to pitch, but no matter, Declarer’s plan is to cash the AK♦ next (the finesse is too risky), after which one of two things will happen: - The Q♦ will come down in two rounds, handing Declarer 12 tricks. - The Q♦ will not come down, in which case Declarer will cash the K♠, and exit a Diamond, hoping that North’s last 3 cards are the Q♦ and ♥Ax. If that is the case, she’ll be end-played into conceding a trick to Dummy’s K♥. The end-play would have won some style points (as well as a lot of matchpoints), but it turns out to be unnecessary when the doubleton Q♦ comes tumbling down. So, 12 tricks the easy way.
South had two reasonable choices of rebid … either 2NT, showing 18-19 … or a “reverse” of 2♦. Two questions: What is a Reverse? Opener bids a new suit at the two-level, one which is higher ranking than the first suit. So, 1♦ 1♠, 2♣ is not a reverse, whereas 1♣ 1♠, 2♦ is. What does a Reverse show? Extra values are required, let’s say 16+ HCP’s, give or take. Also, the first-bid suit is longer than the second suit, because with 5-5 the higher-ranking suit would be opened, and with 4-4 there would be a No Trump opening or rebid.
Against 3NT, it seems obvious for East to lead a Heart. That is won in Dummy (the King will be needed later to get back to hand), and Declarer finesses the Q♠, then plays A♠ and another Spade. Thanks to the friendly Spade break 12 tricks are available.
Next, suppose that West is on lead and somehow finds a Diamond lead (as he might do if South had rebid 2NT instead of reversing into 2♦). Now, the best that Declarer can do is just 11 tricks, as the defense sets up its second trick before Declarer can get her 12.
Over 1♥, East had the option of passing, in the hope that West would come back into the auction with a balancing Double, allowing East to make a Penalty Pass. The vulnerability should dissuade East from that course of action, and on the actual hand 1♥ doubled goes down just 3 tricks for 500, which is insufficient compensation for the missed vulnerable game.
So, East bids 1NT (he’s right at the top end for that call) and winds up declaring 3NT. The play turns out to be quite fascinating! If Declarer can score two Heart tricks and can finesse twice against the Q♦ then he can count 11 tricks. But that may be easier said than done. Suppose that South dutifully leads a Heart, Dummy plays low, and North jumps up with the King. Now a Heart continuation would give Declarer those 11 tricks, but instead North unsportingly shifts to a Club, attacking Declarer’s entries. Declarer wins the Q♣, takes the winning Diamond finesse, and plays a second round of Hearts which North fiendishly ducks! Good defense, now Declarer does not have the entries to score two Hearts tricks. However, a squeeze develops against South. Watch what happens when Declarer crosses to his hand with the A♣. This is the end-position:
At this point, with the aid of a second Diamond finesse, Declarer can count 10 tricks. But an 11th trick comes from a nifty squeeze. When Declarer cashes the J♣, South has no good choice: If South pitches a Spade: Dummy pitches a Diamond. Declarer now takes the Diamond finesse, cashes A♠ and K♠, and exits a Spade setting up a third trick in the suit. If South pitches a Diamond: Dummy pitches a Spade. Now, after a finesse, the Diamonds are good and again it’s 11 tricks. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Throw-In Squeezes”>>
North’s Heart duck was a good effort but to no avail. But suppose North ducks the first Heart! Can Declarer still make 11 tricks? Consider these two possibilities: Line A: Declarer wins the opening Heart lead with the Queen, finesses the Diamond, and cashes three Clubs. Is South squeezed? Line B: Declarer wins the opening Heart lead with the Queen, finesses the Diamond, and plays the Heart Ten to North’s King. A Club is returned and Declarer cashes his three Clubs. Is South squeezed?
In Line A there is no pressure against South, and no squeeze. But, in Line B, which is the same except that an extra Heart trick has been lost, the squeeze does work. It’s that extra pitch on the second round of Hearts which does in the defense.
West could hardly be blamed for competing with 2♠, but it doesn’t work well when North has the perfect hand for a penalty Double. She’s sitting over the 2♠ bidder with a couple of trump tricks and good defense in the side-suits, and would expect to beat 2♠ far more often than not. This is very much a “matchpoint double”, one that risks the occasional disaster (-470 in this case) in the expectation of frequent smaller gains when the Double succeeds. But beware of such Doubles in the team game, with that form of scoring it’s the size of the gain (or loss) that is more important than the frequency.
Next, imagine the same North hand under the 2♠ bidder. Now, that ♠QTxx is far less appealing for the defense and doubling 2♠ would be quite risky. For that reason, many partnerships play that the “under-double” by the 1NT opener is take-out, perhaps a hand with two small Spades that wishes to compete.
Anyway, 2♠ doubled will be down two tricks, and +300 to N-S, but we don’t expect that to happen very often in real life. Why not? Surely South will be bidding Diamonds, one way or another. Looking just at the South hand, you’d prefer to play in 2♦ than in 1NT. But, of course, those pairs that play Jacoby Transfers cannot do that and must play 3♦. Assuming that you are playing Jacoby, what are your methods for signing off in 3♦? Here are some possibilities: (a) Bid Stayman, planning to bid a weak 3♦ if Partner bids 2♥ or 2♠. However, most pairs nowadays play this sequence as strong. (b) Bidding 3♦ directly would be fine if the bid were weak, but most pairs play that it is natural and invitational, maybe something like: ♠ J9, ♥ QT4, ♦ KJT874, ♣ 86. The idea is that Opener will try 3NT with a fitting Diamond honor and a decent hand. (c) Other pairs play Minor Suit Transfers, whereby 1NT 2♠ (and sometimes 1NT 2NT) are used to show a long minor suit.
As it happens, Diamonds and No Trump score the same number of tricks, at least in theory. In both cases, the defense can take 5 tricks, provided that they either lead Hearts right away, or else cash one Spade and shift to Hearts pronto. If they fail to do this, it’s likely to be a whopping 10 tricks.
Back on Board 15, South had a hand which qualified as a “Reverse”. The distribution was 2=2=4=5, and South’s plan was to open 1♣, then rebid 2♦ (showing a good hand) if Partner responded 1♥ or 1♠. This 2=4=6=1 qualifies for the same treatment. West opens 1♦, planning a 2♥ Reverse if Partner bids 1♠. We did say that 16+ HCP’s were required for this strength-showing bid, but that 6-4 hand looks so pretty that we’d stretch a point, no doubt being emboldened by the old saying “Six-four, bid more”.
The planned Reverse does not materialize when it’s North that bids 1♠. If you are wondering why she didn’t make a Takeout Double, there are two reasons. Firstly, the hand is not quite strong enough. Secondly (unless we have a really strong hand), we don’t double with 5 Spades, we bid the suit directly. So, North’s plan is to show his 5-card Spades first, and then, if possible at the two-level, to show the Hearts.
Moving right along, East has a text-book 2NT bid: - 11-12 HCP’s; - Balanced distribution; - A good holding in the enemy suit; - Not 4 Hearts (with that hand he would make a Negative Double)
After that 2NT bid, there is no reason for West to introduce his Heart suit as there is no 8-card fit. There’s also no reason to rebid those lovely Diamonds, this hand clearly belongs in 3NT, and 3NT should be bid without delay. Should West be worried that the defense may rattle off a bunch of Clubs? Worry if you must, but there’s no reason to think that they will.
Against 3NT, South dutifully leads Partner’s Spade suit, won by Declarer’s Ace. Then a Diamond to Dummy’s Ace (discovering the bad break), back to the K♥, Diamond finesse, etc. That’s just 10 tricks when the Hearts turn out to be 4-2. Yes, Declarer can make 11 by finessing the ♥T, but that play would be both risky and anti-percentage.
East has a nice Heart suit, but is too weak for a direct 2♥, that would show about 10+ HCP’s. So, the best he can do is a Negative Double, showing 4+ Hearts and about 6+ HCP’s.
West’s jump rebid to 2NT showed 18-19, here’s a quick refresher course on the HCP ranges for No Trump bidding: 12-14: Open one of suit, rebid 1NT 15-17: Open 1NT 18-19: Open one of suit, rebid 2NT 20-21: Open 2NT 22+: Open 2♣ first. By the way, West could be forgiven if he upgraded that 19-count to a 2NT opening, look at all those lovely Aces and fillers!
East was right to choose 4♥ in preference to No Trump, there’s surely at least an 8-card fit. Furthermore, because of East’s lack of entries, those long Hearts may turn out to be useless in a No Trump contract. Declarer makes 11 tricks in Hearts when the JT♦ obligingly come down in three rounds. But only 8 or 9 if the contract is 3NT.
It’s not ideal to open 1NT with 5-4 distribution, but sometimes, as here, it is the best option. If South were to open 1♣, what would she rebid after Partner’s 1♠? The hand is not quite strong enough for a reverse (see also Boards 15 and 18), and we’d hate to rebid 2♣ with such a mediocre suit (that bid is usually a 6-card suit, or at least 5 good ones). Opening 1NT eliminates that rebid problem.
What are your criteria for inviting game opposite a 15-17 1NT opening? For balanced hands the usual standard is a good 8 or a decent 9, with a good 9 or better Responder will insist on game. Here our East has only 7, but he does also have that nice 5-5 distribution. Is that worth inviting to game? It might be, if not for the fact that all of East’s points are in Queens and Jacks. Just as we might have upgraded our four-Ace hand on Board 19, so should we be careful with quacky hands, they often don’t play up to their point-count. So, we’d suggest caution on this hand and just settle for a Spade part-score, which is what South does in the auction above (via a Jacoby Transfer).
The play is complicated. The defense can take 4 tricks, but here’s a line where they manage only 3. The question is “Where did the defense go wrong?” J♥ lead won by the Queen Low Diamond, Jack, Ace Low Spade, won by the King Heart won by Declarer’s King Spade won by West’s Ace Heart ruffed by Dummy’s Jack Q♠ draws the enemy trumps Diamond won by East’s King Club to Declarer’s Ace Cash A♥ Ruff a Club Cash the two high Diamonds Yes, East had two chances to do better, both times in the Diamond suit. He could have played low on the first round, allowing Declarer to win the Nine … this would give Declarer a fast two tricks in Diamonds, but she would not have the entries to come to a third. Alternatively, East could have ducked the second round. Again, this would give Declarer two fast Diamonds, but again the lack of entries to Dummy would have prevented Declarer from building a third. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Disrupting Declarer's Entries”>>
North and South both had a little bit extra for their initial bids, but (rightly or wrongly) neither felt that they were worth a slam try and the safe contract of 4♥ was reached. As luck would have it, slam actually makes thanks to a successful finesse in both red suits. That makes it a 25% proposition and not a slam that you should be proud of bidding, even if it does happen to make.
In fact, Declarer can even make all 13 tricks if East’s opening lead is the unbid Club suit. The 13 tricks, in the order that they are taken are: A♣, A♠, Spade ruff, K♣, Q♣, Diamond ruff, Q♥, A♥, Diamond ruff, K♠, Spade ruff, Diamond ruff, Spade.
South’s jump to 2♠, opposite a takeout Double, is game-invitational strength, showing around 9-11 HCP’s. Shouldn’t North have taken one more call with her 15-count? We don’t think so. After West’s opening bid the ♦QJ do not look like useful cards, so her hand is likely to be just a 12-count in practice. North’s caution is rewarded when 9 tricks are the limit of the hand.
Was West a bit feeble to sell out to 2♠? Perhaps, she does have a 7-card suit after all. On the other hand, she’s vulnerable and the opponents appear to have the balance of the points. Furthermore, 7-2-2-2 is not an exciting shape, 7-3-2-1 would be rather more promising. A sensible Pass, we’d say.
Playing in Spades it should be 9 tricks, but 10 are possible if West is caught napping. Let’s say that the defense starts out with Diamonds, Declarer wins the second round, knocks out the A♠, and West returns a trump. The last trump is drawn, Clubs are cashed, and then a Heart is led towards Dummy. West sleepily ducks, Declarer wins the King and exits with a Heart to West’s Ace. Oops! West is left with nothing but Diamonds and when he plays one he gives up a ruff and discard, allowing Declarer to ditch the second Heart loser. If West had been more alert he would have hopped up with the A♥ and got out a Heart, avoiding the end-play. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Elimination Play”>>
Opposite a silent Partner, North’s 2NT rebid shows 18-19, even though it isn’t a jump. True, the singleton K♠ is not ideal for the bid, but it’s that same singleton which makes a reopening Double so unattractive. It’s always dangerous to make a takeout Double holding less than 3 cards in the unbid major. We’d say that 2NT with a singleton K♠ is more descriptive.
Looking at all four hands it’s obvious that an opening Spade lead to West’s Ace and a Spade continuation will beat this 3NT contract. Fortunately for Declarer each defender can see only two hands, and surely the contract will make at some tables.
First, let’s suppose that East finds the “winning” lead of the J♠. Based on the bidding, West will consider it more likely that East has JTx instead of JTxx, in which case rising with the Ace will hand Declarer a second trick in the suit. So, he’ll probably duck the first trick (encouraging with the Nine), his plan being to let Declarer’s King win, later getting in with the A♦, playing a Heart to East’s hoped-for Ace, then a Spade back. All being well, that will be 6 tricks for the defense. But all is not well, at least not for the defense! The singleton King wins, and Declarer can count 7 tricks outside the Diamond suit. She’ll need to play on Diamonds early, while the Clubs still provide transportation back and forth. So, at Trick Two she plays a Diamond to the Queen and West’s Ace. Back comes a Heart won by Declarer’s Ace. Now, Declarer runs her Club suit, coming down to a 5-card ending:
On the lie of the cards, Declarer can make an overtrick by finessing the T♦, cashing K♦ and throwing West in to lead a Spade. But a safer play is to cash K♦ and exit a Diamond, succeeding. whenever East was not dealt ♦Jxx.
Next, suppose East’s opening lead is the K♥. Holding up by Declarer is often the right play in NT contracts, but not here. Firstly, Declarer does not want a Spade shift. Secondly, with the Hearts surely 6-1, holding up achieves nothing. So Declarer wins the opening lead, and can see that she needs two Diamond tricks to make her contract. She plays a Diamond to the Queen and West’s Ace, and now, even if West somehow finds the switch to the A♠, the Diamond finesse is still available for the 9th trick.
West was not quite good enough for a game-forcing 3♣ rebid, so chose 2♣, which, as you can see, covers a pretty wide range. It could be a 5-4 17-count (the actual hand) all the way down to a 5-5 10-count. So, in the circumstances, it behooves East to keep the bidding open with relatively modest values, just in case West is at the top end of his range and there is a game to be made. For example, if we change East’s hand from 11 HCP’s, let us say down to 8 HCP’s (same distribution), and he would want to bid 3♣ just in case West has the good hand. What’s our point? Well, we’d say that 2NT is more appropriate here, it clearly invites game, showing 11-12 and something in the unbid suit. A 3♣ bid is less well-defined and gives Partner a chance to guess wrong (for example, he might guess to pass with a nice 13-count, thereby missing game).
Against 3NT, South might decide to lead the unbid Spade suit. Which Spade? From three small, the usual lead against No Trump is “top-of-nothing”, warning Partner not to expect any high cards in the suit. North can maximize Declarer’s nervousness (always a good thing) by hopping up with the A♠ and shooting back the 9♥. Declarer ducks the first Heart and should also duck the second as a precaution against 4-3 Hearts with the Club finesse losing. South overtakes the second Heart and continues the suit won by Declarer’s Ace. Now, the percentage play in Clubs is to cash the Ace and finesse against the Queen. The finesse loses but North is out of Hearts by now and it’s 9 tricks for Declarer.
South’s Redouble shows a decent hand, supposedly 10+ HCP’s, after which North bids Diamonds, more Diamonds and yet more Diamonds. Clearly North has an extreme two-suiter. The last Diamond bid was not an attempt to play in Diamonds, that would hardly make sense when Partner has already twice said that she is happy with the more lucrative Spade fit. No, the third Diamond bid was a slam try. Should South accept? We don’t think so. Sure, South does have some extra values for her initial Redouble, but it appears that North is short in Hearts and Clubs, so much of South’s high-card strength is surely wasted. It would be so much better if those Kings and Queens were replaced by an Ace or two.
Anyway, the field will be in some number of Spades, how many tricks will they make? That will all depend on East’s opening lead. Leading unsupported Aces on a regular basis is not a winning strategy, all too often it either blows a trick or else surrenders control to Declarer. But, against high-level contracts, where the opponents have shown extra strength and distribution, it becomes more attractive. In these circumstances, those Aces sometimes need to be grabbed while the grabbing is good, before Declarer’s losers start disappearing on running side-suits.. Our own guess would be to plonk down the A♥ (less likely to get ruffed than the Ace from the longer Club suit). So far, so good, but when Dummy goes down there will be an almost irresistible temptation to play the A♣ at Trick Two. After all, from East’s point of view, Declarer could be 6=1=5=1, in which case it is essential to take the A♣ before Declarer’s Club loser disappears on the K♥. We predict that Declarer will score 12 tricks more often than 11. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Opening Leads vs Suits”>>
Let’s start with the South hand. What would be your choice over the 1♠ opening? None of the possibilities is perfect: 3♦? N-S are vulnerable, the suit is not great, and the hand has too much defense (two likely tricks in their Spade suit), so the 3♦ preempt is our least favorite. When we preempt, we prefer a minimum of defense, we’d hate to egg Partner into a sacrifice which turns out to be a phantom because of our defensive strength.
Pass? That would be reasonable, but perhaps a tad timid.
2♦? Normally, we’d have more high-card strength for this bid, but it’s a shame to pass a 7-card suit, so 2♦ is a reasonable compromise for those who hate to pass but who also hate to preempt with defensive tricks.
After South’s 2♦ what would 3♠ by West mean? Some partnerships still play that this bid shows game-invitational values. But that’s decidedly old-fashioned (not automatically a bad thing, we wish to point out). Nowadays, after Partner has opened with one of a suit or made a simple overcall, jump raises are preemptive, and a cue-bid shows a good hand. Using the actual start of 1♠ by Partner, and an enemy overcall of 2♦, this is what the bids mean: (a) 2♠ is simple support, typically 5-9 HCP’s or thereabouts, usually 3-card support (b) 3♠ is preemptive, usually with 4-card support (c) 4♠ is preemptive, usually with 5-card support (d) 3♦ also shows support (3-card or better) and at least game-invitational values (no upper limit)
It’s that simple. To summarize: with a moderate or weak hand you raise Spades directly, bidding higher the more trumps that you have. With a good hand you cue-bid first. That’s the modern way to raise Partner, please disregard all previous messages on this subject.
North’s Double of 3♦ is nothing fancy, it simply says “I have something in Diamonds”, which is generally the interpretation whenever an artificial bid is doubled. As for East, he may have only 12 HCP’s opposite a hand which promises no more than a game invitation, but this is not the time for a mere 3♠ bid (which can be passed), he goes straight to game. East has extras, not in the form of high cards, but in lovely distribution. No doubt he was especially enamored of that void in the opponents’ suit (a big plus) and that “Six-four, bid more” shape.
Declarer makes 10 tricks in 4♠ but only with correct play. The Diamond lead is ruffed, what next? Declarer has three potential Heart losers, and does best to play on the suit early (leading from Dummy). So, at Trick Two, Declarer crosses to the A♣, and leads a low Heart. North can hop up with the Ace and give South a Club ruff, but that ruff is with a natural trump trick, and eventually Declarer will squeak home.
South has something of a problem at her second turn. She has a lovely hand, but nothing to bid! A jump raise in Hearts shows 4-card support and No Trump bids show something in Spades. We’d say that the alternatives are: 2♠: This cue-bid obviously shows a good hand, and presumably one without 4-card Heart support (that would be a 3♥ or 4♥ bid). It’s just a good hand that knows not where it is headed. 2♦: This is a strength-showing reverse, and eagle-eyed readers might be wondering “Where is the 4th Diamond?” A fair question, and the answer is that we sometimes make lies of convenience in the auction, especially in the minor suits.
The 2♠ cue-bid is fine, but we rather like that 2♦ reverse, it has the benefit of keeping things low while the partnership investigates the best spot (in particular, it makes the 5-3 Heart fit easier to find). After 2♦, North has an obvious 2NT bid with that Spade holding. Then South belatedly supports Hearts (surely showing 3 of them), and North insists on No Trump.
Against 3NT, East leads the K♠, and Declarer sensibly holds up. Why? She’s afraid that, if she wins the first trick and then loses the Club finesse, a Spade continuation from West will get the defense 5 easy tricks. At Trick Two, East’s best shot is to shift to the Diamond Nine, and Declarer must jump up with the Ace. Now Diamonds are the danger suit, and East is the danger hand (as West cannot profitably attack Diamonds). Declarer will need to take finesses in both Hearts and Clubs to make this contract and will survive if one of them succeeds. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Hold-Up Plays”>>
Well, maybe! One possibility is to cross to the A♠, and run the T♥. It’s a finesse we’d love to lose because then we’d have an entry to hand with the Q♥, hopefully allowing us to pick up the K♣. Unfortunately, finesses sometimes win! If West is known to be a tricky character, we may suspect that he is craftily ducking with the K♥. Nice play if he does! Is there a solution? Nothing that is 100%. Our suggestion (after crossing to the A♠) is to run the Queen of Hearts, we’d trust East to cover that with the King more than we would trust a devious West not to duck. If the Q♥ holds, then, suspecting the duck, we would revert to Clubs, running the Nine. This is a hand where it pays to know your opponents. Would East cover? Would West duck? >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Smooth Ducks”>>
North was too good for a 15-18 1NT overcall, and anyway her hand was not ideal for that bid. Look how much more suitable for No Trump the North hand would be with the T♥, that humble card produces a second stopper in the suit.
East’s 3♣ was preemptive, of course, putting South to the test. South didn’t have much in the way of high cards, but liked her distribution and Club shortness, so she dredged up a 3♠ call.
It turned out that East’s 3♣ was not only obstructive, it also allowed his side to find a profitable sacrifice. Opposite a preemptive bid, West realized that his side had little chance of beating 4♠. On defense, he could see a maximum of one Club trick, maybe a Heart, and probably a Spade. So, rather than bid 4♣ and then 5♣ if necessary, he went straight to 5♣, applying maximum pressure to North. After 5♣, North might have been tempted by the vulnerability to bid on to an unsuccessful 5♠, and she did well to double 5♣ instead.
Playing in 5♣, there are 3 Aces to be lost. Additionally, the Hearts must to guessed to avoid a fourth loser, but even down two doubled will be an improvement on letting the opponents make 4♠.
Opposite that takeout Double West was obliged to find a bid, so his 2♣ does not show values, it merely says that Clubs are his best suit and his point range is 0-9 (with more he would jump). Therefore, opposite a hand that could be broke, East’s 2NT shows a good hand, something in the 19-20 range (with 15-18 he could have overcalled 1NT initially).
What makes 3NT a success are those wonderful Spade spots in both hands. Say that South leads a Heart, won by Dummy’s King. Now the T♠ is played and the whole suit is picked up for a single loser. Eventually, Declarer scores 4 Spades, 3 Hearts, 2 Diamonds and a Club for +630. Declarer can be held to 9 tricks, but that requires an opening Diamond lead, highly unlikely looking at the South hand.
A straightforward auction with East’s jump to 3NT showing 15-17 HCP’s. North was most wise not to get involved in the opponents’ strong auction. After West’s two-level response, the hand clearly belongs to E-W and bidding 2♥ would achieve very little other than to give the opponents the chance to collect a big, juicy penalty (2♥ doubled goes for a disastrous -800).
Against 3NT, South leads a Heart or a Club: If South leads a Heart, it’s an easy 11 tricks. Dummy plays low, of course, and Declarer has a second Heart trick to go with the 2 Spades, 6 Diamonds and the A♣.
If South leads a Club, life is more difficult for Declarer. With the Diamonds coming in there are 10 tricks, and Declarer will have to play on Hearts himself for the 11th. Correct play is to play low from Dummy on the opening lead, run the Diamonds (pitching Spades and Clubs from hand), then a low Heart, planning to finesse the Ten if North plays low. But this is not without risk, the defense might win the Heart and score three Clubs.
We should mention that there are two ways to tackle that Diamond suit. Declarer can play for the Jack to drop (52% for 6 tricks), or can finesse the Ten (only 42%). But, even if playing for the drop were not such a percentage favorite, playing the Diamonds from the top would still be a good idea, because Declarer can always revert to Spades if the Diamonds misbehave (perhaps scoring 3 Diamonds, 4 Spades, A♣ and A♥). On the other hand, if Declarer takes the losing Diamond finesse, he’ll end up with zero Diamond tricks and zero chance to make his contract. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Suit Combinations”>>
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