|
Hand Analyses 26th April, 2006
Do you play Lebensohl over Weak Twos doubled? In this (highly recommended) method, the 2NT bid in the featured auction is a relay to 3♣, usually as a prelude to showing a weak hand (say less than 9 or so HCPs). Here, South is just too strong to accept the relay, and takes a shot at 3NT, a contract which makes 9 tricks.
If N-S were not playing Lebensohl, North would no doubt bid 2NT naturally here … it’s a bit of an overbid, but nothing else appeals. Playing Lebensohl, though, North was stuck for a plan, and was no doubt headed for 3♥ before South saved the day by bidding 3NT. Much as we like Lebensohl, it does take away the natural 2NT bid, and occasionally, as here, that turns out to be inconvenient.
West’s light 3rd seat 1♣ opening sets off a complicated auction. What do all those Doubles and the Redouble mean? East’s first Double was Negative, of course. North’s Double of 2♣ was just showing some values, and trying to get Partner into the auction. East’s Redouble showed a good hand (considering that he passed originally), and then his Double of 2♦ was competitive, refusing to sell out yet. All of this back and forth action somehow managed to propel E-W into the perfect spot of 2♠, making 8 tricks.
3♣ seems like a normal spot on a straightforward hand. North, as Declarer, can see that Diamonds are likely to be 5-3, so she can safely go after a Diamond ruff on the board before drawing trumps. Having got that ruff, it would be normal to finesse the J♣ on the first round of trumps, so that will be 9 tricks, and +110.
2♦ was Fourth Suit Forcing, in other words a purely artificial bid the purpose of which is to establish a forcing sequence … for the sake of simplicity, we suggest that you play it as game-forcing. After West’s 2♠, he is likely to be 3-5-1-4, so East is not overly enamored of his K♦, it looks like a wasted value. Therefore, he leaps directly to 4♠, expressing disinterest in more than game. But West reasonably ploughs on to slam, via Roman Key Card Blackwood.
6♠ is a decent slam, but suffers from the defect of going down two if South leads a Club (then a Diamond back for a second ruff), or down one if South leads A♦ and shifts to a Club.
Back to the bidding. Suppose that North had doubled 6♠ … what would this mean? This out-of-the-blue bid, against their slam, is the so-called Lightner Double, asking for an “unusual” lead … traditionally, it meant that you wanted the lead of Dummy’s first-bid suit, perhaps for a ruff. Nowadays, the treatment is more flexible, and the general message is “I have a lead that I want, Partner, please figure out what it is”. If North does double, South will surely figure out that a Club lead is more promising than a Heart, based on her own length in these suits. Yes, it would be a quite magnificent coup if N-S scored +500 in 6♠ doubled for a complete top. But, somewhat less than magnificent if the Double chased E-W into the making contract of 6NT for -1440 and a complete bottom.
South’s 2♥ reverse showed a good hand, but was not game forcing. This was followed by a series of natural bids, as N-S stumbled into game. They did well to choose 5♦ rather than 3NT, as the latter has no play.
Against 5♦, West has no obvious lead, and a low trump seems the least undesirable. The Q♦ wins the trick … now, 3 rounds of Clubs, pitching a Heart, then AK♥, ruff a Heart, trump to the Ace, and suddenly this shaky contract makes an overtrick! Hearts are 3-3, the JT of Clubs comes down in three rounds, and trumps are 3-2. All in all, a most friendly hand.
A hand where nobody can make anything. Next board, please!
East’s 2♠ showed a limit raise or better, and we really like that 3♠ by West. He could have tried 3♣ instead, but that would (initially, at least) be no more than a game-try … by going to 3♠, he is clearly making a slam try. East was happy to cooperate, good old Roman Key Card was wheeled into action, and the fine slam is reached.
How good is the slam? Well, it’s 58% to pick up the Q♥, in which case the slam is cold. And even if the Q♥ doesn’t come down, there is still the possibility of getting the Spade loser away on the Clubs before the enemy can ruff in. So, all in all, well worth bidding.
Over East’s 1♦, South must suffer the frustration of passing that nice 13-count … Double is not an option with that doubleton Heart and those moderate values … unless you have a really good hand, you just cannot make a take-out Double without at least 3 cards in any unbid major.
Against 3NT, what would you lead from the North hand? It hardly seems right to lead a Heart into the Heart bidder, and, anyway, even if the suit miraculously set up, North has no entries. Not a Diamond, sounds like East has 5 of those. Looks like something black is called for. In these situations, it often works well to lead through Dummy’s second suit, so a Club is quite tempting. But, alas, this is the wrong hand for it … leading the unbid Spade suit holds them to 9 tricks, but leading a Club lets them make 10 … so much for the theory of leading through Dummy’s second suit. Maybe next time!
This is the latest in our “Who’s the Wimp?” series. How did E-W end up defending 2♥ when they have half the deck (well, almost) and an 8-card Spade fit? Which of those 5 E-W Passes was the culprit?
East’s First Pass: No wimpishness here, this is not a vulnerable two-level overcall in the direct seat. West’s First Pass: West could well have bid 2♠ here. True, the hand is quacky and shapeless, but at least the suit is strong. We would not say that Pass is clearly wrong here, but it is certainly timid. East’s Second Pass: We like a 2♦ bid here … East has already denied the ability to make an immediate 2-level overcall, so bidding now is not going to cause Partner to go overboard … in our view, this was the best chance for E-W to get into the auction. If East does bid 2♦ here, that will be sufficient encouragement for West to try 2♠. West’s Second Pass: If West thought that 2♠ was too risky before, it is even riskier now, with the opponents having exchanged additional information. East’s Third Pass: By now, it’s too late … it would be bizarre to make a balancing Double with 3-6 in the unbid suits … and going out on a limb with 3♦ would be quite extreme.
So, it was a joint effort, in our view, either player could have got into the auction, especially East at his second turn.
Good bidding by N-S on this one. North did well to jump right in there with her vulnerable 2♠ on those modest values and that skimpy suit. But there were a couple of good reasons to get involved … that Club singleton is a big plus … and it seems that Partner is short in their suit (at least no more than a doubleton). And South did well to bid 4♠, although she probably had no idea whether is was a making contract or a cheap sacrifice.
The Double was understandable and probably did not cost much … we suspect that E-W already had a bad board when the opponents got to 4♠.
The final contract is normal enough, but the play is tough to predict. 12 tricks can be made with perfect guessing and the lucky lie of the cards ... but we suspect that making 11 tricks will be good enough for an above average board. We would win the likely Diamond lead with the Ace, and immediately play a Spade to the King. Now if they force Dummy to ruff a Diamond, you can cash your black suit winners and cross-ruff to 11 tricks ... if they return a Heart or a Club, you can take a ruffing Spade finesse, and when everything works it will be 12 tricks. True, you can also make 12 tricks on the Diamond return, but not without risk.
Well done by E-W if they stayed low on this one. Playing in 1NT for +120, or a Diamond part-score for +130 will be great matchpoint result.
West might think he has stumbled into a game with the Three Stooges as the featured auction unfolds. Those guys certainly seem to be in a stubborn mood here, and yet the bidding is not completely ridiculous. Curly might well have jumped to 4♠ at some point ... perhaps, by his slow bidding, he was trying to sucker Moe (usually a good plan) into doubling 4♠. As for all those red suit bids, they sort of make sense, at least when you consider the protagonists.
Anyway, you are West and it’s your bid. Curly may not be the soundest bidder on the planet, but surely you are worth 4♠ here … a modicum of support, those lovely Clubs … that should be enough. If fact, you might well have raised Partner on the previous round of bidding, but that would have destroyed the symmetry of the auction. After 4♠, it will get passed back to Moe, who will no doubt bid 5♦, which will then run around back to Curly … he’ll notice that he has bid his suit only three times so far, and will plunge on with the winning call of 5♠ … this will no doubt get whacked by Larry, making 5 for +850. Yes, it’s a hand where it pays to keep bidding and bidding and bidding, and Moe actually missed a good sacrifice in 6♦.
See Play Problem # 1 for Curly's line of play on a Diamond lead.
That 2♣ bid was Drury, or, as just about everybody plays it these days, let’s say that it is Reverse Drury … we use it as a passed hand when Partner has made a 3rd or 4th seat opening … it says “I have support, is your 1♥ opening bid for real?”. In response to this, 2♥ says “not real”, other bids confirm a bona fide opener.
4♥ will make 5, no more and no less.
The hand is so friendly that even the grand slam makes, but just getting to six will be worth almost all of the matchpoints.
Not a particularly exciting deal, we won’t offer any analysis on the bidding (normal), nor the play (impossible to fathom). The good news is that the next board is a real corker!
At her second turn, South has these 4 bids to choose from: (a) 4NT: Yes, South has a terrific hand, but it’s not quite that good. (b) 4♥: Not recommended, because South has two more descriptive options available. (c) 4♣: A Splinter raise, surely a better choice that 4♥, because it gives Partner a better chance to evaluate her hand for slam purposes. (d) 4♦: By partnership agreement, this can be used to show a raise to 4♥ with solid Diamonds.
Yes, we suggest 4♣ or 4♦ here, take your pick. We like 4♦ ourselves, but the partnership needs to be on a sure footing as to precisely what the bid means. Back in the Aces Scientific days, 4♦ was defined as showing nothing outside the two long suits, so that K♠ would have disqualified South’s hand. But, nowadays, the preference of some players is not to have 2 losers in any one suit, so, in fact, that K♠ is required.
Anyway, whether South chooses 4♣ or 4♦, North will have no trouble recognizing that her hand is not slam material.
Nobody would accuse North of having extras for that 1NT overcall. Fortunately, South puts down a spectacular Dummy … thank you, Partner! Making 9 tricks.
1NT contracts are notoriously difficult to defend … and it’s even more challenging to analyze them comprehensively. We predict that West will lead the K♥ or a 4th best Club at almost all tables, and that 7 tricks will invariably be made, and that the sequence of plays is unlikely to be identical at any two tables in your club. Moving right along …
There’s one bid in this auction which has “futile” written all over it! Yes, it’s that Redouble … it certainly passes the test of “10+ HCPs” … but, let’s face it, East has no plans to penalize 1♥ or 1♠, so why bother? He should just bid 3NT directly over the Double, perfectly describing his hand … there’s no reason to mess around here with an irrelevant Redouble.
Not that it matters too much on this particular hand, 3NT will surely be the final contract, one way or the other, and it will make exactly 9 tricks, unless the opening lead is an unlikely Club, in which case, 10 tricks are available.
As East, would you have used a Michaels Cue-Bid (showing both majors) instead of a 1♠ overcall? Some partnerships use Michaels in this situation whenever they are 5-5 in the majors, almost regardless of strength. Another approach, and our own preference, is to use Michaels with weak hands or strong hands, but not with middling hands. East’s hand is on the cusp, we would say, borderline between a weak Michaels and a 1♠ overcall.
Alas, the final contract of 4♠ does not play well. Diamond leads and the bad trump break combine to destroy Declarer’s trump control … eventually the hand becomes an exercise in scrambling tricks, and down one is as good as can be expected.
A simple enough auction to a normal contract. On opening lead, West must lead the A♣ in order to hold Declarer to 11 tricks. This lead is far from obvious, so you can expect to see many 480 scores on the recap sheet.
Another straightforward auction. South will presumably lead a Heart, and, at first glance, it looks as if there are 10 tricks for the taking, when the Club finesse works. But Declarer cannot quite untangle his tricks and 9 tricks turn out to be the maximum.
East makes a Jacoby Transfer to Hearts, and West, with 4 cards in Partner’s suit, has the chance to make a “Super Accept”, by which we mean that he is allowed to go beyond the 2-level based on the 9-card fit in Partner’s major. There are many schools of thought on this subject, and here is our balanced analysis of your partnership options: (a) Neanderthal: Using this method, there are no super-accepts … after the transfer, Opener is not allowed to look at his hand, he must bid two of the major regardless … but let’s not scoff at this method, it’s actually our second favorite. (b) Obsessive: This method says that, with a 9-card fit, you always super-accept, notwithstanding the awfulness of your overall hand and the potential for unnecessary undertricks. (c) Futile: Here, the partnership goes out of its way to be helpful to the opponents, they super-accept in some scientific manner, thereby conveying gratuitous information to the opponents, and usually helping Partner not one little bit. (d) Sensible: This one just happens to be our own favorite, check the link.
So, there you have it, the world’s first balanced and unbiased analysis of super-accepts.
Notwithstanding the methods being employed, 4♥ is the final destination on this particular hand, and 11 tricks will be made all around the room.
Here we have a simple auction to 4♠, where 6♠ is absolutely cold. What went wrong? In our opinion, not very much at all! This is a very tough slam to bid, and a 2NT opening bid is not a particularly good starting point for slam auctions. It’s a hand that just makes you wish that you were playing a Strong Club system. This is not one over which to agonize, some slams are just unattainable in real life.
West could have bid his hand in various ways, but all roads lead to 4♥. However, making 4♥ will be something of a challenge when trumps break 4-1. With two Heart losers and the A♣ out, Declarer will need to get lucky in both minor suits to make this one. There’s no guess in the Club suit, and the J♣ is fortuitously onside … as for the Diamonds, it seems natural to finesse against South, and that will be down one. 4♥ making will be quite a superb score here.
2♥ is a testing little contract, especially after the K♣ lead, and given the 4-1 trump break. Please see Play Problem # 2.
E-W got into a game-forcing 2/1 auction, East agreed Hearts at the 3-level, both players sniffed at slam via minor-suit cue-bids, and then the auction subsided in 4♥. Making 11 tricks all day long.
North’s opening was the so-called Gambling 3NT, showing a solid minor suit and very little outside. South knew exactly where this one belonged, and zipped straight to 5♦, which is cold for 11 tricks.
Of course, N-S have a huge fit in Spades, which also makes 11 tricks. The question is “How do they get into the auction?” Over the Gambling 3NT there are some hands, such as the one held here by East, where you would like the Double to be take-out … but, a more common, and, in our view, better treatment is for this to be a penalty double … typically, the Doubler has some fast tricks, and expects to collect a number. There’s a lot to be said for East bidding 4♥ here, it’s as good a guess as any.
Over to West. Suppose that East has passed, and now West must decide whether to come in over 5♦ … we say “Yes”, let’s bid 5♠ here! There’s no way of knowing if this bid is the winner (as it happens, it is!), but it hardly seems right to take no bid in the auction with a good 7-card major and a void in their suit.
Yes, a tough hand for E-W, on this auction their partnership requires one non-mouse.
North’s sequence shows a 3-card limit raise in Spades, and South naturally declines the invitation. See Play Problem # 3.
West ends up in a comfortable 1NT contract. This one is an exercise in overtricks, please see Play Problem # 4.
Back on Board 20 we were somewhat scornful of East’s Redouble, but here’s one that is fine. We also like North’s original Pass, with her square 12-count.
As it happens, 3NT is being played from the wrong side, and a Spade lead is fatal to the contract (if Declarer calls for Dummy’s King, West must duck). However, a Heart lead seems more normal, after which the defense can do no better than to score its 3 Aces.
© BES, Inc All Rights Reserved | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Home Hand Analyses Bidding Quizzes Play Problems System Library | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
