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Hand Analyses 7th June, 2006
How about that 2♥ bid? Is 2♦ an alternative? No, the basic rule in this situation, with that 6-4 shape, is to rebid the Hearts with a minimum hand. But see also this week’s Bidding Quiz for more insights on this.
4♥ will be the contract ... please see Play Problem # 17 for the recommended route to 11 tricks.
Nowadays, most partnerships have few qualms about opening 1NT with a 5-card Major, and that certainly seems like a reasonable choice with the East hand. Now, as West, would you invite to game (via Stayman) or Pass? It’s a close call! We like to invite with good 8’s and bad 9’s … those Spade fillers look rather good, but the rest of the hand doesn’t. The winning guess here is to pass, and even 1NT will be tough sledding.
What do you rebid as South? The obvious choices are 1NT (though some players dislike this with a singleton in Partner’s suit) and 2♦. Usually, with this distribution, we would opt for a 1NT rebid. But here the Diamonds are so good, and our majors so weak (non-existent, even), that, if a NT contract is to be played, it would be better to play it from the other side, thereby protecting Partner’s major suit honors. However, 2♦ is not without some down-side, as it will make it impossible to find the Heart fit if Partner happens to be 5-4 in the majors and less than invitational in strength ... so, 1NT is a reasonable alternative.
There is nothing to the play. If you rebid 2♦ you play it there and score +130. And, if you rebid 1NT you play it there and score +120.
N-S should power into slam with their 4-4 Heart fit and combined 32 count. 6♥ makes with some ease, but 6NT is actually a better contract, because it is possible to overcome a bad Heart break (with the aid of a good Diamond guess). But, let’s face it, it’s tough to play in 6NT when we are all so conditioned to play in the 4-4 major fit. Consider also that, without the T♣, 6♥ is a better percentage contract, so let’s not kid ourselves that this is an easy hand to bid to 6NT. Anyway, 6♥ is average plus, and 6NT is close to a top.
Back to the bidding for a moment. What did South mean by that bid of 5♦? Why not 4NT? Blackwood is generally not a good idea when you have two top losers in an unbid suit. For example, North might hold: ♠ JT, ♥ AT54, ♦ AQ3, ♣ AKJ2, and, in response to Blackwood, she would show the same 3 Aces (or Key Cards) as she would with her actual hand. But, as can be seen, using Blackwood does not solve the problem of the 2 fast Spade losers. So, instead of Blackwood, South tries 5♦, he is showing something in Diamonds, and denying a control in Spades and Clubs, both being cheaper cue-bids that she by-passed. In the actual hand, with Spades and Clubs both covered, and a hand loaded with controls, North can leap to slam. With the hypothetical hand, North will see the problem in Spades, and will sign off at the 5-level.
Our featured auction is not all that it appears to be! That 2♣ bid by South was not showing Clubs (even though she has them) ... no, it shows a decent hand and Spade support, it's purely conventional, and is a special treatment used by passed hands opposite an opening bid of 1♥ or 1♠. It's called Reverse Drury.
11 tricks are pretty easy, all that is needed is a Heart ruff on the board.
That 2♣ rebid by West was New Minor Forcing, an artificial bid ... usually Responder is checking to see if there is a playable major fit. His later bid of 3♠ was forcing, offering a choice of games, and East had an obvious preference.
Yes, 6NT certainly has a play, but it’s against the odds, and on the actual layout it has no chance.
Yes, North’s Negative Double, with that minimum square hand, really is scraping the bottom of the barrel (we prefer a Pass here), and such bids often lead to -200 at this vulnerability. But here North is spared that indignity when E-W buy it in 2♠.
In the play, Declarer will lose 3 Heart tricks, and a Diamond, and must guess the Spades for 9 tricks. There's no good reason why Declarer should guess the Spade situation, so that Q♠ will likely be the 5th defensive trick.
West will open 1NT, and East will have three possible plans: Plan A: Just play it in 1NT ... those Queens certainly look No-Trumpish, but we do have a singleton Diamond, and the Club suit is so weak that it may not set up unless Partner has a good fit. Plan B: Play it in 3♣. Most partnerships have a way to get out in 3 of a minor after a 1NT opening, most usually after a transfer sequence. Plan C: Play it in 3♣ or 3NT, depending upon Opener’s opinion. If you play 1NT 2♠ as a transfer to Clubs, and if you further distinguish between Opener’s rebids of 2NT and 3♣ (one of these should like Clubs, the other one should not like Clubs), then you can try 3NT if Opener has a Club fit.
We would choose to play in 3♣, regardless of whether Opener said he liked Clubs. Our second choice would be to Pass 1NT. Trying for 3NT is a bit optimistic in our opinion … say that East transfers to Clubs, and West says “I like Clubs!” … now East bids 3NT, and although Opener has a maximum, all Aces and Kings, including 3 Clubs, 3NT has no play on a Diamond lead … even on a non-Diamond lead, Clubs must be 2-2 for the contract to make.
To summarize, we suggest you play it in 1NT (+120 or +180, depending on the lead) or 3♣ (+130). But steer clear of 3NT which deserves to go down, but which might even make on a non-Diamond lead, thanks to the 2-2 Club break. If you bid this crummy game, and made it, then at least show some consideration to the opponents you have just fixed. ... rubbing your hands with glee is not an option!
There’s not much to the play if South leads a Spade ... Declarer runs the Clubs, takes the Heart finesse, holds his breath, and it’s 9 tricks when the Q♥ wins.
But suppose that South dutifully leads Partner's so-called Diamond suit. North will hop up with the Ace, and surely should shift to the K♠. Now, Declarer has 9 tricks without the Heart finesse. Should he go for broke and try for 10 with the Heart finesse? This risks ignominious defeat in a cold contract if the finesse should lose ... but the bidding says that the Heart finesse will likely work, so we say "Go for it!".
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