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Hand Analyses 14th June, 2006
In the balancing seat, non-vulnerable, with 13 HCPs, West will be most reluctant to pass meekly. His first question should be "Who's got the majors?" ... not North, if her bidding is to be believed, she has denied a 4-card major with her 1NT bid ... true, South could be 4-4 in the majors, and North 3-3 in the majors ... but, in any other scenario, East must have a 5-card major. So, bizarre as it may seem, we would suggest a balancing Double, notwithstanding the 2-2 in the majors. It turns out that East actually has a six-card Heart suit, and 2♥ is likely to be the final contract.
Looking at all 4 hands, it looks as if Declarer has 5 obvious losers in 2♥ … he’ll lose 2 Spades, 2 Hearts, and a Diamond. But, he also has that 4th Spade to worry about, how can he avoid that loser? Well, with normal play, he really cannot, he needs Qx of Hearts in the South hand, or else the Spade Queen must be doubleton or tripleton (with or without the Ace) in the South hand. Neither of these things happen, and the end result is likely to be down one. True, the contract can be made on some obscure lines, but it's not clear that they have better odds. One such line would be to establish the Clubs (postponing the drawing of trumps), cross to the Spade King, lead a Club (pitching a Diamond or a Spade), and force one or other of the opponents to fatally weaken their trump holding.
Back to the bidding. How about an immediate 2♥ by East? Not everybody would condone such a Weak Two, no doubt complaining about the topless suit, and the 4-card major on the side … valid points both, but non-vulnerable there’s a lot to be said for getting in there. It’s primarily a matter of style. After the some-would-say-dubious (we would say "enterprising") 2♥ opening, it’s hard to see how any of the other three players can find a good excuse to bid, so 2♥ will probably buy it.
East has a lively distribution, and is white versus red, but has nothing worth saying in first seat. But, after North opens in 4th seat with a 1♣ bid, the gloves are off. At this point in the proceedings action is required! It would be nice if East could show both of his suits here, but, using “standard” methods, he cannot … he can show the two lower unbid suits (with The Unusual 2NT), or the majors (with Michaels), but what he cannot do is show Diamonds and Spades. Given the unavailability of a two-suited bid, we rather like 3♦ here, that white versus red thing sometimes makes us go crazy … but, seriously, at this vulnerability, bidding a mere 2♦ would be quite lame in our view.
Anyway, after 3♦, South has no satisfactory bid. The choices were between 4♣ and Double, and we don’t care for either very much! The trouble with 4♣ is that we have a balanced hand and this bid takes us straight past 3NT, which may well be our best contract. The Double at least keeps 3NT in play, so that would be our choice. What is the world coming to? ... on Board 1 we suggest a take-out Double with 2-2 in the unbid majors ... and, on Board 2, we recommend another one, with just 3-3 in the majors!
Once the E-W pair starts preempting in Diamonds, and South shows some values and Club support, it would be feeble of North not to try for slam. And, well done E-W if they found the 6♦ sacrifice. This will go down 4, -800 instead of -1370.
Any thoughts on East's 6♦ bid? Is it really kosher to take another call after preempting, furthermore doing so in front of Partner? Normally it's not, but West is a passed hand, and East does have extreme distribution ... if it turns out that West's 5♦ had bounced the opponents into a bad slam, then East will just have to apologize profusely at Trick Fourteen.
At this point, South is good enough use Roman Key Card Blackwood ... do you play Minorwood or Redwood? We highly recommend one (or even both) of these conventions ... here they provide South with a cheaper way to ask for Key Cards, allowing the partnership to stop in 4NT or 5 of the minor if the response shows that 2 Key Cards are missing.
6♣ has all manner of practical chances. But, there’s a foul split lurking out there, and a Spade lead from West will get ruffed, then a Diamond back, and another ruff. Down two! Is it clear that East will lead a Spade? Not really, so, if you were West, defending 6♣, and you are still waiting for that Spade ruff, then unlucky, but a Spade lead from Partner was far from obvious.
Statistically, it’s a less than 1% chance that the defenders will have a Spade ruff on the go, so if you went down in 6♣ that way, you were desperately unlucky.
North decided, quite reasonably, that her hand was not worth a vulnerable 3♥ bid in second seat, but then later she bid up to 3♥ anyway, emboldened by Partner’s opening bid.
Both sides will make one less trick in real life, than they would make in the bar after the game with the benefit of Hand Records. Whether the final contract is 3♥ by North, or 3♣ by East, the trump Queen is likely to score a trick in over-the-table play … and so both contracts are destined to fail, even though they can be made in double-dummy play.
This hand might be called the Tale of Four Queens. Each of the Queens, two on each side, is worth a trick on defense, but is quite worthless on offense! In 3♥, E-W’s major suit Queens are both favorites to score a trick for the defense, whereas Declarer's minor suit Queens are waste paper … and in 3♣, the defense's minor suit Queens score a trick (or, in the case of the Q♦, promote a trick), while Declarer's major suit Queens are mere spectators. See more on this theme in Board 24.
As a matter of fact, one of the reasons why North should not open 3♥, is the possession of those two Queens. As we just saw, both of them turned out to be quite useless on offense, but valuable of defense … quite the opposite of what we expect from our preempts!
West’s sequence of doubling, and then bidding a new suit, shows a very good hand. Of course, West does have a very good hand, and some might be tempted to bid even more with those 21 HCPs and that solid Heart suit. But, in the featured auction, West did plenty … he has 5 losers in his hand, and needs some help from Partner if game is to be made.
As it turns out, even 3♥ is not such a great contract, and only makes thanks to the most fortunate Diamond situation.
Over 2♣, North sensibly decides not to mess around with a Fourth Suit Forcing sequence, and just goes straight to the obvious game.
We don’t recommend a low Heart opening lead from East, but on this board it would be truly devilish, no doubt causing Declarer to misguess and holding her to 10 tricks. However, East does have a miserable hand from which to lead, and a Heart does seem like a reasonable choice … but, if it is to be a Heart, most will lead the Ace (not that we like leading unsupported Aces, either), and now a prompt Club shift is needed to hold the contract to 11 tricks.
Anyone for the opening lead of the J♣? Not unreasonable, but it will put West on the spot ... should he overtake and try to give Partner a ruff? ... if he does, Declarer has an easy 12 tricks when the Diamonds break. We'd expect most Wests to get this one wrong ... Partners hate it when they don't get their ruff, and who wants to risk that?
North is in an awkward, but not uncommon, situation here. She would like to play this one in 3NT or 4♠, depending upon whether or not South has 3 Spades. In fact, North is in exactly the same situation that she would be in if South had rebid 1NT instead of 2♣. After the 1NT rebid, most players use New Minor Forcing (or some other checkback method) to investigate the 5-3 major fit. And, yes, you can use it in this sequence, too! So, after 2♣, North bids 2♦, and now South shows that 3-card support.
Without that 2♦ device, North would be totally up the creek … 2♠ is not forcing, nor is 3♠ (which should show better and longer Spades, anyway), and 3NT would give up on a 4♠ contract. So, 2♦ is the practical bid … it’s forcing, and it gives Partner a chance to support Spades. In fact, on this hand, you might well make the bid regardless of whether you and your Partner have discussed its meaning, it seems like a safe enough way of investigating the 5-3 fit.
As can be seen, 4♠ is definitely the place to be (at least when the Club King is off-side!). Suppose that East leads his Club. Unless East is known to be extra-tricky, it looks like the K♣ is with West ... in that case the best play is to hop up with the Ace, draw just two rounds of trumps (leaving a high trump on the board), then knock out the K♣ ... if the hand with short Clubs is also the hand with the doubleton Spade, then Declarer will make 12 tricks, but, as it happens, the defense does get its ruff and it's only 11 tricks.
The defense does better by leading a red suit, and the play is quite interesting. Please see Play Problem # 21.
This auction could well be repeated a few times during the course of the session. Much to South’s chagrin, West will manage 8 tricks! In fact, even 9 in a couple of scenarios. In the play, Declarer must use his Diamond entries to take Club ruffs. Expect a sprinkling of 470’s and 570’s on the score-sheet.
When they invented the Negative Double, showing support for the unbid suits, it’s probably fair to say that they did not have East’s specific hand in mind. No, let's forget about the Negative Double ... this hand should be bidding Spades, and then Diamonds, all the way to the 5-level ... or, should we bid Diamonds, and then Spades, all the way to the 4-level? An interesting choice, please see the Bidding Quiz for more on how to handle East’s once-a-year hand.
Regardless of how East sets about bidding his hand, N-S will bid to 4♥, and very few Easts in this world will let them play there. So, 4♠ or 5♦ is likely to be the final contract. In 4♠ it's possible to make 11 tricks with a correct trump guess, but normal play will lead to 10 tricks. As for 5♦, that much more fun to play, especially if they lead a Heart ... please see Play Problem # 22.
East might have considered opening his hand, after all it does pass the Rule of Twenty, but Pass is fine, too, especially as the hand has so little in the way of defense. We think that the featured E-W auction is a reasonable effort, in the circumstances (East, as a passed hand, intended 3♣ as natural), notwithstanding the fact that the final contract is rather poor. Poor, perhaps, but it does have the virtue of making ... with Spades 3-3, and a successful finesse of the T♣, Declarer gets his 9 tricks before the defense can get 5.
Back to the bidding. If E-W play Two-Way Reverse Drury, then 2♦ is not available a a natural bid. In this case, perhaps E-W also use this gadget for a minor-oriented passed hand: Pass 1♠ 2NT Shows a hand with both minors.
The question is "Does this 2NT show a good hand or a weak hand?" On this particular deal we'd love for it to show a good hand, and that is the recommended treatment ... we prefer that the bid be constructive in nature, with a weak hand we would pass or bid 1NT. The constructive 2NT gets E-W to 3NT in a hurry, of course.
West’s 2NT was the Unusual No Trump, showing the two lower unbid suits. North is close to taking a shot at 4♠, but instead chose to invite game in Spades ... yes, that strange-looking 3♦ actually showed Spades (please see our Link for more on this). And South was also close to taking this to game, but her Spade support is rather poor, and the Diamond values are not pulling their weight, so she subsided in 3♠.
Because of the bad trump break, 4♠ is destined to go down one. Does that mean that N-S were lucky to stay in 3♠? No, the bad trump break was quite likely on the bidding, and even if trumps were 3-2, there would be various ways whereby the defense might score a 4th trick ... such as Diamonds 6-1 (Diamond ruff), Diamonds 5-2 (trump promotion), Clubs 4-1 or 5-0 (Club ruff). So, all in all, staying in 3♠ seems about right.
To be quite honest, we don’t much care for East’s premature leap to 3NT … his holding in the unbid suit is far from ideal. He would have been better advised to try Fourth Suit Forcing here. But, be that as it may, 3NT, from one side or the other, will be the end result, and the contract is destined to go down, probably by a couple of tricks. The defense will attack Spades, and Declarer will go after Diamonds ... as it happens, South's pesky 7♦ is a 3rd stop, so Declarer does not have the timing to set up an 8th trick, she'll just have to cash her 7 tricks and give up.
Do you agree with South’s 2♥ bid? We think it’s fine, but please see the Bidding Quiz for more on this one. Perhaps East was tempted to make a balancing Double of 2♥, and no doubt would have done if he had been non-vulnerable.
In the play of 2♥ Declarer will lose 4 or 5 tricks, depending upon his ability to guess the Q♠. The 4-1 trump split with the length in the West hand suggests Spade length in the East hand, so we would guess to play East for the Q♠ ... and on this occasion we would be right!
West’s 2♣ was an “Inverted Raise”, showing a limit raise or better in Clubs, and denying a 4-card major. Then, East’s 2NT was natural, and showing a minimum hand. West, with an extra Club, and also a minimum hand, signed off in 3♣.
The cards are most friendly for Declarer, and 10 tricks are possible, even if South gets a ruff in Spades. In fact, with all the cards so nicely placed, 3NT makes, though, with 13 opposite 10, it’s hard to see how E-W can reasonably reach this contact. But, a top board if they did!
After this auction, a Heart lead will seem most unattractive to East, and the safest and most obvious start is the J♣. Now, the safe way to play the contract, and also one which gives you good overtrick chances, is to win the opening Club lead with the Ace, and run the 9♠ (this is the best way to develop the Spade suit while also keeping West off lead and avoiding the potentially dangerous Heart shift). Normally (and on the actual hand) this will lose to the Queen or Jack, and a Club will come back. Now, Declarer cashes KQ♦, then a Diamond to the Ace. Then, another Spade lead collects 10 tricks. And, if the Diamonds had been more accommodating, it would have been 11 tricks.
South is mighty close to making a limit raise on this hand, perhaps just a point or a couple of Club fillers shy. So, N-S settle into the relatively comfortable contract of 2♠.
It’s easy to see how 2♠ might be held to just 8 tricks. K♥ lead, ducked by Declarer … Club shift, won in Declarer’s hand … Spade to the Jack, losing to the King … Club ruff, Diamond back, and another Club ruff. Of course, looking at all 4 hands, Declarer can do much better, but +110 for N-S should be a common result.
Another “New Minor” auction, but this time there is no 5-3 fit and 3NT is reached.
East has a truly ugly set of opening lead choices, but the rules say that he has to lead something, and he’ll probably choose a Spade. Declarer can count 8 tricks, once she has knocked out the A♦, and she must hope that the 9th comes from some luck in one of the minor suits … on the face of it, it may seem that she needs Clubs 3-3, or the T♦ to come down in the first three rounds of the suit. But, it may not be that simple. For example, Spade lead to the King and Ace … Diamond to the King … then the J♦, which East ducks! Devilish defense! Now, Declarer’s best chance is to cash AKQ♣ (getting the bad news of the 4-2 break), lead a Heart to the Ace, and then play the Q♦, squashing the Ten. That’s 9 tricks for Declarer (yes, 10 are available if you go after Hearts early, but that is an anti-percentage line).
An interesting auction! West’s 2♦ was the so-called “waiting” bid, merely denying a good hand with a biddable suit. West’s next bid showed Heart support, and some values, too … as the auction is game-forcing, 3♥ here is more encouraging that 4♥, it’s the Principal of Fast Arrival in action. 3♠ and 4♣ were both cue-bids, showing a control in each of the bid suits. How about 4♥? The point here is not what it shows, but what it denies … East does not have Diamond control! So, however good West might happen to think his hand is, he should not venture beyond game without a first- or second-round control in Diamonds.
How do you play 2♣ 2♦, 3♥? A common treatment for this bid is that it sets the trump suit, and initiates cue-bidding. So, an alternative approach to this East hand. But, either approach will lead to 11 tricks in 4♥, for +450.
It’s hard to be too critical of North’s 4♦ bid in this auction, but she would have done better to pass and let South make a sporting double of 3♠. This contract goes down in the face of repeated Diamond leads. But, making 4♦ should not be such a bad board either, beating those N-S pairs who sold out to 3♠ undoubled.
Some players would decline to use Stayman with the West hand, they would simply bid 3NT directly, saying that their hand has a square shape and no ruffs, and a pathetic Heart suit to boot. That’s all well and good, but that does not mean that Opener’s hand is without a ruffing value.
And so it is on this deal … if South leads a Club against 3NT, Declarer is held to 9 tricks … but 4♥ makes 10 tricks on any defense. Strangely enough, it’s because the Heart suit is so feeble that 4♥ is a better spot. In No Trump, the opponents will (or at least “may”) attack Clubs, getting their 4th trick before Declarer can get his 10th. But, in 4♥, those feeble trumps provide protection against the Club attack, as we laboriously knock out the high trumps.
But, we don’t want to over-simplify here. On other layouts, it’s not impossible to see how the defense might arrange a Spade ruff, for example, making 3NT the preferred contract. A complex subject, no easy answers.
System Note: After Partner opens 1NT, what does your bid of 3♦ mean? Heaven knows, there enough alternatives out there ... weak, invitational, strong, one-suited, two-suited, three-suited, take your pick. But, if your own preferred method hardly ever comes up, you may want to consider playing "Stayman in Doubt". In this method, you bid 3♦ whenever you have a square hand with a 4-card major (and game-going values), and, if Opener also has a square hand with a 4-card major, he declines to show it and simply bids 3NT. It's a nifty way of staying out of those major suit games where there are matching square distributions.
After that minimum 2♠ opening, N-S will get to 4♠ or 4♥, but individual methods will dictate the route and the destination. Please see the Bidding Quiz for more on this auction.
N-S make 11 tricks in either major.
North’s 1♣ bid is quite marginal, she might well have passed out the hand. But, she does have 11 HCPs and 4 Spades, and “Cansino point” devotees will approve. It was certainly natural enough for North to Pass her Partner’s 1♥ bid, but the unfortunate thing about this was that the 4-4 Spade fit got lost.
3♦ makes 9 tricks, but, alas for N-S, so does 3♠.
And now for something completely different. Going back to North's opening bid decision, there is something to be said for an opening bid of 1♠ ... yes, really, the bid has some merits, though being a lead-director is not one of them. If you open 1♠, Drury will protect you from an exuberant South, and if she responds with 1NT then you have an easy Pass. Something to think about.
N-S charge into 4♠ on a sensible auction. We highly approve of the 2♠ call, to rebid 1NT here would not be a good idea with that worthless Club doubleton.
4♠ is an excellent contract. The defense will lead Clubs, but the short hand is able to take the force, then trumps are drawn and it’s 11 tricks when Spades are 3-3. Even if they had been 4-2, Declarer still manages 10 tricks … she draws three rounds, and runs the Diamonds, letting them take their trump winner at their leisure.
Some players shy away from those 4-3 fits, and, to be sure, they can be difficult to play, trump control is frequently an issue. But these N-S hands are perfect for such an adventure … good trumps, a ruff in the short hand, and a source of tricks in a side-suit.
South’s 3♥ bid is purely preemptive, of course. She knows she will compete to the 3-level sooner or later, and she does so right away, trying to make life difficult for the opponents. That is part of her job description, after all.
3♥ is destined to go down a trick, which is no doubt disappointing to N-S. After all, they do have 20 combined HCP’s and 10 trumps, and yet only 8 tricks are available, with normal breaks and no enemy ruffs, and not a single losing finesse! How can this be? On Board 4, we had the Tale of Four Queens, and here we have another one! N-S have all four Queens, and, in 3♥ these four cards contribute precisely zero tricks. Even the Q♥ is not much use (given a 2-1 trump break) because we have a 10-card fit. Take away all those Queens, keep the same 6-4 Heart fit, but now with just a combined 12 HCPs … the end-result? … 3♥ is still down just one! And our point? That Queens are over-rated in the HCP scale, just as Aces are under-rated (and Tens aren’t even rated at all!). Worst of all are those dangling Queens, unsupported by other honors (as in the minor suit Queens on this hand). We're not saying that Queens are always completely useless, of course, merely over-rated.
How does 3♣ or 3♦ fare, played by E-W? Deep Finesse says they make, normal play says they are down one in real life.
An awkward auction for N-S, but they handled it well. North had a rebid problem, after South’s 1♠ response. Clearly, too good for 1NT, so the choice was between 2♣ and 2♥. 2♣ is a bit short in the Club department, and a bit long in the strength department … and reversing into 2♥ is a slight overbid (only 15 HCPs, but then, on the other hand, not a Queen in sight!). You choose. Our own (mild) preference is for the underweight reverse.
As it happens, the slender reverse propels N-S into a reasonable slam. But one that requires careful play to maximize the chances for success ... please see Play Problem # 24.
After 1♦, South could bid the Unusual 2NT, showing the two lower unbid suits. But that hardly seems right here, the Hearts are longer, and so much stronger. Our own choice is 3♥, something of a stab in the dark, it won’t always work out well, but it’s a reasonable shot. After 3♥, it will get passed back to East, and he can hardly not double. Now, E-W is in a complete pickle! West will run to 4♦, and will probably escape undoubled, but that will still be an ugly -200. Nice preempt, Ms South!
A simple auction. East will lead a Diamond, but which one? The standard lead with this holding is the Jack, and this will keep Declarer in the dark ... East could have led from AJT or JT, it's not clear. But many pairs play that the "9 or 10 shows 0 or 2 higher". In that case, East will lead the Ten, pretty much much eliminating all mystery from the hand for Declarer. Either way, Declarer should win the King in hand, cross to the K♠, and finesse the J♣. When this wins, there is the prospect of a vast number of tricks! And, if you are pretty sure that East has that A♦, then this is a safe line of play. After winning the J♣, lead towards the J♥. This is the route to 11 tricks if East has the Q♥, and if Clubs are 3-3.
The auction subsides in 2♠, which makes 10 tricks only because of a most friendly layout.
After South’s game-forcing 2/1 response, N-S got themselves into a tortuous auction. 3♦ was something of an improvisation. How about that 3♥? It’s a 4th suit bid, you’ll probably get a few different explanations of what the bid should mean if you ask around. What this particular North intended was not to offer up Hearts as a possible place to play … no, his intention was to try to get Partner to choose between 3NT and 4♠. Yes, not only tortuous, but also murky.
Anyway, 4♠ is the place to be, for +650. 3NT is a somewhat lucky make, but only +630.
Yes, it’s yet another New Minor Forcing Auction, in fact the third of the set. The 5-3 fit is found, and the three obvious tricks are lost. This one should be completely flat, but that's always a dangerous prediction.
Another 4th seat "To open or not?" decision, and again it's the Spade length which is the persuading factor. This hand illustrates well the power of the Spade suit in these situations, as E-W get quickly to a 2-level contract for +110.
Not a particularly elegant auction, but the final contract is reasonable enough. But it would be better played from the South side to protect the Club holding ... played from the North side a Club lead will hold Declarer to 9 tricks, otherwise it's 10.
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