|
Hand Analyses 26th July, 2006
In the featured auction, that 2♣ bid is not what it may seem to be. Some partnerships play Drury opposite a 3rd seat major suit opening, whereby 2♣ is used to show a fit for Partner’s major. If you play Drury, you may also want to play it in this situation, where North throws in a take-out Double. Drury is well worth playing in our view, even if you are not big on gadgets.
With or without gadgetry, E-W will cruise into the Heart game. The layout is extremely friendly for Declarer and carefully timed play brings in no fewer than 12 tricks. For more on the play of the hand, see the Play Problem.
No doubt West should have passed 1♠, but there’s method to our madness, as 1NT turns out to present an interesting Play Problem. As for the play in 1♠, it’s hard to predict, but surely Declarer will come away with at least 7 tricks.
It’s always tempting to make white versus red preempts, and that no doubt was South’s excuse for his Weak Two. 2♠ is somewhat on the wild and woolly side, perhaps, but not unreasonable, in our view ... a typical white versus red "adventure". West is good value for that 3♥ bid, and might even have considered bidding game directly ... but, hopefully, only for a brief moment. Who could blame North for taking a crack at West’s vulnerable 3♥? However, the lure of the juicy +200 turns out to be the curse of the dreaded -730, except in the unlikely event that North is clever enough not to lead her Partner’s suit. Who's to blame for that -730? Neither player, in our view ... sometimes those frisky preempts and hair-trigger Doubles work ... and sometimes they don't!
At his first turn, North must choose between opening 1♦ and, er, well, actually there is no second choice, we'd rate this hand as clearly too good for a Weak Two. Correct hand evaluation by North ... in fact, she liked her hand so much that she even she took another call at the 3-level!
The bottom line is that E-W can make 3♥, but that N-S can fortuitously make 10 tricks in Diamonds. It’s hard to see how N-S can reasonably compete that high, and, surely, at most tables, the final result will be 2♥ or 3♥ scoring +140.
At first glance, this might seem like an obvious 3♥ bid for West. For a second glance, see the Bidding Quiz.
If N-S end up in 3♠, with both red Kings in front of the enemy Aces, it looks like down 2, for the dreaded -200. But, that won't always happen. Fortunately for the 3♠ bidders there are a couple of ways for the defense to slop a trick, here they are: (a) East's opening lead is the A♥ ... we've all been warned about leading unsupported Aces, but, when it's our suit and Partner has raised, it's less likely to blow a trick. Even so, we don't much care for the lead, and are hardly surprised to notice that it does indeed give up a trick. (b) East leads a trump ... it looks safe enough, but actually it just puts off the evil hour ... Declarer wins the trump lead, removes the other trumps, and leads a Club. East alertly hops up with the Ace, and may well misguess by cashing the A♥, allowing Declarer to escape for down one.
If E-W play in 4♥ then the friendly layout which allowed them to beat 3♠ by two tricks also allows them to make 10 tricks as Declarer. But, 3♥ making 4 may not score so well ... it will depend on how many of their counterparts bid the game, and how many defend 3♠ accurately.
N-S can make a few Diamonds on this one, but their chance to compete successfully goes out of the window when West opens 1♦. In the final contract of 3♣, 9 tricks will be possible one way or the other.
After three Passes, some players place great store in counting up their Cansino points (Spades plus HCPs), and then passing if the total is less than 15. This procedure would be most unfortunate here, as East would be passing out a hand where E-W can make 11 or 12 tricks in Hearts! Regardless of the Cansino point deficiency, East clearly should open his hand, plain common sense says that it has too much playing strength to pass.
Not only does our featured East open in 4th seat, he also makes a jump rebid to 3♥! We like the bid, it's aggressive to be sure, but the 6-4 shape is quite enticing ("Six-four, bid more"!), especially considering the potential of that lovely Club suit.
In the play of 4♥, South will start with the K♦, and Declarer will ruff the second round. Now, he runs the J♥ successfully, leads another Heart (the Queen popping up), ruffs a Diamond, AK♣, ruff a Club, draw the last trump (pitching a Spade) and Declarer's hand is good. That’s 12 tricks! Yes, the defense could have done better … North can overtake the K♦ and shoot back a Spade, knocking out Declarer's side-suit entry to the long Clubs ... Declarer can still set up the Clubs and enjoy them, but he cannot do that and score two Diamond ruffs, so 11 tricks is the limit.
South leads the K♣, does well to continue with the A♣, and the defense scores 4 Club tricks on the go. Now, North shifts to a Spade, but Declarer will score 7 tricks. If he tries for a greedy overtrick with the Heart finesse, he’ll be down one.
That 4♦ by South was a flavor of Leaping Michaels, showing at least 5-5 in Clubs and Spades. Perhaps this should slow down West (it now looks like there is Heart length on his left) but he charges in to 6♦ regardless.
The play of 6♦ contains a trap for the unwary and another trap for the greedy ... please see Play Problem # 45.
Of course, N-S have a profitable save in 6♠. North can hardly bid 6♠ with that characterless hand, South must at least have thought about it and decided that it was altogether too much of a gamble. Then again, passing was also a gamble!
6♠ doubled goes down just 4 with careful play ... please see Play Problem # 46.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
