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Hand Analyses 6th December, 2006
Against 3NT, East has no good reason not to lead the unbid suit, won by Dummy’s A♥. This is not a good contract! There are 7 tricks in Dummy, and the stranded K♥ in Declarer’s hand, and poor prospects for any other tricks. Declarer’s best chance is to cash four Clubs right away, not so much with the intention of squeezing the opponents, but to strip them of convenient exit cards. As it happens, East does come under some pressure as well, and must pitch major suit cards. Declarer can afford to pitch 2 Spades and a Heart from her hand. Now, a Diamond to the Jack and the Queen, and East is end-played. He cannot lead a Heart, that gives up two tricks (K♥ and Diamond finesse), and playing on Spades doesn’t help. His best chance is to exit a Diamond … Declarer finesses successfully for her 8th trick, cashes the A♦ and this is the end-position: Declarer ♠ J85 ♥ KT ♦ ♣ West East ♠ A4 ♠ KT9 ♥ J97 ♥ Q ♦ ♦ 9 ♣ ♣ Dummy ♠ Q7 ♥ ♦ 87 ♣ 6 Now, Dummy cashes the last Club, West and Declarer pitch Hearts and East is squeezed. Clearly, he cannot pitch a Diamond … a Spade pitch will force the defenders to play a Heart at Trick 13 … so he tries pitching the Q♥. Now, a low Spade from Dummy and the defense is helpless.
A most complicated hand with which to start the set!
North’s 2♦ was Fourth Suit Forcing, in this case the purpose being to investigate a 5-3 Heart fit before settling on 3NT.
This auction calls for the Q♦ lead. West ducks, Declarer’s King wins the trick, at which point Declarer can count 8 top tricks, with the possibility of 11 if both black suits behave. The only suit which involves a decision is Clubs where the question is “Finesse or play for the drop?” The a priori odds (that is the odds before garnering additional clues) favor playing for the drop (54% to 44%). But it doesn’t harm to do some exploratory work before taking the key decision, and we suggest this sequence of plays: Win the K♦ Cross to the A♣ (precaution against J♣ singleton with West) Back to the K♠ and Q♠ (looking for clues in the distribution) In the absence of clues, play the Clubs from the top. Playing two Spades before making the Club decision will pay dividends if East were to show out on the first or second. If this were the case, the Club odds would shift dramatically, there would be presumed Club length with East and the finesse against the J♣ would be the right play. But nothing informative happens to persuade Declarer to go against the a priori odds, so she plays for the drop.
When the Clubs don’t work, Declarer has one more decision to make: - Should she establish her 9th trick by losing a Club (risking defeat if Diamonds are 5-2)? - Or should she play for 3-3 Spades (going down if they are 4-2)? On the lie of the cards both lines work, but we think that the better play is to lose a Club.
In this auction, E-W were dicing with death for a while! Even though their side has the majority of the HCP’s they were in trouble as soon as East (quite reasonably) overcalled 1NT. West had 7 HCP’s and could not sit idly by … his Double of 2♠ was card-showing, typically a hand with invitational values and at least two Spades. East was having no part of 2♠ doubled, his hand had rather poor defense for a 1NT overcall, so he tried to bail out in 2NT, a contract which was destined for at least -200. Fortunately for E-W, South couldn’t resist bidding 3♥ and the danger was averted. Well, it was averted only if both East and West were able to resist the temptation to double 3♠.
Playing in Spades, N-S have 9 easy tricks, and we predict a sprinkling of making doubled contracts on the scoresheet … look for results like +570 and +530 in the N-S column.
On the previous board, where there was also a 1NT overcall, we discussed (in the Bidding Quiz) some conventional treatments that Responder (West here) might use in this situation. Well, this particular West was unencumbered by such sophisticated methods and was able to raise Diamonds naturally. As on Board 3, the partner of the 1NT overcaller had 7 HCP’s and also as before he did not think he could sit idly by. Again, his Double was co-operative in nature, merely showing some values. East must have been tempted to pass the Double in pursuit of the +200, but guessed well to bid 2♥.
Playing in Hearts, N-S will make 8 or 9 tricks, depending upon Declarer’s ability to guess the Diamonds correctly. Playing in Diamonds, E-W score a lucky 8 tricks when everything behaves.
They say that troubles come in threes, and so it seems do 1NT overcalls, at least if West thinks that his 14-count qualifies. We know that we would bid 1NT here, that T♠ looks like a big card, and, if we are going to be a tad light, when better than when White vs Red? North is not quite good enough to double 1NT, and if she has a natural 2♥ bid available (see Bidding Quiz to Board 3) that should be her choice.
It transpires that the 1NT overcall we advocated merely jockeyed the opponents into the perfect spot … the trump suit is most friendly and 8 tricks come home with careful play, the only losers being a Heart, a Diamond and 3 Clubs.
What happens if West decides not to overcall 1NT? His only real alternative is to pass, and now North will bid 2♥ … yes, it’s pretty minimum, but that 5-card major is too good to hide. 2♥ will probably get passed out, although West will no doubt be wondering why he never took a call with the best hand at the table.
We wouldn’t chastise East for his vulnerable preempt on that broken suit, but it certainly will not be a success if the auction proceeds as shown. South’s Double is quite minimum, but she is following the dictum that she who hath the shortness in the opponents’ suit hath a duty to get into the auction whenever reasonably possible. North has a perfect penalty Pass … not enough for game, trump tricks, red opponents, who could ask for more?
Against 3♦ doubled, the defense will score +200 or +500, depending on South’s lead. Against a suit contract, leading from Kxxx is slightly safer than leading from Kxxxx, so we would guess to lead a Heart. This turns out to be a lucky guess, it’s the lead that gets +500, anything else and the Clubs will provide a Heart pitch.
The question here is whether or not South’s hand is worth an invitation to 3NT. In the featured auction, 2NT was a Transfer to Diamonds, at which point Opener can express an opinion of his hand and Diamonds by bidding either 3♣ or 3♦. One bid says “Good hand for Diamonds” and the other one doesn’t … different partnerships play it different ways, this N-S obviously use 3♣ as the more encouraging of the two bids, but South still must decide whether or not to go to game. We would not go to game ourselves, which shows how much we know because 3NT makes 9 tricks. But we would point out that Opener has a full 17-count, and AK♦, and the Diamonds are 2-2, and the Heart finesse works for the 9th trick. So, an unlucky board for those N-S pairs who stayed out of the poor game.
North clearly belongs to the school of thought that avoids letting the opponents play in 1NT at almost any cost. The Double was a DONT bid, showing a one-suited hand, after which South dutifully bid 2♣ and found herself as Declarer.
In 2♣, it takes double dummy defense to hold Declarer to just 8 tricks … Spade lead to Dummy’s Ace, Diamond to the King, Diamond to East’s Ten, low Club to the Queen, two more rounds of Clubs, revert to Spades. This stellar defense prevents the Diamond ruff in Declarer’s hand, and knocks out Declarer’s Spade entry before the Hearts can be unblocked. On less superhuman defense it’ll be 9 or even 10 tricks.
How does 1NT do? The Heart lead gives Declarer a 5th trick, and Declarer can get another trick by playing on Diamonds (low towards the Jack) or in Spades (finesse the Nine).
System Note: N-S were fortunate to be playing DONT on this board, that method allows 2♣ to be the final contract. Playing Cappelletti, that is not normally possible … 2♣ is the starting point to show all one-suiters, after which Partner bids 2♦ to find out which one-suiter it is … this propels the bidding to 3♣. However, in the above auction, North is a passed hand. By an unpassed hand, of course, Double shows a good hand, but as this holding is not a possibility by a passed hand, we’d suggest that the Double here asks Partner to bid 2♣.
If the auction goes as shown, then N-S can consider themselves a trifle unlucky. After Partner’s Weak Two, South can see that the opponents are most likely to have at least an 8-card Spade fit, so she boosts the bidding to 3♥ making it that much more difficult for E-W to compete. Alas for N-S, their opponents do not have that Spade fit, nobody can make much of anything, and it’s a case of “Why should they go down when we can?” We don’t fault North for preempting with a 4-card Spade suit, either, though some partnerships put this in the same category as devil worship.
3♥ is destined to go down one, but if South pusillanimously passes 2♥, things will work out much better for N-S. West will balance with a Double, and the opponents will stumble into a non-making contract.
An opening leader’s nightmare! It’s rarely fun to lead into a 2NT opening bid, especially when one has nothing but broken suits. Declarer is equally likely to have AQ in any of our long suits, so we might as well lead the suit which has the best chance of getting established, namely Clubs. This works rather well when West shows up with the Queen. Now, Declarer is limited to 5 Diamonds and two Aces for down one.
North’s Double was value-showing, at least invitational strength and at least two cards in their suit. Yes, you could play this as an out-and-out penalty Double, but we prefer North’s treatment, it will come up far more frequently (in fact, three times already in this still young set of boards!). South felt that she had enough to accept the invitation … true, she has 16 HCP’s, but the square shape and lack of Tens might have persuaded her to bid 2NT or pass.
A low Spade lead from West would be most dangerous, and probably also futile … even it Partner shows up with the J♠, it probably won’t help much as West appears to be entryless. With this in mind, West will probably lead the Q♣, which Declarer wins. The ensuing play is quite complicated with many variations and no line which is 100% obvious and correct. Here’s one possibility: Q♣ to the Ace Low Club, won by West’s Jack Club to Dummy’s Ten (safety first, there’s no obvious red suit shift) Diamond to the Queen Heart to the Jack and Ace Spade through, won by West’s Queen Diamond, ducked in Dummy, to East’s King Spade back, won by Declarer’s Ace At this point, the score is 4-4, and Declarer can count on 4 more top tricks. The 9th will come from a 3-3 split in one of the red suits. If Declarer now carelessly cashes the A♣ it will quickly be followed by a (hopefully) silent “Oh, #&@*!”, because she won’t know which red suit to pitch from Dummy. She needs to pitch the suit which doesn’t break 3-3, but it may not be obvious which suit that is. The expletive-free play is to cash two Hearts first, ending in hand … now, the situation is clarified, the Heart is pitched on the winning Club and 9 tricks are made when the Diamonds break.
Notation Alert! In future, when we give the trick-by-trick Play Movies, we’ll be bolding Declarer’s tricks, all the better to clarify the flow of the play and the on-going trick count.
South has a 4-loser hand which is plenty good enough for a game-forcing 3♦ rebid, notwithstanding the modest point count. North cannot have felt too comfortable going beyond 3NT with that 4♦ bid, but there was really no other option. Fortunately, South was able to bid Spades again and the optimal 4♠ contract was reached.
Against 4♠, lots of matchpoints will hinge on the opening lead. Here are some thoughts: - A Diamond lead would be unthinkable! - A trump lead would not achieve much, North is unlikely to have a ruffing value on this bidding. - North is unlikely to have Heart values … if she had she would probably have bid 3♥ over 3♦, giving South a chance to bid 3NT with a Club stop. - If North has Club values, there is the danger that they might provide pitches for Declarer’s Heart losers. This all seems to point towards the opening lead of the A♥, and that is indeed the winner, holding Declarer to 10 tricks … any other suit and it’s 12 tricks.
Is it not possible that the A♥ might blow a trick? Sure, Declarer might have ♥Kx and East might have the Q♥. But, even then, there is the chance that at least one Heart could go away on the Clubs. All in all, the A♥ looks like a stand-out.
West reasonably decided that Michaels was the best way to get his majors into the auction. After North had doubled to show some values, East could hardly do less than bid 4♠, and North could hardly not double.
A trump lead stands out on this auction, and to see how Declarer now makes 10 tricks, please go to Play Problem # 102.
East has another of those Weak Twos that will not be to everybody’s taste, but that does not stop N-S from getting to 3NT in a hurry.
Against 3NT, East leads the J♥. Declarer has 7 red suit tricks, and can establish a Spade trick and a Club trick easily enough to secure her contract. But matchpoint players are never satisfied with merely making their contract if there is the opportunity for an overtrick. Declarer can try for a 10th trick by finessing the T♠ … or, alternatively, by playing on Clubs, hoping that either the suit is 3-3 or that there is doubleton or singleton Ace with East. As can be seen, playing on either suit brings in a 10th trick. But do you wonder which is the superior line of play? We suggest winning the A♥, leading a Club to the King, and, when that holds, leading a low Club hoping to fell the doubleton Ace. West will win the second Club and return a Diamond. Now what? The choices are: - Either, abandon Clubs and take the Spade finesse, which is better than 50% because of the presumed Spade length with West - Or, persist with Clubs, hoping that they are 3-3 … if East started with four Clubs to the Ace, he’ll win the third round and must now cash the A♣ and shift to a Spade … if he fails to do this, Declarer gets a second chance of a 10th trick by playing on Spades (now the A♣ will not score a trick) We’d finesse the Spade, the odds seem better, even allowing for East’s misdefense opportunity.
We’re not a big fan of Weak Twos on a 5-card suit, but this one looks like a good candidate … a good suit, some shape, and we are White versus Red. Yes, it’s hard to resist! And it certainly works well on this particular hand … East ups the ante with 3♥ and N-S are frozen out of the auction.
3♥ will probably be down two, which at 50 a clip is a pretty good bargain compared with scoring -130 against their Diamond contract.
The West hand is at the top of the 5-10 Weak Two range, but we think that it is a bit too good. It passes the Rule of Twenty for starters, and, if you want to take off a bit for the doubleton Queen, then you should add it back on for those two useful-looking Tens.
Against 3♥, North leads the J♦ won by Declarer’s Ace. Declarer could choose to play it fast and loose here, by setting out to establish the Diamonds as follows: Win the A♦ Finesse the Heart Nine Ruff a Diamond Heart to the Ace Ruff a Diamond Cash K♥ Lose a Heart Win the return and run the Diamonds This line of play makes no fewer than 11 tricks. But, it’s something of a long shot, requiring the Q♥ with North, Hearts 3-2 and Diamonds 3-3 (or Kx with South) … if it doesn’t work Declarer may well wind up with just 7 tricks and an ugly -200. We’d estimate the chances of 11 tricks at no better than 20%, poor odds indeed, but the winner on the actual layout.
Well done if you made 11 tricks, but it might be safer to lose a Club at Trick Two, keeping other irons in the fire, and not relying solely on the Diamonds. The ensuing play is complicated in the extreme, but all routes seem to lead to at least nine tricks. If the defense never shifts to Spades but instead persists in leading trumps to avert the Club ruffs, then the Diamonds might get established anyway. But South will surely see the danger and shift to a Spade in time. Here is one variation of the play: Win the A♦ Run the 7♣ to South’s Queen Heart to Dummy’s Nine Ruff a Diamond Lose a Club to South’s Ace (North cannot attack Spades, so must duck) Spade to the Queen, King, Ace Ruff a Diamond Ten of Clubs, covered by the King, and ruffed Diamond from the board, ruffed by South, Declarer pitching a Spade This leads to 9 tricks for Declarer.
East doesn’t have much of a holding in the enemy Heart suit, but the hand looks as no-trumpish as can be, so we too would bid 1NT in preference to 2♦.
It seems normal enough for South to lead the T♥, run around to East’s Queen. Now the A♦ is knocked out, and with the A♣ favorably placed that’s 7 tricks for Declarer. South can beat the contract by leading a Club … and North can beat the contract by hopping up with the K♥ at Trick One and shifting to the Q♣ (a far from obvious defense!).
Back to the bidding. North might well have opened the bidding 1♥, of course. It’s a tad light, but it would be nice to get that splendid suit into the auction. If North does open 1♥, things will be more spirited and E-W might find themselves competing to 3♦ down one. It’s one of those hands where going plus can hardly be bad.
Whenever we deride a board as being “flat” or uninteresting”, that’s usually the cue for some emails explaining all sorts of highly interesting outcomes. Anyway, on this particular flat, uninteresting board West leads the J♥ against 1NT, and pretty soon Declarer is wrapping up 8 tricks (9 if the defense doesn’t cash out when in with the K♦ or A♠).
An optimistic and unsophisticated auction by E-W! But such auctions often lead to interesting contracts and so it is here. Declarer’s most likely source of 10 tricks is 5 Hearts, a Spade, 2 Clubs, and 2 ruffs on the board. To counter this, South does best to start with a trump. Declarer wins the trick in his hand, cashes two Clubs and ruffs a Club. Now, he leads a Spade towards his hand, presenting North with a dilemma. If she ducks, Declarer gets his entry back to his hand, and the second Club ruff … if she flies with the Ace and leads a trump, she stops the second ruff but only at the expense of handing Declarer a second Spade trick. Either way, it’s 10 tricks.
If you found the featured auction to be unspeakably unscientific, then please consult the Bidding Quiz for something a bit more high-tech.
East might well lead a trump rather than make one of those risky side-suit leads. Although her side has half the points and a 4-4 fit, Declarer cannot see very many tricks unless she gets the Hearts going. With that in mind, the play might develop as follows: Spade Nine to Declarer’s King Heart to the King Low Heart won by East’s Jack Diamond shift to East’s King Diamond to the Ten A♦, ruffed on the board Heart ruff Spade to the Ace Now, Dummy’s Hearts are run, and West can ruff in whenever he likes … Declarer makes 9 tricks. Why wouldn’t Declarer try playing the Jack on the first or second round of trumps? It was unlikely that East would lead away from the Queen, so the odds were better to hope for doubleton or singleton Queen with West. Also, look what happens if Declarer carelessly finesses the Spade on the second round of the suit. West wins the trick, leads another Diamond, which Declarer must refrain from ruffing in either hand to retain if she expects to enjoy the Hearts. That will be only 8 tricks for Declarer.
Anyone for an Unusual No Trump with the West hand? We don’t think so! Better to use that device when the hand is weaker, otherwise how will Partner know what to do when he has, say, a 12- or 13-count?
Did any Norths bid 2♠ over 2♦? They do say “Support with support”, but there are limits! This North hand has an astonishing lack of usefulness on offense … only 4 points and 3 trumps, no Aces, no Kings, no distribution.
Against 3♦, North will no doubt lead a Spade. It can hardly be a singleton but might be a doubleton so South would do well to duck this. On the board for the first and last time Declarer must play the Q♦, repeating the finesse in South does not cover the first time. Then it’s A♣ and out a Club, and Declarer loses just a Spade, a Heart, and two Clubs.
For the second time in this set, a Michaels bid was appropriate with 4-5 in the minors. What are your methods after your side has bid Michaels? Please see the Bidding Quiz for more on this.
N-S might well have stumbled into game with their big Spade fit, but it turns out that 3♠ is quite high enough. Should be 9 tricks and +140.
The only consolation for North here is that most of the other Norths will surely be in the same awful contract. Declarer has 5 top tricks, and the only prospects of any more are a 3-3 Diamond break (which she doesn’t get), a miracle in Clubs (sadly absent), or an opening Heart lead (surely not!). So, the final result of down 3 for -300, although rather painful as the play is unfolding, might turn out to be not far removed from an average board.
Bad things usually happen when both partners underbid or both overbid on the same board. But here, N-S got it just right … North overbid, South underbid, and on average they were perfect! We rather like the N-S auction, though, especially North’s heads-up bidding … when her RHO bid 2♣ she was entitled to wonder where were the Spades … less than 4 on her left (no Negative Double) … RHO has 9 or 10 cards in the minors, not much room for many Spades there. The odds were clearly that Partner had a few, probably 4 or more, hence the Double of 2♣ instead of rebidding the Hearts. Then, with the opponents bidding and raising her void she took a shot at game next time around. As for South, she surely was tempted to bid 2♠ over 1NT, and was no doubt delighted to get a second chance.
In 4♠, Declarer has only the red Aces as obvious losers, but there are handling problems, and making just 10 tricks will be a fine result. Along the way, South, as Declarer, may have a little fun. Say that West leads a Club, ruffed on the board. Now, Declarer doesn’t have the entries back to her hand to play on Hearts whilst also keeping enough trumps on the board to look after the Club leads. So, she might as well play on Hearts from the board. Our own choice would be the J♥, after which one of these good things might happen: - Maybe East will hold Axx and suspect that you are “up to something”, perhaps trying to sneak a trick with the singleton Queen in your hand … if so, he’ll wrongly guess to fly with the Ace - Or, maybe he will hold Qx or Qxx (no Ten), and will give Declarer that “I wasn’t born yesterday!” look as he smoothly plays low. - Or, maybe he will hold QTxx (as on the actual deal) and prove that he was indeed born quite recently by covering with the Queen. Any of those eventualities will make an excellent story in the bar after the game as you explain how you managed to wangle an 11th trick. But, even if no story emerges, playing Hearts early from the board is the safest way to develop 10 tricks.
A delicate auction by N-S to a perilous contract. North was not quite good enough for a jump shift so she settled for a simple 2♣ rebid … South was not quite good enough to rebid 3♦ (showing invitational values) so she settled for 2♦. Now, North was worth a game try, and 2♥ was the obvious choice. What does this bid mean? Presumably it does not show Hearts, with such a hand North would no doubt be bidding No Trump herself. The obvious interpretation is that North has some extras and is angling for No Trump if Partner has the Hearts covered. South does indeed have the Hearts under control (though only just!) and the least she can do is to jump to game with her own extras.
The play looks simple enough but it does contain a small trap for the unwary Declarer. West, of course, leads a Heart to East’s Ace, and a Heart is continued to Declarer’s King. At this point Declarer’s fate hinges on the Club finesse … down one if it loses, making 10 or 11 tricks if it succeeds. Most Declarers we know prefer 11 tricks to 10, and that requires correct play in the Club suit. The plan should be to lead a low Club to Dummy’s Jack, and, if that wins, to cross back to hand on a Diamond and lead another low Club towards Dummy. This is the best chance of bringing in 4 Club tricks, catering for K or Kx with West as well as the more friendly and Declarer-proof holding of Kxx. If Declarer makes the mistake of leading the Q♣ at Trick Two, she’ll have only 10 tricks.
West was obviously not a DONT player because his Double was for penalty. Both North and East must have been apprehensive about passing the Double but neither had anything worthwhile to say.
Against No Trump contracts, it’s “standard” (but not universal) for the lead of the Ace to ask for Partner to unblock an honor, and, failing that, for Partner to give count. Therefore, West’s opening lead is the K♦ which East encourages with the Eight. Now comes the A♦ and a Diamond to East’s Jack. It would be fine play now by East to delay cashing the second Diamond, and, instead to shift to another suit … his plan would be to get in later with the Q♦ to lead again through Declarer. It won’t be obvious which of the other three suits is the best shift, but full marks to East for at least shifting to something. The winning shift is a Spade which beats the contract two tricks, other shifts (or an immediate cash of the 4th Diamond) and it’s down just one.
East has enough for game, but which game? He cannot be sure that Partner has 4 Spades, so he bids 3♦ to find out more. For more on this, please see the Bidding Quiz.
Against 3NT, South leads the Q♦, won by Declarer’s Ace (no point in ducking when North has just one Diamond). To make this contract, Declarer needs to establish two Clubs and a Heart or vice versa. The key missing cards are the A♣ and the AK♥. Where are they? We have no idea, but it’s likely that South has precisely one of them … with none she would not have enough for her 2♦ … with two of them she would probably have too much. At Trick Two, we’d lead a Club to the King, which holds (we should bear in mind that North might duck with the Ace). Now, a Heart towards the QJ9, but North jumps up with the K♥ and South shows out. Declarer continues with A♥ and another Heart and Declarer has 9 tricks. Well, sort of, he has communications problems and cannot come to all his tricks without relying on 3-3 Spades or a (most unlikely) major suit squeeze against North. Upon winning the Q♥, Declarer leads a Club towards the board … now it is South’s turns to hop up, and she wins the Ace and reverts to Diamonds, won in Declarer’s hand. Now, over to Dummy on a Spade, cash the Q♣, and lead a Spade hoping for the best. Spades are 3-3 and it’s 9 tricks.
We’d expect 10 tricks to be made at most tables. Leading the A♦ does not look particularly attractive with the suit being bid on our right, so South might decide that the best plan is to draw trumps and stop the Diamond ruffs on the board. If she plays AK♥, then another Heart, and then a fourth round when she gets in with the K♦, she will certainly stop the ruffs on the board … but Declarer has 10 tricks anyway, thanks to the kind Club suit and the 3-2 Spades.
We did manage to find two highly improbable defenses which will hold Declarer to just 9 tricks, and, if only to demonstrate that those Deep Finesse results are not always deeply rooted in reality, we present these defenses as follows: - South leads a Spade, wins a Heart, leads another Spade, wins another Heart, and underleads his Diamonds! North wins the Queen, and gives Partner a Spade ruff. - South leads the A♦, and continues with a low Diamond, ruffed on the board. Now, the best that South can do is to go after 3 Diamond ruffs on the board (the third must be with the Eight), but that will still allow South to score a 4th trick in either Diamonds or Hearts. Did any N-S pairs find one of these defenses? No, we didn’t think so.
A typical hard-fought part-score battle, with a little gadgetry thrown in. Here are some of the highlights: - South’s 1♠: Yes, it’s kind of minimum, but it does have some redeeming features, please see the Bidding Quiz - North’s Redouble: This was a Support Redouble, showing exactly 3-card support for Partner’s Spade suit - South’s Pass of 2♣: True, South has support for Partner’s Diamonds, but here in the direct seat it’s probably best to pass, we don’t want to encourage Partner to compete to the three-level - North’s Double: North refuses to sell out at the two-level … - East’s 3♣: … and East likewise
N-S were on the verge of disaster in 2♦, destined for the dreaded -200, but nobody can fault East for bidding on to 3♣. Against 3♣, a Diamond lead from South holds Declarer to 10 tricks. But South might reasonably decide that Spades is a more promising start, in which case 11 tricks are possible … Declarer plays on Hearts at Trick Two, and eventually the long Heart is established, giving Declarer two Diamond pitches from his hand.
In the face of the enemy preempting, N-S were groping around for a place to play, and finally stumbled into the only game contract with a chance to make. How would you set about making this highly optimistic contract on a Diamond lead? Please see Play Problem # 103.
This hand might well be passed out, it’s all up to North. Most of us are familiar with this guideline for opening in fourth seat … if our Cansino count (Spades plus HCP’s) is 15 or more then we open. In third seat, the Cansino count is also useful and it suggests that North should be making a light opener, notwithstanding the crummy suit and crummy hand. Opening 1♣ turns out to be the winner, it’s likely to get N-S a plus score. They’ll either make 1NT, or, if E-W compete to 2♥ they’ll go down one. Going plus cannot be bad when half the field is passing out the board.
We introduced Professor Oddbid on this site last week. He’s the guy that makes bids which might not occur to everybody … they don’t always work out (but often they do!), but they are always well-reasoned, albeit occasionally off-center. That 2♦ bid by South shows Heart support and invitational values, and is an Oddbid special. He didn’t like the obvious alternative of 2NT, and here was his logic: - Opposite an overcall, a 1NT bid shows around 8-11 HCP’s, so 2NT here would be 12-13 or thereabouts - 2NT on a minimum hand with an imperfect Diamond holding is overly committal when we have Heart tolerance - Bidding 2♦ gives us the best chance of staying low when Partner has a minimum overcall. It turns out that 4♥ is the likely destination, with or without Oddbid logic. It also turns out that both 3NT and 4♥ makes 10 tricks (thanks to North’s J♦), and any pair who got to 3NT will have finished this set with a top board.
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