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Hand Analyses         3rd January, 2007

 

 

 1

♠ A7

AJ98

QJ652

♣ KT

 

♠ Q9

KQ654

T7

♣ A765

          North

West             East

          South

♠ JT53

732

K83

♣ 984


Dlr     North   
Vul     None 



 

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♠ K8642

T

A94

♣ QJ32

West    North   East     South

1        1NT     Pass    2

Pass    2♠        Pass    3NT

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

A tame start to the New Year!  West  makes his first, but no doubt not his last, light opening bid of 2007, and North arrives in 3NT via a transfer sequence (playing “systems on” after a 1NT overcall).

 

Against 3NT, East leads the 7, “top of nothing”.  Put yourself in the West seat.  What do you play at Trick one?

-         if you cover the Ten with an honor, you will hand Declarer 3 Heart tricks, which may be enough to take her to 11 tricks;

-         if you play small, Declarer will be able to score just two Hearts, but the downside for the defense is that she scores those two tricks without having to lose one.

 

It turns out that the winning choice is to play an honor at Trick One, making sure of a Heart trick for the defense, and two altogether.  If West plays low at Trick One, Declarer makes a surprising 12 tricks … 2 Spades, 2 Hearts, 5 Diamonds and 3 Clubs.

 

Next, let’s look at the Diamond suit.  Declarer leads the Q which holds.  What should Declarer do on the second round of Diamonds?  Lead the Jack hoping to pin the doubleton Ten in the West hand? … or lead a low Diamond, hoping for doubleton King in the West hand?  Either could work, but the percentage play is to lead the Queen.  Why?  Because with Kxx of Diamonds East is unlikely to cover … with Kx of Diamonds he probably will in order to promote Partner hoped for Ten (as in the actual deal).

 

 

 2

♠ KQ975

94

A3

♣ KT64

 

♠ AT2

652

T52

♣ Q852

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 8643

KQ3

KQJ7

♣ 93

 

Dlr       East
Vul      N-S 


 
 
 
 
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♠ J

AJT87

9864

♣ AJ7

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    1

Pass    1♠        Pass    2

Pass    2NT     All Pass

 

Here’s another skimpy opening bid, this time by South.  There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with a partnership style which opens these marginal hands, but here are a couple of corollaries to that style:

-         When South opened 1 with this minimal hand she did so based on her 5-4 distribution, and it follows that her second bid should be to show that second suit, rather than to rebid 1NT.  Don’t think the Diamond suit is worth bidding?  Maybe not, but in that case the hand was not worth opening!

-         Facing a Partner who opens light (with hands like the South one), we need a little bit extra to bid game … on the actual deal, North has a decent 12-count, but we would not stretch this to game opposite a frisky opener, we would merely invite.

 

2NT is quite high enough and 8 tricks are likely to be made on either a Club or a Diamond lead, when Declarer gets the Hearts going.

 

 

 3

♠ K87642

A5

AJ

♣ A52




Bidding Quiz (North)

♠ A93

QJ9832

9

♣ 843

          North

West             East

          South

♠ JT5

764

T8532

♣ K9

 

Dlr     South
Vul     E-W 

 


 
 
 
 
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♠ Q

KT

KQ764

♣ QJT76

South   West    North   East 

1        Pass    1♠        Pass

2♣       Pass    2        Pass

3♣       Pass    3        Pass

3NT     Pass    Pass    Pass

 

A difficult hand for N-S!  The first five bids were simple enough … that 2 was Fourth Suit Forcing, let’s assume to game … then South’s 3♣ confirmed at least 5-5 in the minors.  Now North is in a truly awkward situation.  No suit has been agreed, North has extras, and South may or may not have extras … does this hand belong in Clubs, Spades, or No Trump? … in game or in slam?  We discuss this in more detail in the Bidding Quiz, for the time being let’s just say that 3 was intended as a temporizing bid.

 

West will no doubt lead the Q against 3NT, and South will figure that she is just a successful Club finesse away from making 12 tricks.  However, the Club finesse loses and then Diamonds break 5-1 and that holds her to just 10 tricks.

 

 4

♠ 9873

9

62

♣ KQT743

 

♠ QJ5

AT8

KT97

♣ 852

          North

West             East

          South

♠ KT6

KQJ763

Q3

♣ J6

 

Dlr     West
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ A42

542

AJ854

♣ A9

West    North   East     South

Pass    Pass    1        2

2        Pass    Pass    Pass

 

 

West did well not to get too excited with his square 10-count, and E-W came to rest in a cozy Heart part-score, making 9 tricks.  But it was unfortunate for N-S that North was taking a nap during the auction.  Yes, we like a 3♣ preempt with that beefy (well, almost) 6-card suit and nice shape.  Here’s what is likely to happen:

 

            West    North   East     South

            Pass    3♣       3        Pass

            4        Pass    Pass    Pass

 

After that 3♣, it’s hard to fault the E-W auction, the preempt just bounced them into a hopeless game.

 

 

 5

♠ A964

T6

Q6543

♣ AJ

 

♠ J873

K843

A

♣ K963

          North

West             East

          South

♠ QT52

A2

T9

♣ T9742

 

Dlr     North
Vul     N-S 


 
 
 
 
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♠ K

QJ975

KJ872

♣ Q5

West    North   East     South

            1        Pass    1

Dbl      Pass    1♠        3

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

Another light opening and another restrained sequence by Responder.  With 5-5 shape and 12 HCP’s opposite an opening bid, one would usually be going to game somewhere or other, but South’s hand is Aceless and has apparent wastage with that singleton K♠.  In 3 there are 4 obvious losers, so staying out of 3NT or 5 will be rewarded with a good board.

 

 

 6

♠ KT76

K76

973

♣ 764




Bidding Quiz (East)

♠ AJ9

J9542

J6

♣ KQ9

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 854

AT842

♣ AJT82

 

 Dlr     East
 Vul     E-W 


 
 
 
 
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♠ Q32

AQT83

KQ5

♣ 53

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    1

Pass    2        2NT     Pass

3♣       Pass    Pass    Pass

 

A nice 2NT bid by East … as a passed hand this bid can hardly mean anything other than the minors, and that enables E-W to settle into a comfortable Club partial.

 

Against 3♣, North leads a Heart, ruffed in Dummy.  Declarer plays on Diamonds immediately, and it turns out to be 10 tricks when both minors behave.

 

 

 7

♠ A532

QT632

K

♣ AT6


 

Bidding Quiz (East)

Bidding Quiz (South)

♠ 8764

A85

QJT7

♣ J8

          North

West             East

          South

♠ KQT

J

86532

♣ KQ72

 

Dlr     South
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ J9

K974

A94

♣ 9543

South   West    North   East 

Pass    Pass    1        Pass

2        Pass    Pass    Dbl

3        Pass    Pass    Pass 

 

The first time around East declined to double with minimum values and only 3 Spades, but he could hardly resist balancing with a Double of 2.  With that extra Heart South was always going to push on to 3 and was quite right to bid it immediately, rather than give the opponents a chance to find their own fit.

 

The N-S hands fit well and 10 tricks can be made, the defense being unable to stop two Spade ruffs on the board … even a Heart opening lead does not help, as West is unable to get back in to lead the third round a trumps.

 

 8

♠ A732

K52

QT7653


Bidding Quiz (West)

Bidding Quiz (South)

Bidding Quiz (North)

♠ J

863

AJ84

♣ AQ543

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 854

AJ94

92

♣ 8762

 

Dlr     West
Vul     None 


 
 
 
 
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♠ KQT96

QT7

K

♣ KJT9

West    North   East     South

1♣       1        1        1♠

Dbl      2♠        Pass    2NT

Pass    4♠        All Pass

 

How to bid those opening hands which are 4-5 in the minors has become a recurring theme in The Wednesday Game and we go there once again in the Bidding Quiz, which is where we also explore the N-S sequence.

 

4♠ is a fine contract.  There are two Aces to be lost and the real question is whether or not Declarer can muster up 11 tricks.  Two lines present themselves:

-         Set up the Diamonds … this will require 3-3 Diamonds or doubleton Jack and trumps 2-2, more adverse splits will be impossible to handle.

-         Try two ruffing finesses in Clubs, making 11 tricks when West has both the Ace and the Queen.

If there was any doubt as to the better line that disappears the moment West leads a low Heart, to East’s Jack and Declarer’s Queen.  Now, East is marked with the A and J, which leaves just 12 enemy points unaccounted for … surely West needs them to justify the opening bid and will hold ♣AQ.  So, Declarer wins the Q, leads the K♣ covered by the Ace and ruffed, crosses back on a trump and takes another Club ruffing finesse, for 11 tricks.

 

 

 9

♠ AK842

KJ762

7

♣ A8




Bidding Quiz (West)

♠ QJT65

Q

K63

♣ JT94

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 73

A953

AJ85

♣ KQ3

 

Dlr     North
Vul     E-W 

 


 
 
 
 
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♠ 9

T84

QT942

♣ 7652

West    North   East     South

            1♠        Dbl      Pass

1NT     Pass    Pass    Pass

 

 

Over 1NT, North might have been tempted to bid 2, and that would work out rather well on the actual deal.  But, it’s a dangerous bid with such poor Heart spots and with East likely to be sitting over with 4 of them, so we don’t fault North for passing.

 

Against 1NT North will no doubt lead a low Spade, after which Declarer knocks out the A♣ and takes 7 easy tricks.  Deep Finesse tells us that it is possible to beat 1NT, do you see how?  Yes, North must find the astonishing opening lead of the K!  This pins Declarer’s Queen and allows the defense to score 4 Hearts, 2 Spades, and a Club.

 

Suppose that West passes the Double, trying for a penalty.  How does 1♠ doubled fare?  It’s possibly down two which would be a fine board for E-W except for one small detail.  North will not play it there when she can try another 5-card suit … she’ll bail out to 2, hoping that this is not a case of out of the frying pan into the fire.  She gets lucky when Declarer shows up with 3 Hearts, and 2 produces 8 tricks.  And even if North decides to take her lumps in 1♠ doubled, she may well get out for down one

 

 

 10

♠ KQ2

QJ87

AJ73

♣ A7

 

♠ J

AK92

K82

♣ J9542

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 7653

T654

Q9

♣ KT8

 
Dlr     East
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ AT984