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Hand Analyses 17th January, 2007
Would you open the North hand? Those 11-point hands with 5-4 distribution certainly pass the Rule of Twenty but this one does not pass the rule of common-sense in our opinion, too many flaws, please see the Bidding Quiz.
In the E-W sequence, how do you play East’s 2♠ bid? The two most common interpretations are: - Weak: Typically 5-4 in the majors … East was hoping that Partner had a 4-card major and when that turns out not to be the case, he elects to play in 2♠ - Invitational: Same type of distribution but with a better hand.
Our own preference is for the latter treatment, but in fact we’d bid the hand the same way using either method! If East is using the invitational approach then his sequence is a slight overbid, but worth trying anyway as it maximizes the chances of playing in the right major.
In 2♠, notwithstanding the 5-1 trump break, Declarer can scramble 8 tricks easily enough. He has 5 side-suit tricks, and the K♠, and a Club ruff for 7 tricks, after which the brute strength of his J98 against South’s AT65 will be good enough for one more. It turns out that Diamonds is the place to be (worth 10 tricks) but that’s not going to be found after the 1NT opening.
N-S might have competed in Clubs, either via a dubious opening bid by North or a DONT bid by North, and once they have found their fit they are likely to push on to the 3-level, perhaps via this auction: West North East South Pass Pass Pass 1NT 2♣ Dbl 3♣ ?? East’s Double was Stayman, and E-W are now destined for a bad board unless West can be a hero twice over. First, he must speculatively double 3♣. Then, when East leads a Club (as prescribed by the auction), West can cash a second Club if he likes but must then shift to Hearts, ensuring that Partner does not get end-played in the majors later on … down two for an heroic +300 and a top board!
South leads a Spade to North’s Jack and Declarer’s King. One route to instant defeat is for Declarer to play AK♦ and out a Diamond, losing two Diamonds, two Spades, and the A♣. As North is the “danger hand” it’s surely better to play on Clubs first by crossing to the A♥ and running the 7♣. When this holds, Declarer continues Clubs until North wins his Ace. At this point, it seems natural enough for North to persist with Spades, allowing Declarer to score a second trick in the suit, and 10 altogether … the way for the defense to hold Declarer to 9 tricks is for North to shift to the Q♦, allowing the defense to set up their 4th trick in Diamonds, before Declarer gets his 10th trick in Spades. Not an obvious shift, by any means.
Back to the bidding. If you are wondering why East did not rebid 1♠, it was because the E-W pair were playing Walsh-style. Using this method, West would not bother to bid his Diamond suit if he had a 4-card major, unless his hand was of game-forcing strength. So, East can safely suppress his own 4-card major, safe in the knowledge that Partner cannot have a major unless is going to bid again over 1NT.
North’s 4♠ was a discouraging bid, the Principle of Fast Arrival at work. How much would North need to make a more encouraging 3♠ bid? That’s a partnership choice, of course, our own style is that we would not bid 4♠ with any hand that contained a first- or second-round control … yes, even holding ♠ xxxx, ♥ xxxx, ♦ x, ♣ xxxx we would show some signs of life (on this hand via a 4♦ Splinter). If that was the N-S style in the featured auction, then South would have no qualms about passing 4♠, notwithstanding her 26 HCP’s.
In 4♠, West does best to lead a trump, and Declarer can now count 10 tricks. She has no entries to the board for the Diamond finesse, but gets her 10th trick by playing Diamonds from her hand and scoring a ruff on the board. Can Declarer do better? Yes, but only by risking the contract. Try this exotic line of play: Win the trump lead Lead the K♣, West ducking (otherwise it will be twelve tricks!) Low Club to West’s Ace Trump continuation Cash A♦ Lead the Diamond Queen to East’s King! This line of play risks everything on the player with the K♦ not holding the last enemy trump. Making 11 tricks as the cards lie, but only 9 if East had owned the last trump.
Congratulations to West on finding that trump lead! On a Heart lead, for example, Declarer can play along similar lines as described above, making 11 tricks without risking the contract.
Pretty cautious bidding by East, he might well have gone straight to game with that hand. Despite that, and the fact that Opener has a maximum with a good fit for Partner, 4♠ has no chance if North leads her singleton Heart, setting up a ruff for the defense. Is this one of those hands where we wish that we were not playing transfers and that we had been able to play this one from the East side? Actually, no! If South is on lead, she can start with the T♣ … if Dummy’s Ace wins that trick, the defense can get a Club ruff … if Declarer lets North win the opening trick, then a Heart shift gets the defense a Heart ruff (though North might well misguess and try to give Partner a Club ruff at Trick Two).
Drury has to be one of the most useful of conventions, we use it opposite a third seat opening (or fourth) to show a fit and a decent hand and to check on the soundness of that opening bid. But, is it on in competition? That’s up to the individual partnership, our own preference is “Yes!”, so, in the featured auction, North’s 2♣ showed Spade support and some values. But, with or without Drury, surely all N-S pairs will zip into 4♠.
If E-W are clever enough to cash their Clubs on the go, they’ll no doubt score 3 tricks, the singleton K♠ being the third. But we would expect most Wests to lead the Q♥ and the play could unfold tragically (for the defense) thusly: Q♥ lead won by Dummy’s Ace K♥ pitching a Club A♦ and ruff a Diamond Club, alertly won by East’s King (though to no avail) Spade shift won by Declarer’s Ace (making sure of the 2nd ruff) Diamond ruff, felling the King Now, Declarer gets back to hand with a ruff, draws trumps, and scores a whopping 12 tricks!
It’s tough to see how N-S can get to the Club slam. North does not have much of a hand, but she does have the right hand … Spade shortness, fitting Diamond honors, and a 4th trump. Congratulations and a top board to any pair that bid this great slam.
How about East’s bidding? Most players will open an AK, A hand, but then he was in an awkward situation after Partner’s Negative Double and North’s 3♣ bid. He wants to show the show the Spade fit (or “likely Spade fit” we should say, West does not promise 4 of them), but does not have the values or the distribution to go to the 3-level. We think that 3♠ was a brave effort, which is a polite way of saying that we would pass 3♣ and hope that Partner can come back in with another Double.
Imaginative Defense Department: Yes, 3♠ by East was perhaps a bit much, but it will go unpunished. However, suppose that South bizarrely doubles 3♠. How do N-S get the 6 tricks and +500 that they need to compensate for their non-vulnerable game? No problem! South underleads his AK♣ getting Partner in to give her a Heart ruff … now she underleads the AK♦ twice to get two more Heart ruffs!
2NT will be a miserable experience for North! Let’s say that East leads a Spade, or a Heart followed by a Spade shift at Trick Two. Declarer’s does best to take her 5 tricks and settle for down three, but she might futilely set up a Club winner instead, cashing the AK and conceding the third round of Clubs. Now, on the run of the Spades she will be squeezed … she’ll pitch the established Club and a Diamond, but on the last Spade she will be forced to part with either a high Diamond or a high Heart, either of which will hold her to just 4 tricks.
North had an awkward choice after 2♥, but fortunately Professor Oddbid came to our rescue. That strange-looking 3♣ was his idea, and we have set out his logic for this in the Bidding Quiz. But like it or not, 3♣ managed to propel N-S to the so-so 3NT contract.
It’s natural for East to lead a low Heart, which offers Declarer some temporary hope. Now, if East has the A♦ and the Q♣, this contract is making. Dummy’s K♥ wins the first trick (West must play the Three, he cannot spare anything higher) and at Trick Two Declarer calls for a low Diamond. West alertly hops up with the Ace and shoots back the T♥ … Declarer may cover this, blocking the suit, but East has the A♠ entry and the defense scores 4 Hearts, plus two Aces, for down two. Unlucky, Professor!
After West comes in with a Double, the winning call for East (at least in theory) is to pass and collect a paltry penalty of +100. But the Pass hardly looks attractive with that hand and we prefer the slight overbid of 2NT, which is where West will play it.
South’s opening lead could quite reasonably be Partner’s suit or one of her own suits. Here’s what happens in each case: - After a Diamond lead, North wins and shifts to Hearts, but it’s too late, Declarer scores a Spade, a Heart, 2 Diamonds and 4 Clubs, for 8 tricks and +120 - After a Spade lead, Declarer prevails by playing on Diamonds, and the defense must be careful not to let Declarer make 9 tricks (they must set up their Spade trick before Dummy’s Heart is established. - After the killing Heart lead, Declarer is in distinct danger of losing 7 tricks for a disastrous -200. We hate to give you a Play Problem where the dispiriting objective is to achieve an average minus by not going down two, but that is exactly what we have done here … please go to Play Problem # 119 to see if you can salvage 7 tricks and avoid a zero.
We wondered what Dr Goodlead’s opening salvo would be, so we called up our old friend and, instead of imperiling our looming deadline with his customary lengthy deliberations, he was for once straight to the point. “Not a Diamond, that’s for sure, so I lead a Heart, at least I can defend this to an irate Partner in the post-mortem … 4th best from my longest and strongest, my dear fellow, it’s in the first Chapter of Opening Leads 101, perhaps I should buy you a copy”.
System Note: Many partnerships extend their use of Lebensohl to cover the Partner of the Doubler of a Weak Two bid. It’s a recommended treatment, but like all gadgets it has a wrinkle or two. One such wrinkle is that some players who use Lebensohl here do not use it when the Double of the Weak Two is in balancing seat, finding the natural treatment more useful. So, we have no way of knowing whether today’s featured East is a neophyte who does not know Lebensohl from a hole in the ground or a sophisticated Super-Scientist who plays Lebensohl except opposite balancing Doubles.
Now here’s a rum auction! One side has a combined 23 HCP’s and never makes a peep, and the other side has a 9-card major fit but ends up playing in its 7-card major fit. Nonetheless, the featured auction makes complete sense! True, South might have tried a 2♣ bid at her first turn, but we don’t think that it quite measures up to a vulnerable overcall. Anyway, that was the last N-S chance to get into the auction and their 9-card Club fit fell by the wayside.
As for E-W, we like East’s opening with just 9 HCP’s, and if an opening bid is to be made he has to bid Spades then Hearts, as he does not have reverse values. Of course, the trouble with starting the proceedings with one’s second longest suit first is that sometimes the wrong suit ends up as trumps. Playing in Hearts, East has an easy route to 9 tricks. Playing in Spades, however, East must be at the top of his game just to make 8 tricks, please see how in Play Problem # 119.
East, with his square distribution, abundance of Queens, and astonishing lack of Tens, might well have downgraded his hand to a 1♦ opening, which would have worked out rather well, allowing his side to find their 9-card Diamond fit and score +110. But, 1NT will no doubt be the mainstream opening bid of choice and that runs the risk of getting E-W too high. West tries Stayman, and after 2♦ must decide whether to rebid 2NT or 3NT. It’s customary to go straight to game with a good 9-count, but we don’t believe that the West hand quite qualifies … again, no Tens, and too much stuff in the short suits.
Against a No Trump contract, if South leads a Club, Declarer loses the Diamond finesse and scores 8 easy tricks … 3 Clubs, 4 Diamonds, and a Heart. The defense has a better chance if South leads a Heart, in which case Declarer should rise majestically with Dummy’s King and take the losing Diamond finesse, putting South to an awkward guess. Does she try to get to Partner’s hand (for a Heart lead through Declarer’s Queen) with a Spade or with a Club? The Club might well look like a safer guess, but that will be 8 tricks to Declarer. Even worse for the defense would be if South leads a Heart hoping that North holds the Queen, that will give Declarer a 9th trick. But, if South somehow finds the Spade shift, Declarer is held to 7 tricks.
The play in 1NT will be nip and tuck, and the outcome will be 6 or 7 tricks. Here is just one of many possible lines of play: Diamond lead to the Ace Diamond return won in Declarer’s hand Club, North discarding a Spade, the Ten losing to the Jack Heart shift, won by Declarer’s King Club to the Ace, North discarding another Spade Club, won by South’s King, North discarding a Heart South cashes the A♥ Heart to the Queen South cashes the Q♣ The last Club, won by South. After all the back and forth, South finally has to break open the Spade suit, and that will be Declarer’s 7th trick if he guesses right, which he surely should, given the fact that South has already shown up with 12 HCP’s and is unlikely to have another Ace.
South had at least three reasonable choices after Partner’s 1♠ opening, please see the Bidding Quiz. In the featured auction, South chose the Jacoby 2NT, North showed Club shortness. South had a terrible Club holding opposite shortness and so she settled for game.
East does not have an attractive lead against 4♠ and may well settle for a Diamond, won by Declarer’s Ace. The obvious route to 11 tricks is to set up Dummy’s Clubs, so Declarer leads a Club at Trick Two, won by East’s Ace. The Diamond return is ruffed on the board, now a Club ruff with the Q♠, finesse of the Spade Nine, Club ruff with the Jack, finesse of the Spade Eight, cash A♠, mission accomplished!
How many Diamonds did you Souths open with this hand? No number seems quite right to us, we’d rate 1♦ as our favorite choice, please see the Bidding Quiz. N-S deserved a better fate in their 4♥ contract, on a different day the red suits would break 3-2 and 10 tricks would be a breeze. As it is, Declarer will be struggling to get out for down one, as follows: Opening Spade lead ruffed on the board Cross to the A♦ Cash A♠ and ruff another Spade Club to the King Cross to the A♥ K♦, pitching a Spade, ruffed by East Club to West’s Ten West cashes the A♣ Spade ruffed by North Now, East scores one more trump trick and Declarer escapes for down one.
We’ll be the first to admit that we don’t know what is South’s correct rebid in this auction, but that hasn’t stopped us from putting it into the Bidding Quiz. But, however South handles her rebid problem, it seems that 4♥ will be the final contract, and 10 tricks the end-result.
Back on Board 10, West was 5-6 in the majors, and we suggested that the right opening bid was the 5-card Spade suit. Here, North is 5-6 in Spades and Diamonds, but here we recommend a 1♦ opening, for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz.
Anyway, the two sides get into a Spade-Club bidding battle, and N-S will no doubt buy it in 4♠ at most tables. It turns out to be an unlucky hand for N-S, with all of the important cards (K♠, A♥, K♦) badly placed. As a result, 4♠ is down one. But the good news for N-S is that the favorable lie of the cards for E-W means that they can make no fewer that 11 tricks in Clubs … all it needs is a successful Spade finesse and Diamond finesse, an on-side A♥, and the correct guess in Clubs. No problem!
The hand illustrates the sometimes random nature of our quirky game. As the cards lie, N-S can make 9 tricks in Spades, and E-W can make 11 tricks in Clubs. But, had the inventor of bridge decreed that the cards should be played anti-clockwise, then N-S would have 12 tricks and E-W just 7 tricks. Quite a difference!
Some players prefer not to open 1NT with a 5-card major, nothing wrong with that school of thought, they’ll open 1♠ and cruise into 4♠. Playing in 4♠, South is destined to lose a trick in each suit (she’s hardly going to guess to drop the Q♥) and that will be down one.
In the featured auction, South had no qualms about opening 1NT, and she ended up declaring 3NT. A Club is led, Declarer wins the second round, loses the Spade finesse, and gets lucky when the Clubs are 5-2 with the A♦ in the short hand. The end result will be 10 tricks because Declarer will not need to risk the Heart finesse and will benefit from its dropping on the second round.
A triumph for the “open 1NT with a 5-card major” brigade, but it could easily have gone the other way. Just put the A♦ with the long Clubs, for example.
What an interesting deal, both in the bidding and the play! West’s 3NT was Gambling, North’s Double was value-showing, and South’s Double of 4♣ was, er, well, yes, what exactly does that Double mean? We’d say that it is Responsive, and for more on this please see the Bidding Quiz.
Against 4♠, West leads the A♣, and will probably continue with a Club, ruffed on the board. Now, Declarer must rely on 3-2 trumps, so she crosses to the A♠, and takes the Spade finesse. Now, the 3rd round of Spades squeezes East in the red suits … if she pitches a Heart then Declarer establishes her 10th trick in that suit … if she pitches a Diamond it’s even worse when Declarer cashes K♦ and A♦, ruffs a Diamond, crosses to the A♥, loses a Diamond, which sets up the 10th trick in Diamonds and the 11th from an end-play in Hearts!
How does 4♣ doubled fare? At first glance it looks as if Declarer will come to just 7 trump tricks, still not a bad result if the opponents can actually make their game. But N-S must be careful, especially if South (remember, this one will likely be played by East!) makes an opening lead of the A♠. She’ll realize the potential danger of a Spade ruff in Declarer’s hand and shift pronto to a trump which Dummy will win, and then comes another Spade, won by North. A trump continuation is not possible, and the only way that North can get back to the South hand (to stop Declarer’s Spade ruff) is by leading a low Diamond to Partner’s King. Will she? Yes, she really should get this one right. She’ll lay down the K♥ first, and get a discouraging card (saying, “No Ace or Queen over here!”), and shift to a low Diamond. South’s King wins, a Club is returned, the threat of a Spade ruff is averted, and Declarer is, indeed, held to just 7 top Clubs.
South made another one of those “1NT with a 5-card major” bids (see also Board 17), and North was faced with a choice of strategies, for which please see the Bidding Quiz.
The auction might reasonably land N-S in a Spade or a Heart part-score. If N-S play in Hearts, then the defense can organize a Spade ruff, but we would rate this as highly unlikely and so, in either contract, it is likely to come down to how Declarer plays the Spades. It’s an interesting combination, the hope is that we can guess which hand has the doubleton honor. On the actual hand, the winning play is to lead towards the Jack, losing to the King, and then, on the second round, to play low from both hands, felling the Ace. But, of course, if the E-W hands were switched, it would be better to lead towards the Queen initially. How is Declarer supposed to know? Actually, he cannot know, but leading towards the Jack is the correct play, it does a better job of catering for the 4-1 splits (picture one of the defenders with AKT9 to see why). Anyway, if you led towards the Jack, for whatever reason, you held your Spade losses to two, and made 9 tricks … if you went the other way, it’s only 8 tricks.
Against 1NT, North leads a Club, won by Declarer’s Jack. Now, A♦ and a Diamond to North’s King, at which point the defense is at the cross-roads. One of three things might happen: - North gets overactive and shifts to a Spade … Declarer can now score 2 Spades, 3 Diamonds, and 2 Clubs (he cannot untangle the 3rd Club) for 7 tricks. - North gets passive and continues Clubs, holding Declarer to 6 tricks when South later gets in with a Diamond and shifts to Spades. - North gets imaginative and shifts to a low Heart, won by South who now shifts to a Spade … now the Spades are set up before the Diamonds and it’s down two!
Was it obvious to shift to that Heart? Not at all, Declarer might easily have held the K♥ instead of the Q♠, in which case North’s Heart shift would have been designated as “overactive” and the Spade shift as “imaginative”.
What a frustrating hand for South! Over 4♥ he has 16 HCP’s and no bid that makes any sense whatsoever. Double is out with only 2 Spades, and bidding 4NT (which here should be for the minors) would be a wild guess. Playing in 4NT (a lucky make, as it happens) is not a real-life option, nor is defending 4♥ doubled, so the best that South can do is tamely pass and collect +100.
E-W have over half the HCP’s but were unable to find a way to get into the auction. This was perhaps just as well, as it happens, because they don’t have a fit and any adventure by them at the three-level will result in -200 or worse.
Against 2♠, West leads the Q♥, and Declarer can scramble 9 tricks as follows: Q♥ lead won by Declarer’s Ace Cash K♥ Ruff a Heart low Diamond to Declarer’s King Ruff a Heart with the Nine Club to the King With 6 tricks in the bag, Declarer cannot now be prevented from scoring 3 more trumps, for +140.
South decides that her hand has too much outside stuff for a 4♥ bid, so she starts things off quietly with 1♥. West has the perfect shape for a take-out Double but is a bit light in the HCP department. We could live with Pass or Double or 1♠ here, and, on the actual hand, it turns out that taking action (with either 1♠ or Double) allows East to preempt with 4♠, after which West, who has absolutely zero defense opposite a preempt, takes the good save against 6♥.
6♥ comes home in a canter, of course, and the defense must grab that Spade trick before it goes away. As for 6♠, that will be down three for -800, beating the E-W pairs who defended the slam, losing to those who defended game.
West’s second bid was a Support Double, showing 3-card support for Partner’s Hearts.
The auction may not have been very exciting but the play is most interesting indeed. West lays down the A♦, and shifts to a Heart. At this point, Declarer can be sure of losing two Diamonds, two Spades, and a Club, and is in danger of losing a third Spade and a second Club. Of course, Declarer’s chances would be greatly improved if the defense would be kind enough to break open the black suits, so she wins the Heart shift, cashes the other Hearts (she knows from the bidding they are 4-3), and exits the Q♦, giving West some losing options: - If West plays on trumps, the danger of the third Spade loser disappears, and a Club eventually goes away on the T♦, allowing Declarer to make her 2♠ contract. - If West shifts to a Club, there is now only one Club loser … trumps must still be negotiated for two losers, but Declarer may be able to bamboozle East into giving a little assistance … the Club shift is won by East’s King, the Club return goes Jack, Queen, Ace, and now Declarer innocently plays the T♦ from the board! … Declarer has no useful pitch but East does not know that (West could well have the T♣) so he’ll probably ruff which simplifies everything … if East is brilliant enough not to ruff, Declarer should ruff Dummy’s winner and lead a Spade towards Dummy, playing West for Ax or Kx with or without the Ten (looks by now as if West started life as 2-3-5-3). Making 2♠. - Best defense is for West to continue Diamonds … Dummy plays low and Declarer ruffs, then a trump to the Jack and King, a trump back to West’s Ace and another round of Diamonds, snuffing out the Club pitch and beating the contract. Nice defense for a well-deserved good board.
Both sides have 9-card fits, both sides reasonably compete to the 3-level, and both sides can make only 8 tricks. Not exactly a triumph for the Law of Total Tricks.
South leads a 4th best Diamond, and Declarer ducks the first round, if only for practice. Now, after winning the Diamond continuation, it all comes down to how Declarer plays the Spades. If she gets the suit right she’ll make 7 tricks, otherwise it will be down two for the dreaded -200. Looking at the suit in isolation the percentage play is to finesse twice through the North hand, giving an almost 80% chance of at least three tricks in the suit. But, alas for Declarer, he has only one entry to the board, so must choose between one of these less promising plays: - Cash the A♠ and lead towards the Queen … if the King or the Jack appear from South, things are simple … if South plays low on the second round, Declarer plays the Eight, hoping that South started with Jxx (reasoning that, with the King, South might have grabbed it in order to rattle off a bunch of Diamonds) - Cross to the A♥ and run the Queen hoping that the King is with North or that, if the King is with South, that the Jack will fall on the next round.
The odds of these two lines are not that far apart (around 60%), but the play of the Diamond suit and our knowledge of human nature suggest a more promising line. It looks as if the Diamonds are 6-3, and we don’t know many Souths who would be able to duck holding the K♠ when they have 4 Diamonds in their hand, begging to be cashed. So, we suggest a low Spade towards the Queen (without first cashing the A♠), challenging South to duck holding the King. If South does play low, we’ll finesse the Spade Eight, and if that loses to the Jack, we’ll confidently finesse North for the K♠ after the run of the Diamonds. Psychological plays are so much more fun than mathematically correct ones, don’t you think?
For the third time in seven boards we are confronted with an 8-card Heart suit. North could have approached her hand in various ways, please see the Bidding Quiz. East did well to bid 4♠, but to no avail as North has an obvious 5♥ bid. South’s Dummy is quite a disappointment to Declarer, the Diamond cards are quite useless, but fortunately for N-S the major suits are friendly and 5♥ stumbles home.
Post Script: Yes, West showed enormous restraint in not doubling 4♥, we are not sure we would have been as successful!
3NT is a most interesting contract. So many finesses to take, so few entries to Declarer’s hand! Double dummy it’s possible to make no fewer than 12 tricks: Diamond lead won by Declarer, finesse the J♣, cash A♣ which drops the King and provides two entries back to hand for the Spade finesses.
But, in the real world, Declarer will not even be sure of 9 tricks, let alone 12. For example, if Declarer runs the Q♣ and it loses to North, a Diamond will come back and this last entry will be used to take a Spade finesse … even if this finesse wins Declarer will still have only 8 tricks.
Suppose that Declarer tackles Spades first and the Q♠ holds. This is fine if the King really is onside, but a cunning North will smoothly duck the Q♠, perhaps stifling a yawn as she does so. If this is the case, Declarer will no doubt be lured to his doom … he’ll cash the A♣, lose a Club to the King, win the Diamond return, and blithely take another Spade finesse … this time the finesse loses and the defense scores two black Kings and 3 Diamonds for down one.
Is there a way of combining the chances in the black suits? Yes, at Trick Two, Declarer leads the Q♣, and if South plays low she unblocks the J♣. This clever play provides an entry (the 7♣) back to Declarer’s hand for a later Spade finesse. Here is the full line of play: Diamond lead to the King and Declarer’s Ace Q♣ covered by the King and Ace Cash three more Clubs, ending in Declarer’s hand Spade finesse Cash A♠ Q♠, won by South’s King Diamond return Declarer’s Ace Now Declarer has 11 tricks, but more interesting is what would have happened if the Club finesse had lost. North returns a Diamond to the Ace … Spade finesse working … cash the Clubs ending in hand … another Spade finesse which takes Declarer up to 9 tricks … and that becomes 11 when the K♠ turns out to be tripleton.
Post Script: That unblocking play in Clubs will cost a trick when Clubs are 4-1, but it still looks like the best chance to us.
Lots going on in this auction: - East’s 2♠ was Cappelletti, showing Spades and a minor - South’s 2NT was Lebensohl, her method of getting out in 3♦ - West’s Double is not particularly well covered in the bridge literature, perhaps it should show general values, perhaps it should show Spade support … either way, West was covered. - East’s 3♣ was merely showing his second suit, not extras … he could hardly risk defending 2NT doubled having jumped into the fray with a 6-count!
If West buy it in Spades they’ll make 9 tricks, but it’s hard to imagine South not bidding on to 4♦. That contract is destined for down one, unless West finds the disastrous Q♣ lead allowing the Spade loser to get away.
On this auction, South might well lead the Q♥ which would be most unfortunate for the defense. Declarer will win the King, run the T♥, cross to the K♣, and pitch away the Diamond on the A♥. Making 5 when 2 Spades have to be lost.
Of course, North might have saved the day by throwing in a non-vulnerable 2♦ or 3♦ (we know that we would have been tempted) and it turns out that a Diamond bid has two ways to win. Firstly, it will dissuade South from the disastrous Heart opening lead if N-S end up in Spades. Secondly, a Diamond lead is highly likely to convince West that a No Trump contract from the West side is the way to go … now anything but a Diamond lead from North sets 3NT, and even a Diamond lead holds Declarer to 9 tricks and a better result for N-S than the Spade game.
At favorable vulnerability we rather like a 3♦ opening by West, but that will not be to everybody’s taste. However, whether West opens 2♦ or 3♦, East will charge into 3NT, making 11 tricks on all lines of play.
It turns out that 6♣ is a good contract, but that is a contract which can hardly be reached after a 2♦ opening.
North has two possible entries in RHO’s Club suit, so she’ll likely lead a Heart, handing Declarer his 9th trick. Declarer will try for more in Clubs, and when North wins her first Club trick she must shift smartly to a Diamond, otherwise Declarer will rack up no fewer than 11 tricks.
We wouldn’t fault North for that White versus Red preempt, but if North keeps quiet it’s likely that 3NT will be played from the East side … South will know exactly what suit to lead, Declarer will take the losing Heart finesse in his quest for the 9th trick, and that will be down two.
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