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Hand Analyses February 28th, 2007
In terms of HCP’s, West has the best hand at the table, but he has no reason to get involved in the opponents’ forcing 2/1 auction. As for South, her Diamonds were way too good for her not to bid them twice, before finally showing Spade support.
It turns out that 4♠ is a most precarious contract. East will no doubt lead a Club to West’s Ace, and West does best to shift to the A♥, hoping that the defense can force Dummy to ruff, thereby shutting out the Diamonds. At this point Declarer has 3 reasonable lines on play: - Give up on the Diamonds and scramble 10 tricks by taking the Club finesse, and ruffing a Heart on the board. In this line, Declarer declines to take the Diamond finesse, and makes 10 tricks. - Finesse against East for the K♦. The finesse loses, and a Heart shortens Dummy’s trumps. The K♠ and Q♠ are cashed, then the A♦, then a Club finesse, and again Declarer has her 10 tricks. - Finally, Declarer might take a ruffing finesse in Diamonds after winning the K♥. West does best not to play the King on the second round, and now Declarer can go after 11 tricks by cashing K♠ and Q♠, taking the Club finesse, ruffing a Heart, then ruffing a Diamond with the Nine. Alas for Declarer, this is overruffed, but it’s still 10 tricks for Declarer.
There is an exotic and risky way of making 11 tricks. The ruffing finesse is taken, then the third round of Diamonds is ruffed with the Ace, followed by a finesse of the T♠, after which trumps are drawn and the Diamonds run.
Against 3♠, North leads the A♣ and, with no appealing shift, continues with a low Club which is ruffed on the board. Declarer must now decide whether to use this precious board entry to take the trump finesse or the Diamond finesse: - If he takes the trump finesse at Trick Two, he’ll lead a low one, knowing that, if the Jack loses to the Queen, then the Ten will be an entry back to the board for Diamond finesse … he’ll then need the K♦ to be doubleton on-side, or if it is tripleton that South will also have the last trump (South would have to be 3-1-3-6 or 3-2-3-5). - If he takes the Diamond finesse at Trick Two, North can be a star by ducking! If Declarer takes the Diamond finesse again then North wins, gives South a ruff and it’s down one. Nice defense!
Back to the bidding. Should South have competed on to 4♣? It’s rather dangerous. She can count her side for 10 Clubs, but it’s quite possible that the opponents have only 8 trumps for their auction, so we’d say that there is not much safety at the 4-level, especially against trigger-happy opponents … down one doubled for -200 will be a disaster, of course.
As East, would you or did you compete with 2♣ over 1♦ or 1NT? Many would, but we wonder if it is such a good idea when vulnerable with that crummy suit and shapeless hand, and those modest values. If East competes directly over 2♥, who would blame West for trying 2NT, at which point E-W are destined for -200 or worse. If East competes with 2♣ over 1NT, then West will no doubt show some restraint, but even 2♣ is too high, and will be down at least one.
1NT plays rather well for North, considering the shortage of HCP’s. East leads a Club, and Declarer quickly comes to 7 tricks via 2 Spades, 3 Diamonds and 2 Clubs. Does the defense do better to start a Spade? No, the play goes like this: Spade Nine to Declarer’s Queen Lose a Heart to East Another Spade ducked by Declarer (necessary) A Spade won by Declarer’s Ace Heart to East’s Jack Diamond won by Declarer Heart to West’s Ace The Spade is cashed Now, Declarer has 3 tricks, with the two Diamonds, a Club, and the 13th Heart still to come.
West may have had 5-card Diamond support, but with all those HCP’s in the enemy suit this was not a good hand for a preemptive 4♦. By the same token, South would no doubt have gone to game if her own values were less concentrated in Diamonds.
Against 3♦, East leads the Q♠, won on the board. Now a successful Heart finesse (West has no reason to split his honors), a Club to Dummy’s Queen, another Heart but this time West does split, and eventually the defense will arrange a Club ruff. Making 9 tricks.
At first glance, the lead of the A♦ might appear bad for the defense, setting up a Spade pitch. But if Declarer gets greedy and tries to take advantage of the pitch she’ll lose control of the hand and wind up with just 8 tricks!
Post Script We don't like that 2♦ at all, would much rather Double, perhaps a more "normal" auction would be: West North East South Pass 1♥ Dbl 1♠ 2♦ 2♥ 3♦ 3♥ Pass Pass Pass
Now here’s an interesting auction! What does North’s Double show? Clearly not Responsive, N-S have already found a Spade fit. No, it’s just showing a good hand. How good, and what hand-type? Here are some hands that she won’t have: - It won’t be distributional, with such a hand she would bid game or make a game try. - Surely not a 6th Spade, that would call for some number of Spades or a game try - Not a 1NT opening bid
What does that leave? We’d say 5-3-3-2 type of shape, and whatever North thinks is too good to open 1NT. Now, over to South. She also has a nondescript shape, and no real reason to bid on to the 3-level. This is a hand where Total Trick logic works to perfection: - We have 8 trumps (if we believe Partner’s bidding, as of course we always do) - They have 8 trumps (again, if we believe Partner) - Therefore there are 16 total trumps and a reasonable expectation of 16 total tricks - We have the preponderance of HCP’s by far, and may be able to make game - If we can make 10 tricks, they can make but 6, and the resulting +500 (defending 3♥ doubled) is better than our game - If we can make 9 tricks, they can make 7, and +300 beats our 3♠ part-score - If both sides can make 8 tricks, then again we want to defend at the 3-level - Finally, if they really can make 9 tricks with their 8-card fit and puny HCP total, then all we have to say about that is “Rats!”
Against 3♥ doubled, South might be advised to lay down the K♠, getting a look at Dummy and retaining the lead for a devastating shift. But no such devastation is required, it’s a routine down two regardless, +300 and a well-earned top board for N-S.
Post Script Many pairs play Maximal Doubles, a useful and recommended treatment whereby North's Double is a game try ... please follow the link for more on this.
East may have just 14 HCP’s but is excellent value for that jump rebid to 3♥. In 4♥, Declarer will score 12 tricks one way another: - If the defense starts with two rounds of Spades, Declarer can merrily cross-ruff the whole hand. - If the defense cashes one Spade and shifts to a trump (or leads a trump on the go), then Declarer can set up the Diamonds.
Even your Wednesday Game analysts blenched at the thought of a vulnerable 2♠ opening by South, or a 3♣ preempt by North, and eventually East became Declarer in 3NT.
East makes 9 tricks in his 3NT contract, as demonstrated in Play Problem # 133.
South may have had the right hand-type for an Unusual No Trump, but not the right strength, so she chose to bid her suits separately.
Playing in Diamonds, East will make 10 or 11 tricks, depending on his Queen-guessing abilities. This one should be quite an easy guess, however, as South has shown a two-suiter, and it seems reasonable to play her for 2-5-1-5 distribution, though it’s not a certainty, 1-5-2-5 is also a possibility, even 2-5-2-4. Should E-W have bid the game? Maybe East could have tried 4♦, but don’t let’s forget how obliging it was of West to show up with the J♠!
West’s 2♦ was an Inverted Raise, showing a limit raise or better in Diamonds, and denying possession of a 4-card major. What would you do now as East? You could futz around by bidding 2♥ or 2♠, of course, scientifically bidding your way to the almost inevitable 3NT contract. Our featured East preferred to jump directly to 3NT (showing 18-19) without any messing around, reluctant to tell the opponents too much about the hand, and reassured by the fact that Partner usually has something in Clubs on this auction (he has denied the majors, after all). But rebidding 3NT is not purely a stealth maneuver, it’s a good way for East to convey his considerable extra values … if he were to bid 2♥ or 2♠, and then West were to bid 3♣, what next? … it’s far from obvious how the auction should proceed from there.
Anyway, almost regardless of the auction, we don’t see many Norths or Souths leading a Club against 3NT and with any other lead it will be 12 tricks for Declarer.
Back to the bidding. Perhaps, on second thoughts, West should have made a slam move over 3NT, he does have a rather nice hand, considering that Partner has 18-19. The problem is that he does not have a particularly convenient slam try. 4♠, 4♦, 4NT, Minorwood, Redwood, 6♣, take your pick, we don’t like any of them! Nor do we have any good alternative suggestions. Some hands are just plain difficult.
We asked Dr Goodlead what would be his choice as West, on lead against 3NT, and he gave us three answers: - “I might lead a Spade on the grounds that I’ll later have a Heart entry to get to my established Spade(s)” - “Then again, I might lead a low Heart, fourth best from my longest and strongest, I remember reading that in a book once” - “But, I would also be tempted to lead a Club, if Partner has a 5-card suit, then surely it is Clubs”.
Well, thanks for your help, Doctor! In fact, it’s likely to be 9 tricks regardless of the opening lead.
Well bid by South! She knew that if the opponents bid 3♠ that she would be bidding 4♥, so she went to 4♥ directly, putting West to the guess. West didn’t quite have the values for a 4♠ bid, but he could hardly sit idly by with two Aces and 4-card support for Partner, so he let himself be bounced into game.
In 4♠, Declarer has 3 top losers and, on the lie of the cards, an inescapable Club loser. In fact, just to avoid down two, she must somehow find the Q♦. South leads the Q♥, and Declarer ruffs the second round. Now that North has shown up with AK♥, it hardly seems likely that he could also have a singleton high Spade, so Declarer plays the Q♠ from his hand. South wins, cashes the second high trump, and exits with what? Obviously not a Heart, that would give up a ruff and sluff, but which minor? It’s conceivable that Partner has the T♦, in which case a Diamond would be fatal, so South’s best try is a Club, hoping that Declarer has the Q♣ and that the Club shift has not spared him a guess. As it happens, Partner has the Q♣, but it’s backed up with the Ten, so the defense always gets its Club trick. Of course, when it is North that shows up with the Q♣, there’s no chance of Declarer misguessing the Diamond, so down one it is.
If South ends up declaring in Hearts she’ll make 9 tricks, unless West is having a particularly bad day. The defense leads a Spade, Declarer cashes the second Spade, cashes the Q♥, then crosses to the A♥, and runs the T♣ around to West’s Jack (East playing the Seven). It’s a pretty transparent attempt at deception, and West only has to count the trump suit to realize that Declarer started with just 4 minor suit cards. Clearly, Declarer did not start with K6 of Clubs, for two reasons … firstly, her play would not make any sense, and, secondly, Partner would have played the Eight if he had started with 87 doubleton. So, whether Declarer started with 86 or 6 or K86, it cannot be wrong to exit with a low Club, making sure that the defense always gets its full entitlement of minor suit tricks.
East’s 2♥ is one of those 3rd seat White vs Red extravagances that some players (ourselves included) find so irresistible. Nonetheless, N-S will brush it aside and reach 4♠ without too much trouble. West will no doubt start with the A♦, then the K♦, followed by a ruff, and that will be the end of the defense. +620 for N-S at all tables?
At his first turn, North made a minimum bid of 2♥, she’s not quite strong enough for more than that. But, when 2♠ is bid in front of her, she can hardly do nothing. It doesn’t seem right to bid 3♥ with that square hand, so she tries a Double, not specifically for penalties, just showing a maximum hand for the bidding so far. We like the bid, but it sure makes life uncomfortable for South! She has a most moderate hand for her bidding so far, with no reason to think that 3♥ is making, nor that 2♠ can be beaten. So she chooses to pass, mainly because the opponents are vulnerable and she has fond hopes of +200.
And +200 is exactly what N-S get defending 2♠ doubled. The Q♠ will not score a trick as Declarer has no way to get to the board for the losing finesse, but the defense cannot be stopped from scoring 2 Diamonds, 3 Clubs, and a Heart.
How does the hand play in 3♥? It looks to us like down one, thanks to the handling problems caused by the 4-1 trump break. But Deep Finesse says that 9 tricks are possible, and we finally figured out how. Here is the fantastical line of play that brings in +140: A♠ and K♠ are cashed Spade ruff on the board (this is best defense) A♥ is cashed Win three rounds of Clubs (must be done right away) Diamond to the King and Ace Another Spade, ruffed on the board, West & Declarer pitching a Diamond Cash Q♦ Now, the 13th Diamond is led and West can come to no more than one trick in the end-game. Upon reflection, perhaps this line of play is not completely beyond the realms of possibility, the auction was most revealing.
A misfit hand where both East and West have promising hands but where nothing much of anything makes. 2♥ can be beaten by one trick if the defense starts with the A♠ and then follows up with three Spade ruffs for South.
Aggressive bidding by N-S, it’s easy to see most pairs missing this thin Heart game. South’s 2♣ was Drury, a convention used opposite (potentially light) 3rd seat openers. It shows limit raise values in Partner’s major without getting the partnership too high if the opening bid is light. West’s Double showed Clubs, perhaps encouraging North to stretch to the Heart game.
Against 4♥, East leads a low Club, won by Declarer’s Ace. Declarer is in a great contract, just making it will be a good board, so she takes the safe route to 10 tricks … trumps are drawn in three rounds, then the K♠ and the A♠ are cashed, and the J♠ is run around to East’s King, Declarer pitching a Club.
A typical part-score battle with both sides competing to their Total Trick level. The hands fit well for E-W, and with careful play Declarer can make 10 tricks in Spades. Declarer has 3 top losers, and can avoid a 4th by leading towards the Q♥, and then running the Nine on the second round of the suit … when that forces the Ace, a Diamond pitch is forthcoming … if nothing good happens in Hearts, then Declarer can always fall back on the Diamond finesse for 10 tricks.
East chose to pass his square 12-count, we wouldn’t argue with Pass or 1♣ here. North’s 2NT was natural and invitational, an option not available to some pairs, such as those who use 4-way transfers (these pairs invite to 3NT via Stayman, regardless of whether or not they have a 4-card major).
West no doubt leads a Heart to West’s Ace, and a Heart is continued to Declarer’s King. South cannot cash the Clubs before playing on Diamonds (she would squeeze herself in the majors), so she crosses to the K♣ (no reason to play the Ace first, that’s free information to the defenders), and runs the T♦. When this holds, she plays a Diamond to the Jack, and when that holds, she has 10 tricks. Of course, East can save a trick by shifting to a Spade at Trick Two, but that is far from obvious.
East’s preemptive raise to 3♣ caused problems for N-S, for more on which, please see the Bidding Quiz.
4♠ turns out to be a friendly enough contract … there’s no enemy Diamond ruff, trumps are 3-2, Q♠ and A♣ are both on-side. 11 tricks.
The featured auction shows a quirk (oh, alright, a defect) in the 2/1 game-forcing style. North was not strong enough to bid 2♥, so, notwithstanding her fine Heart suit and excellent distribution, she had to mark time with a Forcing 1NT bid. Then after Partner’s 2♦ rebid, she had to choose between 2♥ (weak) and 3♥ (invitational). Our North took the low road on the grounds that Partner had bid suits where he had no fit and no values.
Even though the featured auction was crowned with success, we don’t find it particularly impressive! It seems wrong (almost nutty) for North not to be able to bid Hearts at her first go, and this is a problem that SAYC players would not have, they would bid 2♥ and then 3♥, describing their hands rather well. Some 2/1 players get round this problem by using the sequence 1♠ 3♥ as invitational.
How many Hearts can North make? Probably only two, which turns out to be a triumph for the “nutty” auction!
N-S missed game on this one, if anyone is to bid it then it has to be North, but we don’t find her Pass of 3♥ so bad. In fact, it’s a most friendly hand and no fewer than 11 tricks are possible … see Play Problem # 134.
West’s 2♣ was an “Inverted Raise”, the second of the set. He denies a 4-card major, shows at least 4 Clubs, and at least invitational values. East’s 2NT was natural, 12-14 HCP’s, after which E-W quickly found themselves in 3NT.
It turns out that 3NT is a fascinating play hand! South leads a Diamond, which Declarer wins in his hand with the Queen. Assuming reasonable luck in Clubs, and the K♦ with South (sure seems like it!), Declarer can count 2 Spades, a Heart, 3 Diamonds and 5 Clubs. That’s 11, can a 12th be far away? Maybe, it all depends on Declarer’s card-reading skills. After winning the first trick, he will rattle off 5 Clubs, inflicting severe discomfort on poor old South. She must come down to 7 cards, let’s look at her dilemma (it’s really a trilemma, but SpellChecker objected to that): - She must come down to 3 Diamonds, otherwise Declarer will get her 12th trick in that suit. - If she doesn’t keep 4 Spades, then Declarer has an easy route to a 12th trick, just by playing a Spade to the King and then ducking a Spade - If she keeps 3 Diamonds and 4 Spades then that leaves room for zero Hearts! That means that she exposes her Partner to a finesse in Hearts for the 12th trick.
In reality, South will not come down to 4 Spades and 3 Diamonds, she’ll pitch at least one Spade, hoping that North started with 4 of them, after which it is hard to see Declarer not making 12 tricks. Squeeze enthusiasts will recognize this one right away, it’s a Guard Squeeze where South is squeezed in 3 suits, in one suit of which (Hearts here) she must retain a card to protect her Partner from a finesse.
After South’s overcall of 1♠, West was not quite good enough for a 2♠ cue-bid, but not suitable for a 3♣ preempt, so he took the middle course of 2♣, planning to bid 3♣ later on, if he got the chance. North’s 4♣ was a Splinter, showing Spade support, Club shortness and game-going values, but South was not about to go past game with her minimum overcall.
Against 4♠, the defense which makes Declarer most nervous is a couple of rounds of Clubs. Dummy ruffs the second one, of course, and will need to set up the Hearts, a feat which will require a correct guess in the suit, and careful management of entries. He leads a Spade from the board and overtakes in his hand. Then a Heart to the board (he cannot afford a second round of trumps), guessing to play the Jack (indicated by the bidding) to East’s Ace (it doesn’t help to duck). Now East must shift to a Diamond before all of South’s Diamonds disappear on the Hearts. Making 10 tricks.
West could have bid a natural 2♣ over South’s 1NT and that would have probably bought the contract, making 8 or 9 tricks. But she does much better to defend 1NT. Against that contract a passive defense will hold Declarer to just 4 tricks, but it’s natural enough to lead a Club, giving Declarer a 5th trick. But that’s still +200 for E-W.
North’s Michaels Cue-Bid showed Spades and a minor, so East’s 2♠ becomes a cue-bid, showing a limit raise or better in Hearts. West’s 4♦ was a cue-bid, of course, and we would have to say that North’s Double was ill-advised, perhaps even that is being unduly complementary. The point here is that North has no reason to expect that her side has a good sacrifice if Partner could manage only 3♠, so why give the opponents additional information?
The Double also gives the opponents additional bidding space … now East has two additional bids at his disposal, Pass and Double. Is your partnership on sure ground here as to the respective meanings of Pass, Redouble and 4♥? Please see the Bidding Quiz. For the time being, we’ll just say that East intended his Pass as encouraging, and that was all that West needed to push on to slam. Thanks, North!
West’s 2♦ vulnerable overcall is certainly minimum, but he does have the safety provided by a 6-card suit with excellent spots. After 2♦, East can hardly not take a call, but N-S breeze into a 4♠ contract. In fact, South did well not to go beyond 4♠, she needs so little from Partner to make slam.
In 4♠, Declarer does not have enough trumps to attempt ruffing out the A♥, so she does better to take the ruffing Heart finesse, and when that loses it’s just 10 tricks. The way that the computer dealt this hand, it’s hard for Declarer to go wrong, but if you would like to test your Declarer play with the E-W hands slightly tweaked then please go to Play Problem # 135.
How do you and your Partner play 3♦ in the featured auction. One common agreement is that it shows a Mixed Raise, that is to say a hand with 4-card support and something a little less than a limit raise. As Mixed Raises go, we’d say that South is pretty maximum. For more on Mixed Raises, please see the Bidding Quiz.
Playing in Hearts, North makes 9 tricks. She’ll lose two Clubs and a Spade, and will hold her Diamond losers to one by pitching a couple away on the Spades. Even the apparently disastrous opening lead of a Spade does not help Declarer … true, it avoids a Spade loser, but Declarer ends up losing an extra Diamond instead.
N-S were playing Inverted Minors (3♦ is preemptive), though by the end of the hand they may well wish that they hadn’t been. How about East’s Double of 3♦? As a general rule, we avoid making Takeout Doubles with a 5-3 in the majors, it’s usually better to bid the 5-card suit. But, here East is at the 3-level, and his Spade suit is very poor, so surely Double is the way to go here. As for West, he’s not quite strong enough to bid 3NT, so he takes his chances defending 3♦ doubled.
The E-W target here is 7 tricks, scoring +500 and beating any E-W pairs who might have struggled home in 3NT. Will they get their 7 tricks? It will be touch and go! Dr Goodlead chose the opening lead of the K♠, which seems reasonable enough to us, albeit not very promising on the actual hand. Here’s how the play might develop: K♠ opening lead, won by South’s Ace Spade return won by East’s Queen Now the A♥ and K♥ are cashed Next, the defense takes two Clubs A 3rd round of Clubs is ruffed by Declarer At this point, the defense has taken 5 tricks, and is hoping for two more trumps tricks. But they won’t get them if Declarer is at the top of her game. Here is the end position: Dummy ♠ ♥ 9 ♦ QT976 ♣ West East ♠ ♠ 983 ♥ T ♥ J ♦ KJ42 ♦ 5 ♣ 7 ♣ 2 Declarer ♠ J7 ♥ A7 ♦ A8 ♣ Now, Declarer cashes the J♠, West and Dummy both pitching Hearts (it does not help West to ruff), then ruffs a Spade, and leads the Ten of Diamonds to Dummy’s Ace. The coup de grace is now applied when Declarer leads the Diamond Eight, giving West three losing choices: - If he plays the King, he gets end-played - If he plays the Jack he has no chance of a second Diamond trick - If he plays low, Dummy can play the carefully preserved Seven … the trick is won by Declarer’s Eight, after which Declarer leads a Heart, and West is trump couped!
West’s 3♠ preempt will likely buy the contract, giving North an awkward choice of opening lead. This is a triumphant hand for conventional wisdom, because the lead of North’s singleton trump makes Declarer’s life easy, and the lead of the unsupported A♣ hands Declarer a trick. So, let’s say that North leads a Heart, won by Dummy’s Ace. Now, what is the percentage play for no losers in the trump suit? It’s actually a low trump planning to play the Jack, a line which works whenever South has the doubleton King, and also when South has the singleton King or North has the singleton Ten. That’s all very well, but, in the case where North has the singleton Ten, this line uses up both of Dummy’s entries. Surely a better line is to lead a Club at Trick Two … if the Ace is onside, it will be possible to get a Club ruff on the board for a total of 10 tricks … if the Club is offside, and they return a Heart, we’ll lose another Club, and take our ruff on the board for 9 tricks. Of course, if South wins the second Club and returns a trump, we’ll jump up with the Ace to make sure that we do, indeed, get our Club ruff.
Holding the South hand, would you have taken this one to game? We wouldn’t argue with that, nor with South’s actual choice in the featured auction, much depends on just how sound are those N-S opening bids.
It turns out that the Heart game is marginal … there are two Spade losers, and one Heart loser … so, for game to make, Hearts must be 3-2, and there must be some good fortune in the minors (the J♣ coming down in three rounds, or a winning Diamond finesse). When trumps break 4-1, 9 tricks is the limit.
Against 3NT, West will lead a Club or a Diamond: - If West leads a Club, South wins, loses the Spade finesse … the defense takes its 3 Club tricks, and safely exits a Spade … now Declarer has 8 tricks and can try for her 9th in either red suit … the best way for her to combine her chances is cash the Spades (in case a squeeze develops), then cash the AK♦ (in case the Q♦ is doubleton), and when this fails to cross to the A♥ and take the Heart finesse. Making 9 tricks. - If West leads a Diamond, South wins, loses the Spade finesse … now, the defense can attack Clubs, giving Declarer her 9th trick, or else they can go passive, giving Declarer time to set up a Heart. Making 9 tricks once again.
That 1♦ overcall on the 4-card won’t be to everybody’s taste, but it does have good lead-directional value. West ends up in 2♥ and makes 9 tricks on most lines of play. For example, Declarer ruffs the third round of Clubs, plays a Heart to the Jack, Heart to the King and North’s Ace, Club ruffed by Declarer, a third round of trumps, a Diamond finesse, Spade back, and eventually Declarer’s 2nd Spade loser disappears on the 13th Diamond.
Do you see how to hold Declarer to 8 tricks? Strangely enough, the defense must attack Diamonds! They can cash one Club, if they wish, but must then go to work on the Diamonds. Declarer finesses, plays the J♥ which North cannily ducks, then a Heart to the King and Ace, next another Diamond. Now Declarer cannot get back to his hand without losing the lead once more, at which point the third round of Diamonds is played. The 13th Diamond is there for the taking, but Declarer is in Dummy for the last time while enemy trumps are still at large. Great defense!
On a Rule of Twenty basis, that East hand qualifies for a 1♠ opening bid, but considering the unprotected Diamond honors, and the fact that Partner is a passed hand, we prefer 2♠ here. South had various ways to describe her hand and chose the most conservative action of 3♥ (please see the Bidding Quiz). North had an easy 4♥ raise, and it turns out that 12 tricks are possible, thanks to the onside A♣.
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