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Hand Analyses 11th April, 2007
Do you think that South is too strong for that 1NT rebid? We don’t, her hand has some defects, please see the Bidding Quiz. However, whether South rebids 1NT or 2NT she’ll surely end up as Declarer in 3NT.
Let’s say that West leads the unbid suit, which is also his longest and strongest suit. It’s hard to argue with that in the post mortem! East wins the Ace and sends back the T♣, the only way to pick up the suit quickly if Declarer started with Qxxx. Declarer’s Queen is taken by West’s King, and a third round of Clubs is played. Now Declarer can unravel her winners and scores 11 tricks.
Can West do better for the defense? Let’s go back to the opening lead. We asked Dr Goodlead what would be his choice and he came up with a humdinger! Yes, he led a Spade, saying “Leading through Dummy’s second suit is often right, this looks more dynamic than the mundane Club lead”. Dynamic, indeed! Declarer’s best guess is probably to jump up with the A♠ and hope for luck in the red suits. She will cross to the Q♦, come back to the A♥, run the Diamonds when they obligingly break 3-3, and settle for 10 tricks when the T♥ does not come down in three rounds. Nice lead, Doctor!
North just about has enough for a 3♥ limit raise, and even though South has but 12 HCP’s there are only 5 losers, and it’s a comfortable 4♥ bid. Making 10 tricks when the three side-suit Aces are lost. This one is our nomination for this week’s “Same result at every table” award.
4♥ is a low percentage contract, requiring luck in both red suits. But both work and it’s 10 tricks for Declarer.
South has three more or less comparable 4-card suits from which to choose. In this situation there is a predisposition to lead one of the major suits for the simple reason that West did not see fit to use Stayman, so at least he does not have a 4-card major. OK, the next question is “Which major?” We can see little to choose between them, let’s say that South selects a Heart. Here’s how the play might go: Heart to North’s Ten and Declarer’s King Cash A♣ Low Club to the King (he would have ducked if South had not shown out) Losing Spade finesse Spade to Dummy’s Ten Heart to the Queen and South’s Ace Diamond to Dummy’s King Dummy exits a Club, and North cashes his second Club Diamond to South’s Ace Declarer has the rest of the tricks, but it’s down one.
Declarer could have done better, he needed to keep the Club suit intact for a while, it’s his only form of communication between the two hands. If he also realizes that this hand is unlikely to make if the A♦ is with North, then at Trick Two he will lead a Diamond to Dummy’s King and try the Spade finesse. The finesse loses but Declarer now has three Spades and two tricks in each of the other suits.
Now here is an interesting auction! South’s plan is to open 2♣ and rebid 2NT showing 22-23 or 22-24, depending on her side’s methods. Are you wondering why West bothered to bid 2♠ over 2♣? It’s not as if E-W can compete successfully against that 2♣ opener, and it’s most likely that West will be on lead against the eventual E-W contract, so there’s something to be said for a Pass.
After the 2♠ overcall, what are your methods? Nowadays, many tournament players use Pass here as a way to show values … Double would show a bad hand, and a bid of a new suit or No Trump would show values and something worth saying. So, let’s say that North’s Pass shows some values but nothing particular to say. South cannot make her No Trump rebid without a Spade stopper, so she Doubles. North’s 3♦ is pretty obvious, and now South tries 3♠, obviously looking for 3NT. Is 3♠ looking for a Spade stopper? Or a half-stopper? Please see the Bidding Quiz for this one also.
Somebody was missing in action in this auction! Yes, why didn’t East bid 3♠ after Partner had bid 2♠? She has exactly the right point-count for such a bid! In this White vs Red scenario, with LHO bidding 2♣, and with RHO showing values (by her Pass), we would say that East’s zero-count represents extras for a 3♠ bid, look at that singleton Diamond for heaven’s sake!
Anyway, the bottom line is that N-S belong in 3NT, which makes 10 tricks. We’ll further say the following: - If E-W are silent throughout the auction, then 3NT is where South will play it. Now, if West makes the mistake of leading a 4th best Spade, Declarer will make 11 tricks. - If West bids 2♠ and East sleepily passes throughout, then N-S will get the chance to show off their “half-stopper” agreements … if they pass the test they will end up in the same 3NT … otherwise they will get an inferior matchpoint score in 5♦. In fact, in this case it is really inferior because 5♦ does not even make! - If West bids 2♠ and East raises to 3♠ then we really don’t see how N-S can get to 3NT, surely they’ll stumble into 5♦ down one.
Hmmm! Upon further review, perhaps that 2♠ bid is not such a bad idea after all!
The auction is straightforward enough and it’s hard to imagine West not finding an opening lead of the A♥. This highly normal but unfortunate lead gives an alert Declarer the chance to make her contract, for which please see the Play Problem.
We’ll be the first to agree that South’s 2♦ opening is not for everybody! It’s vulnerable, dead minimum in terms of HCP’s, with the highly dubious QJ doubleton of Spades to boot. But the glass half full approach to this hand is that it is 6-4 (great offense!), good trump intermediates, and zero defense (just what our preempts should be!).
Anyway, choose your own comfort level here, our personal preference is 2♦ after which West overcalls 2♥ presenting North with a choice of actions. Not a bad hand, eh? Tempted to double and make West pay for his impudence? After all you do have a 22-count with a couple of trump tricks. Not a good idea, at least not on this hand, as E-W can escape for down just one. Please see the Bidding Quiz for more on this.
If North Declares 3NT, East will lead a low Heart. If West jumps up with the A♥ at Trick One he’ll give Declarer an easy route to 10 tricks, but if he inserts the Ten then Declarer will surely end up with just 9 unless she bizarrely goes after Clubs at Trick Two without trying the Diamonds first.
South’s 2♠ bid was Fourth Suit Forcing, showing game-going values and denying four Spades, and eventually N-S get to the inevitable 3NT contract. East will lead a Spade, probably the Queen, and Declarer will duck, then win the second round on the board (keeping a Spade entry back to her hand for the Clubs). Then the Jack of Clubs is led, and East does best to duck, playing havoc with Declarer’s communications. Now another Club to the King and East’s Ace, after which another Spade is lead, won by Declarer’s King. Now the Q♣ is led and when the suit proves to be 4-2, the contract depends on a successful Heart finesse. She’ll lose the Club first, East will cash the last Spade, and shift to a Heart, and when the finesse fails a Heart will come back, setting Declarer by two tricks. It’s true that Declarer has 8 tricks at this point but they cannot be untangled because the Diamond suit is blocked.
Walsh Note Those partnerships who play Walsh-style will no doubt have this auction: West North East South Pass 1♣ Pass 1♦ Pass 1NT Pass 3NT Pass Pass Pass As usual, even though the same auction is reached, the Walsh auction is less informative than the “standard” auction. Playing Walsh, South skips the Diamond suit whenever she has a 4-card major and less than game-going values, meaning that Opener can skip his own 4-major(s) whenever Responder bids 1♦. How does this affect the actual hand? Not at all, as it happens, East will be on lead as before, he’ll still start with a Spade, and Declarer will end up the same dismal down two.
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