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Hand Analyses 16th May, 2007
South had the right distribution for an Unusual 2NT overcall, showing, in this case, the red suits (two lower unbid), but committing to the three-level with those broken suits and those defensive values does not seem like a good idea to us.
On opening lead against 3NT, South will probably lead a Diamond, on the grounds that East appears ready for a Heart lead, and Partner did not double that 2♥ cue-bid. North will play the K♦ and shift to a Heart, but now Declarer ducks, ensuring 10 tricks.
With South on lead, the only way to hold Declarer to 9 tricks is an opening Spade lead. If, by some strange chance, West is Declarer, an opening Heart lead is ducked, and now, if South finds the Diamond shift for another Heart lead through, the contract is down one.
It’s hard to get too excited about this deal, nobody has a fit, and nothing much of anything makes. On to the next board!
South’s invitation to game is rightly turned down by North. She’s on the cusp in terms of HCP’s, but has no fillers worth mentioning. Even 2NT may be too high, and that contract can be beaten if the defense avoids giving Declarer a 4th Heart trick, and if the defense does not set up Declarer’s long Club too early in the play.
North’s 3♠ was not intended to show extras, merely a very good suit which could stand up as the trump suit even opposite shortness. Of course, the term “very good suit” is subjective, for more on this please see the Bidding Quiz.
After West’s jump to 3♠, East’s 4♣ bid is interpreted as a cue-bid in support of Spades. Now, when West shows something in Diamonds, East tries Roman Key Card, but has to sign off when two Key Cards are missing.
Against 5♠, North will presumably lead a red suit. The winner is a Diamond, allowing the defense to take its trick before it is too late. But there is a lot to be said for a Heart lead, not least of which is the fact that East presumably has something in Hearts, and it might be an idea to knock out a Heart entry early in order to make it more difficult for Declarer to get Dummy’s Clubs going. Good thinking but, alas for N-S, it allows Declarer to make all 13 tricks. He wins the A♥, picks up the K♠, ruffs out the Clubs, and has pitches for both his Diamonds.
What would you open with that West hand? We wouldn’t argue with a 1♠ opening here, but our own preference is for 2♣, for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz. East has a terrific hand opposite a 2♣ opening and eventually will take the proceedings to the 6-level, one way or another. In the featured auction, the interpretation of the bidding goes as follows: 2♣ Artificial, game-forcing (well, almost!), unless balanced 22-23. 2♦ A waiting bid, made in the absence of something better to bid. 2♠ Natural (not a 3♠ bid, see Bidding Quiz for Board 4) 2NT Undefined by most partnerships, but better than the 3♣ Second Negative 3♠ Natural 4♣ It’s too late for East to start introducing his own suits, this is a cue-bid. 4♦ Another cue-bid.
Oh, yes, we almost forgot! What about that 5♠ bid? It seems to us that this should say “I have the values for slam but I cannot cue-bid Hearts”.
Against 6♠, the one suit North should not lead is Diamonds, surely Declarer has the Ace. There’s an argument for leading any of the other three suits. We’d lead a Club, attacking the suit cue-bid on our left (leading through strength in other words), and this turns out to be the lead that gives Declarer the most difficulty. Well, let’s rephrase that, it’s the lead that offers a chance for the unwary Declarer to go wrong. To check your own Unwariness Quotient please see Play Problem # 155.
Anyone for No Trump? E-W score the same 12 tricks in No Trump as they score in Spades and perhaps somebody should be bidding 6NT. Actually, we think that either player might reasonably have gone for the No Trump contract.
We don’t think much of that 2♠ bid by North, very risky with such a moderate suit and such blah distribution. Then again, who likes defending 1NT contracts? Will the 2♠ bid succeed? - 2♠ is destined to go down one trick, there’s no escape! That’s +50 for E-W. - That’s a bad board for E-W if 1NT makes. - We predict that 1NT normally will be made, even though it can be beaten if the defenders get things just right … the defense must establish its two Diamond tricks before Declarer gets his two Spade tricks.
So, a triumph for the 2♠ bid, scoring -50 when -90 was staring N-S in the face? Probably so, but Professor Oddbid had a different take on things: “Of course, with the West hand, I double 2♠. They are in a 6- or 7-card fit, we probably have no more than a 7-card fit ourselves (though 8 is certainly possible). Trumps are not breaking for E-W, we have at least half the HCP’s. Does anybody remember the Law of Total Tricks? No guarantees, of course, this contract will make once in a while.” Yes, speculative indeed, but very much the winner here, there’ll be a big difference in the matchpointing between +50 and +100 for N-S.
Over 2♣ some might make a Negative Double over 2♣, but we prefer 2♦, for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz. Anyway, North will surely end up in a Club partial, and all routes lead to 10 tricks.
Over 3♣ it would be a mistake for South to make a Negative Double, she has game values and needs to show that 5th Spade.
4♠ is an unhappy contract, done in by the massive duplication of values in Clubs and the 5-0 trump break.
On lead against 3NT, North has little to guide her choice of opening lead. There’s a tendency in this situation to lead a major, on the grounds that Responder did not use Stayman. So, North will likely lead a low Spade, won by Declarer, who will send one right back. North ducks this, and wins the third round of Spades, in order to get a helpful signal from Partner. If South sends a clear signal for Clubs the defense can cash their top Clubs pronto, getting their three tricks while the getting is good. If North decides to go passive and return another Spade, Declarer cashes all his Spade and Diamond winners and will have a choice in the end-game as to whether to finesse the Heart for 11 tricks, risking only 9 if the finesse loses and the defense is able to cash two Club tricks. Should Declarer takes that finesse? Here is the end-position: Declarer Dummy ♠ ♠ ♥ KJ ♥ 6 ♦ ♦ ♣ Q ♣ J8 At this point, all four players will be out of Spades and Diamonds, and the lead will be on the board. If Declarer has been counting, he’ll know that there are three Hearts and three Clubs out there. He will also know that South has signaled for a Club on the third round of Spades, so surely she has at least one of the missing high honors. Here’s what he can conclude: - If the Heart finesse wins, it’s 11 tricks of course. - If the Heart finesse loses, and the Club honors are split, then the Heart finesse costs nothing. Why? Because the Club suit will be blocked, and the K♥ is sure to score a trick. - So, the only way for the finesse to cost is if North has the Q♥ and South has the A♣ and K♣ We’d say that this was pretty good odds for taking the finesse, notwithstanding the Club signal.
East does not have anything to spare for her 3♥ rebid, but even if his rebid is a timid 2♥, E-W will have no trouble reaching their 4♥ game. Suppose that South leads a low Spade, won by Declarer’s Ace. Declarer crosses to the A♦, cashes the K♠ (pitching a Diamond), then runs the T♥ around to South’s Jack. Another Spade comes back, ruffed by Declarer, who is now in danger of losing trump control. He cannot play A♥ and lose a Heart, for then yet another Spade comes back. Now, Declarer has the same number of trumps as South, and still has to knock out the A♣. What’s the solution? Simply to play on Clubs earlier, while there is still a trump in the Dummy to look after the Spade force.
Here we have another hand where nobody can make much of anything. We have nothing much to say on this one except to provide a reminder that South’s Double shows both majors, at least in the style most commonly played. The corollary to this is that a bid South of 1♥ or 1♠ would not necessarily show a 5-card suit. On to the next hand.
West’s hand may pass the Rule of Twenty, but it doesn’t look like an opening bid to us, please see the Bidding Quiz.
The cards are favorable for N-S and they can actually make 3NT, but we wouldn’t want to be there. As for a Diamond part-score, it looks as if N-S should make 9 or 10 tricks, depending upon the trump guess.
A difficult grand slam to bid with any certainty using standard methods. West tried the Jacoby 2NT, showing game-going values and a Spade fit, and asking Partner to describe his hand further. East declined to do so, preferring to take control himself. His 4NT was Roman Key Card, and the response was “Two with the Queen of Trumps”. At this point, East had decided to take his chances with the Club suit and bid the grand anyway, but first he checked for Kings, as possession of two by Partner would allow him to bid 7NT. E-W were obviously playing “Specific King” and 6♠ showed no side-suit King.
Looking just at the East hand, what are the chances of making 7♠ opposite a hand with opening values, a fit, and two Aces and no Kings? Pretty good, we’d say, any one of these good things might happen: - Partner might have the Q♣, and we’d say the chances of that became substantially improved when Partner denied any Kings (of course, in this case, we’ll be wishing we had bid 7NT!) - Partner might have two (or fewer) Clubs - The Club finesse might work
Obscure Roman Key Card Device There is a device which allows the Club situation to be resolved in the auction. It’s an extension to Roman Key Card, and it’s called the “Specific Suit Ask”, hereinafter referred to as SSA. It can be used in this situation: West East 1♠ 2NT 4NT 5♠ ??
Using the SSA, instead of bidding 5NT (the King Ask), East can bid a side-suit asking about Partner’s holding in that suit. Of course, the Ace is already accounted for, and, according to the definitive Kantar work on the subject (“Roman Keycard Blackwood, 4th edition”, published by Masterpoint Press) the responses are: Return to trump suit Third round loser, such as Axx, xxx(x) 1st step Third round control, such as AQx, Qxx, Ax, xx 2nd step Kxx(x) 3rd step Kx Raise of ask-suit KQ(x) Jump in trump suit Singleton Quick test: After an SSA of 6♣, what is the “3rd step”? 6♦ is one, 6♥ is two, and 6NT is three. That’s right, the 6♠ bid (“return to trump suit”) is reserved for the third round loser situation.
So there we have it, an obscure bidding agreement which works quite well on the actual hand. But not perfectly! - SSA responses do not distinguish between doubletons and Queens, so the better-scoring 7NT would not be reached when Partner has the Queen - You cannot use SSA in the same auction as the King Ask (at least not according to Kantar's rules), so on the actual deal using SSA would give up on the alternative possibility that West has both red Kings. We only mention this device in the interests of full disclosure. It’s not for the casual partnership, and an opportunity to use it comes up very rarely. Handle with care, or not at all.
South has no obvious lead, but all roads appear to end up with 10 tricks for Declarer.
Opposite an overcall, 1NT shows more than the 5-9 that it would show opposite an opening bid, a typical range is around 8-11 or 8-12. West is at the top of that range, and accepts the invitation.
Against 3NT, North will no doubt start with a low Diamond, a most revealing lead! This one turns out to be a good Play Problem.
Back to the auction. What is your range for a balancing 1NT? Does the East hand qualify? Please see the Bidding Quiz.
East deemed his hand too good for a 15-17 1NT opening and we agree with that assessment. The featured E-W were playing Inverted Minors, and if West were not a passed hand 2♣ would be forcing for one round (limit raise or better). As it was, 2♣ merely showed a limit raise, and East zipped into 3NT.
If E-W were not playing inverted minors, West would have had quite a problem over 1♣. A limit raise of 3♣ does not seem right opposite a third-hand opener, and the hand is a bit heavy for a 1NT bid. It’s also unsuitable, given those weak major holdings. Just an awkward hand, our own guess would be to try 1NT, but that could easily not be a success.
Against 3NT, South leads a low Heart, and Declarer holds up to the third round. The play of the Heart suit will have strongly indicated that South started with 5 of them, so Declarer might be tempted to finesse against the possibility Qxx of Clubs with South in order to shut out her Heart winners. But that’s somewhat against the odds, we think, and is likely to sacrifice Declarer’s 9th trick. So, Declarer leads a low Club towards the board (the only way to handle a 4-0 break) and is rewarded when South shows out. The A♣ wins the trick, then the J♣ is correctly covered by North, requiring Declarer to use his last Dummy entry in Diamonds to pick up the Club suit.
Declarer has a Spade, a Heart, two top Diamonds, and 5 Clubs for 9 tricks. To be sure, she could cash the K♦ and take Diamond finesse for 10 tricks, but that risks defeat if North has the Q♦ and South the K♠. Having found the correct Club play, Declarer would be foolish to risk his contract in that way, especially as he has a completely risk-free way to try for 10 tricks. Yes, this far from obvious play is a sure-fire route to 10 tricks if the finesse works, and a safe 9 tricks if it does not. If the Diamond finesse loses, Declarer can win the Spade return with the Ace, overtake the K♦, cash the other Diamond, and pick up his 9 tricks. Nothing gained, nothing lost by the Diamond finesse.
Now, let’s see what happens when the finesse wins. Here is the play to first 8 tricks: Two Hearts ducked by Declarer A♥ wins the third round Low Club to the Ace J♣ covered by the Queen and King Successful finesse of the T♦ Club finesse, and the remaining Clubs are cashed. With one Club left to be cashed, this is the 5-card ending: North ♠ K84 ♥ ♦ 65 ♣ Dummy Declarer ♠ 97 ♠ AQJ ♥ ♥ ♦ AJ4 ♦ K ♣ ♣ 7 South ♠ T ♥ Q7 ♦ Q9 ♣ On the last Club South is squeezed: - If she pitches a Spade, Declarer then plays the K♦. When South follows with a low Diamond, it’s safe to play on Spades for the 10th trick. - If she pitches a Heart, again Declarer plays the K♦, and again when the Q♦ does not appear, South’s distribution is known. Declarer simply cashes the A♠ and sets up her 10th trick in Spades again. - If she pitches a Diamond, the K♦ will drop the Queen and Declarer will overtake in Dummy, making no fewer than 11 tricks.
Nor does it help South to pitch both her Hearts away and come down to two Spades and two Diamonds. Declarer will just cash the K♦, play A♠ and out a Spade, winning 10 tricks once again.
South has a difficult rebid, for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz. Depending on that rebid, N-S could end up in 2♠ or 2NT or 3♣.
If North plays 2♠, East will no doubt lead the J♥, covered by the King and Ace. The Q♦ will come back, and Declarer must not play the K♦, nor on the second round of Diamonds. In either case, West will win the third round of Diamonds and give Partner a trump promotion, ensuring 6 tricks for the defense. Not that it will be obvious, the trump promotion works equally well if East wins the third round of Diamonds and turns up with the 13th Diamond to lead. If Declarer guesses the Diamonds correctly, she’ll still need also to find the Q♣ for 8 tricks. It looks very much like an out-and-out guess to us, not much in the way of reliable clues.
The play is simple enough in 3♣. The defense will take their 4 red tricks as before, and now all will depend upon the Club guess.
In 2NT (played by South), the defense starts out with Diamonds, East eventually wins his Ace and sends the J♥ through Declarer’s hand, covered by the King and the Ace. The 4th Diamond is cashed, and a Heart returned. Now Declarer needs to find the Q♣ just to go one off. If she guesses wrong it will be down three.
West has extras for his opening bid, but no way of showing them with his rebid. He’s not good enough for a reverse to 2♥ (though pretty close), and it’s not a good idea to jump to 3♠ here with only 3-card support. So he raises to 2♠ only, and gladly accepts East’s invitation to game. Yes, East’s invitation is based on the yummy distribution, not on HCP’s, and for on this more please see the Bidding Quiz.
Against 4♠, South leads the K♦, and even if she now finds a Club switch, it will be 12 tricks for Declarer. He’ll win the A♣, overtake the J♥ on the board, cash a second Heart (pitching a Club), ruff a Club, finesse the Q♠, cash A♠, etc.
In fact, if South fails to lead a Diamond, Declarer can make all 13 tricks! Check out this N-S misery: Heart lead, won in Dummy Another Heart cashed, Declarer pitching a Club Cross to the A♣ Spade finesse Ruff a Club Spade to the Ace Ruff a Club Cross to the Spade Six (yes, Declarer must make sure she keeps a low trump in her hand) Pitch all the Diamonds on the Hearts and the established Clubs
It’s not 100% clear that North should accept the 3♥ invitation. She has close to minimum in the way of HCP’s, but she does have two important working cards. We’d say that it was worth bidding 4♥ in a team game, for sure, but somewhat marginal at pairs.
All’s well that ends well, at least for the game bidders. They’ll rake in 10 tricks thanks to the Diamond finesse. And 11 if West has the misfortune to find the aggressive opening lead of a low Spade.
Against 4♥, the defense can make Declarer’s life most difficult by cashing two Spades and getting a Club shift from South. Declarer goes up with the Ace, wins the A♥ and K♥, runs the T♦, takes another Diamond finesse, ruffs a Diamond, and crosses to the Q♥ for the established Diamonds. Making 11 tricks.
The auction is simple enough but the play in 3♥ is quite fascinating! South has an obvious opening Spade lead, and the play to the first 5 tricks will go: Spade lead won by Declarer’s Ace Club won by South’s Ace Spade continuation won by Dummy’s King K♣ cashed, Declarer pitching a Spade Spade ruff (necessary preparation for end-play) At this point, the position is: North ♠ 5 ♥ QT ♦ Q83 ♣ Q7 Dummy Declarer ♠ ♠ ♥ J64 ♥ A8765 ♦ 972 ♦ KT5 ♣ T9 ♣ South ♠ ♥ K2 ♦ AJ64 ♣ 84 In order to make his contract, Declarer must hope that trumps are 2-2 and that he can avoid three Diamond losers. He cashes the A♥, and when the K♥ wins the second trick, South is end-played. Whether she plays a Diamond or a Club, she will establish a 9th trick for Declarer. Does is help for South to unblock the K♥ under the Ace? A spectacular play, indeed, but to no avail. North cannot break open the Diamonds without giving Declarer a trick, and a Club play is equally fatal for the defense.
Does South do better to duck that Club at Trick Two? Let’s suppose that she does play low and that Declarer guesses right by going up with the King. Declarer is still not out of the woods, and is in danger of losing a Heart (assuming 2-2 break), a Spade, and three Diamonds. The way home for Declarer is eliminate the black cards and organize an end-play. At Trick Three he ruffs a Club, crosses to the K♠, ruffs another Club, and exits a Spade, arriving at this position: North ♠ 5 ♥ QT ♦ Q83 ♣ Q Dummy Declarer ♠ ♠ ♥ J64 ♥ A987 ♦ 972 ♦ KT5 ♣ T ♣ South ♠ ♥ K2 ♦ AJ64 ♣ A South is on lead, and whatever she does, she must surrender the 9th trick: - Obviously a Diamond lead gives up a trick - If she plays a Club that will get ruffed, Declarer plays A♥ and out a Heart, and whichever defender wins the trick will be end-played - If she exits a trump (either one), the defender that wins the second trump will be obliged to play a Club which Declarer ruffs. Now she crosses to the J♥ and leads a Diamond, end-playing South.
Finally, let’s suppose that, at Trick Two, South again ducks the Club lead but that Declarer misguesses and North’s Queen wins. Now, the contract can be beaten but only if South is wide awake! North continues with Spades and Dummy’s King wins. Declarer’s best shot now is to play the K♣, pitching a Spade, losing to South’s Ace. The Spade return is ruffed, followed by the A♥. Now, South must unblock the K♥, forcing an entry to the North hand for a Diamond lead through. In this variation the defense gets a Heart trick, two Clubs and two Diamonds, defeating 3♥ by one trick.
West had some extras for her 3NT bid, to say nothing of a Club fit. But he had no way to make a slam try, and in reality his hand was not that good anyway. No ruffing values, and those Hearts do not look as if they will contribute much in a suit contract. So, in 6♣ really no extras at all!
In 3NT, then danger suit turns out to be Diamonds, not Hearts, but North cannot profitably attack the suit from her side. If North leads a Diamond, that will be the 11th trick right away. If she leads anything else, Declarer will have the time to set up the 11th trick in Hearts. Either way, it’s +660 for E-W.
South may have only 14 HCP’s but is nonetheless good value for that 3♠ rebid. After 3♠, North had the values for slam, but with two Heart losers her hand did not warrant an immediate 4NT bid. So the elicited a Heart cue-bid from Partner first, then checked on Key Cards before bidding the slam. 12 easy tricks.
System Note 1 When Opener makes a jump raise in Responder’s major, he usually is in the 15-17 range, so it’s logical to expect a singleton in his hand, due to the failure to open 1NT originally. For this reason, some pairs play the Mathe Asking Bid in this situation, whereby the cheapest bid (3NT here) asks Opener if he has a singleton. In the auction above, the singleton, if there is one, must be in Diamonds or Hearts, and the responses would be: 4♣ No singleton 4♦ Singleton Diamond 4♥ Singleton Heart And if the auction starts 1♦ 1♥, 3♥, then 3♠ is the Asking Bid, and the responses are: 3NT Spade singleton 4♣ No singleton 4♦ Diamond singleton.
System Note 2 The auction 1♣ 1♠, 2♥, is a Reverse, of course, showing a good hand, typically around 17+. How about a Jump Reverse? This is generally used to show support for Responder, and shortness in the bid suit. How strong? That’s a matter for partnership discussion, our own preference is that it shows a hand much like South’s hand above, in other words at least the values for a Jump Raise, but not forcing to game.
South’s Weak Two gets his side to the wrong spot on this board, as 2♠ makes no less than 10 tricks with all the cards favorably placed. Playing in 2♥, West can be held to 8 tricks, but it takes good defense. North starts with the K♦, but instead of trying to stop the Diamond ruff on the board, she does quite the opposite, she plays three rounds of Diamond, forcing Dummy to ruff. Now Declarer is stuck on the board and must give up a trick in Clubs. So, the defense ends up with 2 Diamonds, 2 Hearts and a Club.
If North shifts to a trump at Trick Two, Declarer makes 9 tricks: K♦ opening lead Trump shift to South’s King and Declarer’s Ace Q♥ is cashed Q♠ is finessed Spade to the King and Ace J♠ is cashed, pitching a Diamond, North ruffing North’s ruff is with a natural trump trick, and later that Club loser goes away on another Spade. In the end, Declarer loses just two trumps and two Diamonds.
4♠ will be a common contract, though not a good one. West leads a Heart, East cashes his three tricks in the suit, and the 4th round promotes a second trump trick for West. Down two.
3NT fares better. If the defense attacks Hearts, the Heart stopper will be Declarer’s 8th trick and she can set up her 9th in Clubs. If the defense attacks Diamonds, then Declarer must win the first trick, play a Spade to the Ace and a Spade towards the Jack. Nine tricks, once again.
No doubt influenced by the teachings of Professor Oddbid, East cleverly overcalls his chunky 4-card Spade suit and winds up in the 4-1 fit. In this strange contract, East might even salvage a decent board if he can scramble 6 tricks and get out for down one. This could well happen, it’s a really difficult hand for the defense to get right.
At other tables, if East declines to overcall, it may well be South who is playing in Spades. She’ll bid 1♠, North will have no reason to take another call opposite a passed hand, and that’s where South will play it. Making 7 or 8 tricks.
East will no doubt have passed with serious misgivings in the featured auction. North’s 4♥ bid could be serious, based on strength, or it could be a preemptive effort with a weak hand. East is guessing, pure and simple.
Playing in 4♥, South will have to lose a Spade and a Diamond, and whether she makes 9 or 10 tricks will depend entirely on how she plays the Clubs. Here are the three possibilities: - Cash the Ace and lead towards the Queen (69%) - Run the Queen around, and, if it loses to East, finesse against the Jack (74%) - Run the Ten around, and, if it loses to East’s Jack, finesse against the King (78%). As can be seen, the play with the least probability of success is also the one that works on the actual board!
If East takes the plunge with a 4♠ bid, he will be doubled, of course. To salvage any matchpoints he must avoid down three, and that will involve guessing at least one of the black suits correctly. The Heart length with South should persuade Declarer to play North for Spade length, so that will be one hurdle cleared. He’ll ruff the third round of Hearts, cash one high Spade, eventually get to Dummy on a Diamond, and takes the finesse. But, with Diamonds 4-2, he won’t be able to use Dummy’s trump entry to lead Clubs, he needs that trump to ruff the third round of Clubs. So, it’ll be down two.
3♣ 3-card support, bad hand 3♦ 3-card support, good hand 3♥ 4-card support, bad hand 3♠ 4-card support, good hand
Clearly E-W were playing Extended 3344 Thing, because West’s 4♥ bid was intended to show a good hand with Heart shortness. That Heart shortness was not great news for East, his hand would have been better with less wastage in the Heart suit. We’d say that East had a close choice between pursuing the slam and signing off in 4♠. Our featured East guessed right by cue-bidding 5♦, warning Partner about Clubs.
You may think that West bid an awful lot on this hand! First, he opened on 10 HCP’s, then he showed a “good hand”, then he accepted a slam try. All reasonable actions, in our opinion, please see the Bidding Quiz.
West made the “Total Tricks” bid of 4♥, and North’s Double was “value-showing”. After that start, we’d say that South had a tough decision between passing and bidding 4♠, and we wouldn’t find fault with either action.
If South ends up on lead against 4♥, she will start with the A♠, on which Partner plays the Queen, promising the Jack or else a singleton. South continues a Spade to the Jack, the defense takes, two Clubs and it’s down one.
4♠ by South is an unlucky contract. West leads a Heart to East’s King, back comes a Diamond, and the defense scores 4 tricks before South even gets started.
As East, some players would open that shapely 10-count, and we know that we would be sorely tempted. We also ruefully note that this would not be a success on the actual deal, no doubt propelling E-W to a hopeless game. Our featured East was made of more timid stuff and managed to stay in the happier contract of 2NT via a New Minor Forcing auction.
Not that 2NT is such a great bargain, either, and we’d expect it to go down more often than not. The play is most interesting if North finds an opening Heart lead: North leads a Heart, to the Ten, Queen and Ace Low Diamond, South cleverly overtaking North’s Jack Heart back, won by Declarer’s King Another low Diamond, won by North’s King Low Club, Declarer guessing correctly to play the King Declarer did not really have much of a guess, the King was his best chance to avoid the fatal Heart lead through his 9x. But, good play by South, overtaking the J♦ to continue the Heart attack.
North’s 2♦ was an Inverted Raise, showing a limit raise or better, and denying a 4-card major. South’s 2♥ bid showed something in Hearts, and that was all that South needed to bid 3NT.
3NT is destined to go down one. Even if East does not lead a Heart, Declarer cannot come to more than 8 tricks because of the unlucky Diamond situation.
We end with another instructive play hand. Playing in 3♥, it looks as if West must lose a Heart, two Spades, and two Clubs. But, South is destined to get end-played. See what happens if North leads a Spade: Opening Spade lead, ducked to South’s Jack A Spade to Dummy’s Ace A♥ is cashed Q♦ covered by the King and Ace K♥ cashed Two Diamonds are cashed A Heart to South’s Queen Now South can cash a Spade, but now must concede a Club trick or else give Declarer a ruff and discard. Key points in this line of play were: - Ducking the first Spade was correct, but not necessary as it happened because South had two Spade honors and the suit was blocked for the defense - Playing the A♥ first, instead of the K♥, was correct because it catered for North having the singleton J♥ or Q♥. South could hardly be the one with the singleton given the bidding. - The Diamonds had to be played after just one round of trumps because of the entry situation - Three rounds of Diamonds had to be cashed before exiting with a trump and setting up the end-play. Nicely played by West, 9 tricks for +140.
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