|
Hand Analyses 30th May, 2007
West might reasonably have bid 1♥, 2♥ or 3♥ over 1♣. Considering the vulnerability we rather like 3♥ and that is certainly the bid which causes N-S most difficulty. South will reopen with a Double and the spotlight shifts to North. She really does not have anywhere to go at this point, particularly as the 4-3 Spade fit does not rate to play well … if the defense leads Hearts the long hand will be ruffing and trump control will be lost. So, North might as well pass the Double and hope she can beat 3♥.
N-S can make 3♣ despite the trump break, so West’s aggressive 3♥ preempt will pay dividends if he can get out for down one. Double dummy, down one is possible, but in real life it will be down two, and one in the eye for the aggressive preemptors.
A most instructive auction! West had no good action over 2♠ so he passed even though he knew that his side had the balance of the points. East’s Double showed a decent hand with a doubleton Spade, after which E-W used the Scrambling 2NT to find their 4-4 Diamond fit. For more on the E-W sequence please see the Bidding Quiz.
There is not much to the play on this one. 8 easy tricks in N-S play in Spades, 10 tricks if E-W play in Diamonds.
South reasonably pretended to have a 5th Heart, it hardly seemed right to hide such a magnificent suit in favor of a Q92 holding. As for North, she preempted with 3♥, and might even have considered going all the way to 4♥ considering the vulnerability and her shortness in the enemy suit. Finally, East bid the game, a slight stretch, but one necessitated by the preempting (see Bidding Quiz).
Against 4♠, the defense leads Hearts and Declarer ruffs the third round. Then, over to Dummy with the A♣, and the J♠ is run around. Next comes the Spade Ten, covered by the Queen, and Declarer’s Ace. North shows out and Declarer is in danger of losing trump control. His best play now is to take the Club finesse while there is still a trump in Dummy to handle the Heart force. When the Club finesse wins (and South plays the Ten), Declarer is able to pick up both black suits for 11 tricks.
The Coup That Might Have Been Suppose that the Club finesse had lost. That would be the third defensive trick, and it might seem that another round of Hearts will establish the setting trick in trumps … either Declarer will ruff in his hand, fatally shortening his trump holding … or, he’ll ruff in Dummy, and be unable to finesse South out of her 9x of trumps. Not necessarily so! If South started as 4-4-2-3 (with the Q♣), she’ll be trump couped! She wins the Q♣, returns a Heart which is ruffed in Dummy, the minor suit winners are cashed ending in Dummy, and, at Trick 12, Dummy plays a minor suit card, which South must ruff with her 97 in front of Declarer’s K8.
South is too good for a mere 2♠ overcall, so she doubles first. North’s 2NT was natural, and South had plenty to go on to game.
Against 3NT, East leads the Q♦, giving North the opportunity to show off her impeccable dummy play technique. She is planning to take finesses in both major suits and realizes that there is an excellent reason to play on Hearts first. If this loses and a Diamond comes back, Declarer can take the Spade finesse safe in the knowledge that, if it loses, West will have no Diamonds left. As it happens, both finesses work and Declarer’s good play is unnecessary, there will be 10 tricks whatever happens.
System Note After a Weak Two doubled, some pairs play Lebensohl. This takes away 2NT as a natural bid, and the Lebensohl auction would proceed thusly: West North East South Pass Pass 2♦ Dbl Pass 3♣ Pass 3NT Pass Pass Pass Playing Lebensohl, North’s 3♣ was constructive but not forcing. We’d say that North is about minimum for the bid, with a lesser hand North would go via the 2NT relay.
7♠ is ice-cold but it’s a difficult grand to reach. Here’s how the featured N-S did it: - 2NT: Jacoby, showing a Spade fit and game-going values. This may well be the key bid in the entire auction, South having decided that her hand was too good for a direct Splinter bid of 4♥. For more on this, please see the Bidding Quiz. - 3♦: Shortness in Diamonds - 4♥: Shortness in Hearts. An improvised bid, perhaps, but if N-S are on the same wavelength then this should be a hand which was too good to splinter originally. - 4NT: Roman Key Card Blackwood. Yes, somewhat unusual with a void but North was really interested in the Q♠ and the K♣. - 5♣: 1 or 4 - 5♦: Queen Ask - 6♣: Shows the Q♠ and the K♣.
Not a bad auction, but even so North could not have been 100% certain that 7♠ would make, she was no doubt concerned about the possibility of a 3rd round Club loser. Then again, South said he was too good for a direct splinter, so it was a reasonable gamble, we think.
If, opposite a 1NT opening, your partnership has a method of showing an invitational hand with 5-5 in the minors then that would be a reasonable gambit for West here. The featured E-W had no such method, so West decided that the practical solution was to try for 3♣ or 3♦. His side was playing Minor Suit Transfers, whereby 2♠ transferred to Clubs and 2NT transferred to Diamonds. This allowed him to use a little trick to get to 3 of the right minor. He bid 2NT, transferring to Diamonds, and North bid 3♣ which by their methods said “I don’t like Diamonds” (some pairs play it the other way). So West passed on the assumption that Opener’s Clubs would be better than the Diamonds.
Clubs is the right spot, of course, making 11 tricks when the Heart finesse works.
Perhaps West was tempted to balance with 2♠, but that would have been quite risky at that vulnerability. Against 2♥, considering the auction, it seems likely that the K♠ will be led. How do you fancy Declarer’s chances? They are not good. There are 3 tricks in the side suits (assuming that the A♣ is onside) and no real prospect for more. That means that 5 trump tricks are needed, which will necessitate two ruffs in one hand or the other. Of course, the defense can stop that by leading trumps early, but it’s easy to see the play going like this: K♠, ducked by Declarer (East encouraging with the Nine) Low Spade, to East’s Jack and Declarer’s Ace K♦ taken by West’s Ace Q♠ is cashed Heart shift to the Ace Heart continuation won in the Dummy A Club won by East’s King Now, East cannot lead the vital third round of trumps, and Declarer scores the rest of her trumps separately, for 8 tricks. It’s easy to see where the defense went wrong … when West won his A♦, he had to shift to trumps immediately, without first cashing his Spade winner. Then, when East gets in with the A♣, he can get to Partner’s hand with the third round of Spades for the killing trump continuation. Easy to see with all four hands in view, less obvious with only two hands visible. But not impossible. West knows that the opponents are in a 4-4 fit, and that neither of the minor suits can be established, so where are Declarer’s tricks coming from if not the trump suit? Perhaps West is worried that Declarer’s Spade loser will be pitched on a Diamond, maybe Declarer has this hand: ♠ AT8 ♥ AJ32 ♦ K ♣ JT873 Sure, if West shifts to a trump after winning the A♦, Declarer’s Spade loser goes on the Q♦. But it doesn’t really help Declarer, she’s struggling to find tricks more than she is trying to avoid losers.
Walsh Note Players of the Walsh persuasion will not bother to bid North’s Diamonds, they’ll respond 1♥ and end up in the same contract but from the North side. The oft-quoted benefit of a Walsh auction is that it gives away less information, and so it is here. East will presumably lead the J♦, and now the defense has no chance whatsoever of leading trumps three times. Making 8 tricks without requiring a defensive slip-up.
South might have made a game-try at IMP’s but maybe not such a good idea at matchpoints. And, even if South does try for game, North will likely decline. True, she has that lovely Spade singleton but the rest of her hand is as bad as can be … minimum point count, only 3 trumps, and three small at that.
Playing in Hearts, West leads a Spade, won by East’s Ace. He’ll shift to a low trump at the speed of light, and Declarer will hop up with the Ace in order to negotiate two Spade ruffs on the board. Losing a Spade, two Hearts, and a Diamond, for +140.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
