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Hand Analyses 13th June, 2007
South’s Double was a Support Double, showing 3-card support for North’s Hearts, and North guessed to bid 1NT even without a Spade stopper. A pretty safe guess, though, in the absence of a Spade raise from West it seemed quite likely that South had something in Spades.
1NT contracts are notoriously difficult to play and defend and this one is no exception. Let’s try it with a Diamond lead: Q♦ opening lead, won by Dummy’s Ace Club to the Queen Club to Dummy’s King and West’s Ace Club to Dummy’s Jack (nothing else helps the defense) The last Club is cashed, East must pitch a Diamond Finesse of the Diamond Eight The J♦ is taken by West’s King At this point, Declarer has 8 sure tricks, but West is on lead and must concede a 9th trick one way or another. Breaking open either major is sure to cost a trick, so West tries a “safe” Diamond exit. But not so safe! Here is the end position: Declarer ♠ J5 ♥ KQ3 ♦ T ♣ West East ♠ K6 ♠ Q98 ♥ J65 ♥ A94 ♦ 9 ♦ ♣ ♣ Dummy ♠ AT4 ♥ T87 ♦ ♣ Declarer wins the Diamond, and now East is squeezed. If he pitches a Spade then Declarer ducks a Spade and scores the long Spade in Dummy. If he pitches a Heart, then Dummy pitches a Spade … Declarer now leads the K♥ won by East, East exits a Spade won on the board, and now the lead of the T♥ squashes East’s Nine and builds an extra Heart trick. Nine tricks for Declarer.
That Diamond lead was a disaster for the defense, they should be able to score 5 tricks on a Spade lead, though the play looks extremely complicated.
North figured that her hand was too good for a 3-level preempt so she bid up to 3♠ one level at a time. Perhaps that 3♠ bid was somewhat risky, considering the vulnerability, but even if she had passed we suspect that South might have been emboldened by the opponents’ double fit to bid 3♠. After all, if E-W have a large number of red cards then N-S have an equally large number of black cards.
If N-S get to play in Spades, they will make 9 tricks, there is nothing of note in the play.
Deep Finesse says that E-W can make 9 tricks in Hearts and 10 in Diamonds, but that requires good guessing in both Diamonds and Clubs. Our prediction is that 8 in Hearts and 9 in Diamonds is more likely at most tables.
After Partner has opened 1NT there are various methods available for Responder when she holds 5-4 in the majors with invitational or game-going values. For more on this, please see the Bidding Quiz. Anyway, all that is moot, East can hardly not bid his 8-card Diamond suit and that turns out to be a disaster when South has the perfect hand for a Penalty Double. When the dust has cleared, East is down two for -500.
If E-W buy it in 3♣, there will be nothing to the play and 9 tricks will be made. But, suppose that N-S boldly compete to 3♥. Can North make 9 tricks on the opening lead of the K♣? Please see Play Problem # 160.
East’s 2♣ was Drury, showing Spade support and decent values and asking Partner if his 3rd seat opening was sound. Not only was the opening sound but it was also blessed with substantial extras, so West jumped straight to game, seeing no reason to mess around when slam is not on the horizon.
In the play to 4♥, Declarer has 8 tricks plus whatever he can get from the Club suit. It’s possible to get three Club tricks by dropping that doubleton Ten, but normal play is to finesse twice against South and that will be just two Club tricks and 10 altogether.
However, if North’s opening lead is the T♣, this gives Declarer his eleventh trick on a plate. In fact, it’s doubly disastrous because it also gives Declarer the timing for a twelfth! Declarer wins the Club lead in hand with the Jack, cashes all his Hearts, and plays on Spades. North wins her Ace on the first or second round, but when Dummy later cashes the third round of Spades, South will be squeezed in the minors.
Two Notes for Squeeze Buffs Note 1: After that unfortunate T♣ opening lead, it was necessary for Declarer to cash all those trumps first, before playing on Spades in order to manage the entries for the squeeze. If Declarer were to play just three rounds of trumps, and then play on Spades, North would duck the first Spade, win the second Spade, and shift to a Diamond. Goodbye, squeeze, Dummy’s last entry is knocked out prematurely. Note 2: If Declarer wins the T♣ lead with the Jack and is astute enough to cash 5 Hearts immediately, North can shine on defense. She simply ducks two rounds of Spades! In the 5-card end-game, South will still be squeezable in the minors, but it will be a throw-in squeeze, risking defeat if North started with either missing Diamond honor. Obscure stuff!
Only 9 HCP’s, and vulnerable to boot, but we know that we would not hesitate to open that East hand with 1♠. Then, once South has made a 2/1 overcall, North will surely go to game with that nice 12-count.
Against 3NT, an opening lead of the J♥ is ruinous to Declarer, setting up 4 Hearts, 2 Spades and a Diamond for the defense, and down an ignominious three tricks. But East won’t lead a Heart, instead he’ll be torn between a Spade and a Club: - A low Spade looks attractive, all it needs from Partner is a couple of small Spades and an entry (perhaps in their Diamond suit), and the suit is likely to come home. Alas for the defense, Dummy is the one with the King and a small Spade lead works poorly. But heads-up play by West saves the day! See below. - A Club lead also looks attractive. North is obviously ready for a Spade lead, she may be less comfortable with Clubs. A 4th best Club lead gives Declarer an extra Club trick, but it’s still down one. Yes, indeed, the bizarre opening lead of the T♣ beats the contract three tricks!
OK, back to 3NT on the opening lead of a low Spade. Dummy’s King wins, Declarer plays on Diamonds, conceding the 4th round to West. Now, a Spade shift won by East, at which point a shift to the J♥ is essential. If Declarer assumes that East is not trying some monumental bluff in the Heart suit then she’ll hop up with the Ace, and cash the remaining Diamonds, coming down to this position: Declarer ♠ JT ♥ ♦ ♣ A9 West East ♠ ♠ Q ♥ KT ♥ 4 ♦ ♦ ♣ K7 ♣ QT Dummy ♠ ♥ Q3 ♦ ♣ J3 At this point, Declarer’s best hope is to end-play West into letting Dummy’s Q♥ score a trick. So, he leads a Club from the board, planning to play A♣ and out a Club. But West scotches that plan by rising majestically with the K♣, and now it’s down one. Alert defense wins the day!
A cut-and-thrust part-score auction gets North into a 3♦ contract. At first glance, it looks as if 3♦ might make 10 tricks, Declarer losing just two Spades and the A♦. But repeated Club leads (or a trump lead followed by repeated Club leads) cause Declarer to lose control and she is even in danger of going down if she follows this line of play: A♣ opening lead, ruffed by Declarer Diamond to West’s Ace Club ruffed by Declarer Two more rounds of trumps Now Declarer is out of trumps and can score no more than 4 Hearts and 4 Diamonds. Declarer never scores a Spade trick, because the defense gets 3 Clubs and two Aces first.
OK, Take Two. How does Declarer get to 9 tricks after the A♣ opening lead? Perhaps the best solution is to decline to ruff, pitching a Spade instead. Let’s say that East continues with a Club to West’s King, which we ruff. Now, a Diamond to the King and West’s Ace, at which point, if West persists with Clubs, we’ll pitch another Spade, setting up our 9th trick in Clubs. The defense scores two Clubs and the A♦ and the A♠, but that’s it.
In 1NT, the obvious Diamond lead from North makes Declarer’s life easy, he’ll score three Diamonds, three Hearts and two black Aces.
Note For DONT Aficionados Many DONT players in the South seat would not dream of selling out to 1NT when they have two 4-card suits and a smattering of values. So, here we have the latest instalment in our ongoing empirical study, entitled “Do you or DONT you?” and designed to test the effectiveness of those 4-4 DONT bids. Here are the rules of engagement: In Direct Seat: Use DONT when 4-4 with10+ HCP’s when not vulnerable Use DONT when 4-4 with 12+ HCP’s when vulnerable In Balancing Seat: Use DONT with any 4-4 hand The Opening Side: The 1NT Opener doubles with two likely trump tricks
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