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Hand Analyses 20th June, 2007
Those E-W preempts certainly put N-S to the guess. South’s first bid was a Negative Double, of course, necessitated because she did not have the values for a direct 3♥ bid. North’s Double showed extra values, and South had an awkward guess, whether to pass or bid 5♥. We think it’s a pretty close choice either way.
The winning guess is to bid 5♥, a contract which will make 11 tricks with normal play (the singleton K♥ will score a trick unless Declarer is blessed with X-ray vision). As for 4♠, it’s down only two and a good save against the opponents’ game.
E-W may well buy this one in 1NT as neither North nor South have an obvious way into the auction. Against 1NT, South leads a 4th best Heart which looks disastrous at first sight. But in reality it costs nothing, Declarer always had exactly 8 tricks one way or the other and the low Heart lead merely saves Declarer the trouble of setting up a Club trick.
A simple enough transfer auction, and against 2♠ we’d expect the opening lead of the Diamond Seven, primarily for want of a better alternative. West will read this lead as a likely singleton or doubleton (though J87 and K87 and KJ7 are also possible) and, if he plans to give Partner a ruff, he must guess which. Meanwhile, Declarer has some guessing of her own to do, she must decide how to play the trump suit. All things being equal (which they rarely seem to be!), when playing the Spade suit, it’s a close choice between leading towards the long hand and playing the Queen, or inserting the Nine (or Seven). Here’s what might happen: - West guesses that Partner has led a singleton, so wins the first Diamond with the Ace and sends back a Diamond … Declarer’s Ten wins the trick, which holds, and Declarer now leads a Spade towards Dummy … East smoothly plays low, and Declarer (eager to keep West off lead) hopefully plays the Queen and is pleasantly surprised when it holds! Now a small Spade from the board and eventually Declarer will come to 9 tricks. - In fact, the play is not that dissimilar if West plays East for a doubleton Diamond. He ducks the first Diamond, and again Declarer will have to make her Spade guess. Jumping up with the Queen (assuming East plays low) is the winner, and brings in 9 tricks, finessing results in just 8 tricks.
A DONT Note Our “Do you or DONT you?” empirical study is designed to measure the effectiveness of “DONTing” with 4-4 hands. But here E-W are vulnerable, and our arbitrary rules of engagement require 12 HCP’s to DONT with 4-4 in the direct seat. East has but 11, so this deal does not qualify for the study, and the score remains: DONT Robots 3 Solid Citizens 3
Just as on Board 2, N-S go quietly here and let East play a contract at the one-level. North is in the balancing seat and is the one who is generally expected to keep the auction alive, but here with 6 points and 3 Clubs she is somewhat stuck for a bid. She might have considered doubling anyway, but that would probably not have been a success … South does best to pass (but N-S must also defend well), but may well bid 1NT or 2♠, both of which are destined to go down.
Defending against 1♣ (doubled or otherwise), South leads the T♥, after which Declarer cashes the AK♥ and exits a Heart. Back in with the T♥, South has no good exit. A Club looks like the best shot, North wins the Ace, and sends a Spade through. The finesse loses, and again South is stuck for an exit. She won’t know that a Spade exit is safe and will probably cash her Clubs and exit a Club. Declarer cashes the 13th Heart, but 6 tricks is all she can manage.
On opening lead against 4♥, South might well lead her singleton Diamond, and this is not a success. Now, Declarer can win the Diamond in his hand (North is advised to play low, but it comes out the same in practice), draw two rounds of trumps and lead a Club towards Dummy. Now, the Spade loser will be pitched on a Club, and 11 tricks made. It takes a Spade lead to hold Declarer to 10 tricks.
North had a choice of responses after South’s 1♣ opening bid, for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz. For the time being let’s just say that North’s 2♣ was an “Inverted Raise”, showing a limit raise (or better) in Clubs and denying a 4-card major. As for the rest of that strange-looking auction, South’s 3♦ was a Splinter (showing Diamond shortness in other words), and what followed was governed by the N-S Roman Key Card methods. For the time being we’ll just say that this pair was playing Redwood, so 4♦ asked for Key Cards (5♣ said “two with the Q♣), and 5♦ was the King Ask (6♣ said “None”). For more on the Key Card part of the auction, and some alternative methods, please see the Bidding Quiz.
Against 6♣, let’s say that West leads a low Spade. Declarer can count 10 top tricks, and one way to get to 12 is to ruff two Clubs in her hand. This is a piece of cake if trumps are 2-2, of course, but those ruffs must be taken before drawing trumps in the more likely case that trumps are 3-1. So, if Declarer is persuaded that two Diamond ruffs is the way to go she might go down in her cold contract with this unsuccessful line of play: West leads a low Spade, won by Declarer’s Ace Diamond to the Ace and a Diamond ruff Club to the Ace Diamond ruffed by Declarer’s Ten and overruffed by West’s Jack Trump return Now, Declarer’s hand is trumpless, and the only way to score a 12th trick is the Heart finesse. When that loses, it’s down one.
A better line is to draw trumps immediately. If trumps are 2-2, then Declarer can get her two Diamond ruffs in peace and can try the Heart finesse for a 13th trick. When trumps turn out to be 3-1, Declarer has just one Diamond ruff, so the Heart finesse is taken (before the Diamond ruff) … the finesse will lose, but it will still generate an extra Heart trick. Making 12 tricks.
In the featured auction, N-S end up in the wrong black suit. Only 8 tricks are available in Clubs, but this line of play brings in no fewer than 9 tricks in Spades, despite the 4-1 trump break (let’s assume that it is played by South): K♥ lead, won by Declarer’s Ace Club to the Jack and East’s Ace Heart is cashed Heart is ruffed Finesse of the Q♠ Cash A♠ Cash Q♣ Cross to the K♣ Now, East, who has two master trumps, can ruff or not, but either way it will be 9 tricks for Declarer.
West’s 2NT was the Unusual No Trump, showing the minors. North’s Double showed a good hand. East showed his preference for Clubs, and South got her Spade suit into the auction. Now North had an awkward problem and guessed to bid 3NT, for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz.
Against 3NT, one would expect East to lead a Club and that will be 12 tricks for Declarer when the Heart suit behaves. Do you see how East can hold Declarer to 11 tricks? Yes, either a Spade or a Diamond opening lead will do it. In those cases, Declarer must use both her Spade entries for Heart plays, and cannot cash both her Clubs before the A♥ has been knocked out. As a result, one of the Club tricks winners will be stranded.
With 18 HCP’s and a 4-card fit for Responder’s major, South would normally raise to game. But here the hand is square and the Diamond honors are dubious, so South reins in and bids just 3♠. Conversely, North, with just 7 HCP’s opposite a 3♠ rebid might well pass normally. But here she has a 5-card fit for Partner’s first-bid suit so she upgrades accordingly and goes to game, reaching via a different route the same contract as the point-counters.
4♠ needs a bit of luck, but does not get it. West will probably start with the A♦, and now Declarer is sure to lose a Club, a Diamond, and two Spades.
West showed admirable restraint in this auction, we think. No doubt he considered an invitational rebid of 3♠ but concluded that this would be an overbid. Please see the Bidding Quiz.
It turns out that game would indeed be too much, even making 9 tricks requires some luck. But 9 tricks are there when the Heart finesse works.
North’s 2♥ was game-forcing, and the question of the day is “What on earth is that strange 4♦ bid all about?” For more on this, please see the Bidding Quiz. 4NT was Roman Key Card, South showed “0 or 3” and that was enough for North to bid the slam.
East’s obvious lead is a Diamond, which will give Declarer some anxious moments. She wins the Ace in her hand, cashes three rounds of Clubs, pitching her Diamond loser. How should Declarer play the trump suit? In a team game, where making the contract is of supreme importance, the safe play is to cash the A♥ and lead a low Heart. This reduces the chances of making an overtrick, but assures the contract. Playing matchpoints, Declarer (after cashing the Clubs) might ruff a Diamond and run the Q♥. Do you see the danger of this play? It’s a small danger, to be sure, but suppose that West has the singleton K♥ and a 4th Club … West wins his King, leads a Club and East’s Heart Nine is promoted! The risk of that happening is less than 5%, whereas the extra chances of the overtrick from the Heart finesse are 15%, so we’d probably go with the odds and finesse for the overtrick. We say probably because there is another factor involved … if we think that the slam is unlikely to be bid at many other tables, then making an overtrick is overkill, we should be content to ensure our contract which will be enough for a good board.
Not a particularly spirited auction, but that’s hardly surprising, neither side has much to get excited about.
If East plays in Hearts, he’ll probably be down one. The defense has two sure Hearts and two Diamonds and the A♠, and the setting trick will come from a Spade ruff.
If N-S show a flagrant disregard for the Law of Total Tricks, and push on to 3♦, they will wish that they hadn’t, they’ll be down one instead of their opponents. In fact, down just one requires good play by Declarer: J♣ opening lead, which holds Diamond shift, Dummy’s Queen covered by the King and the Ace Spade to the Ace Club ruff (key play) Declarer exits a Spade A Diamond won by Dummy’s Jack Another Club ruff A♥ is cashed Spade ruff Club ruff Declarer has scrambled 8 tricks but that is all that she gets.
East’s Double was takeout-oriented and West decided to try for a penalty. A reasonable gamble, we think, for the following reasons: - It seemed unlikely that 3NT was going to make - 11 tricks in a minor looked like a tall order, at least looking just at the West hand - Bidding just 3♣ would be something of an underbid - The opponents are vulnerable, and there is an excellent chance of getting 200 on a part-score hand.
It turns out that 6♦ makes, though it’s not a great contract. The Q♦ must be onside, and the suit must also be 3-2 because Declarer can only take the finesse once (the other trump is needed to ruff a Heart), so the whole thing works out at no better than 37%. But game in Diamonds is a good proposition, of course.
How about 5♣? If the defense starts out with Spades, they will make life quite difficult for Declarer. Now the best line appears to be to hope for 3-2 Clubs, in which case trumps can be drawn and the Diamonds established (provided that they are not 5-0). This line fails on the lie of the cards.
OK, back to 2♠ doubled. Can the defense score the 800 necessary to beat those minor suit games? Yes, but it takes an opening trump lead to do it, cashing even one round of Clubs first allows Declarer to get out for -500. Here is the successful defense: Low Spade opening lead, won by Declarer’s Ace A Diamond lost to East A Club to West’s King T♠ won by North’s King A Diamond won by East A Diamond ruffed by West’s Eight Low Club won by East, ruffed by Declarer Heart to Dummy’s Queen, won by East Q♣ ruffed by Declarer Heart won by East Third Heart is cashed Now, a Diamond lead promotes the defense’s 8th trick. Nice defense for +800!
Yes, it was necessary for West to start out with a low Spade at Trick One! And it was also essential for West to play that low Club at Trick Seven.
N-S were playing DONT, a good way of showing two-suiters against the opponents’ 1NT opening. But here, North had a three-suiter and had to decide which two suits to show. Obviously the 5-card Heart suit, and it made sense to show also the higher-scoring Spade suit, especially as the Spades were stronger than the Diamonds. Alas, for N-S, the 9-card Diamond fit was missed!
East had a comfortable Double of 2♥, South naturally preferred Spades, and West’s Double of 2♠ was less comfortable. Here is an exotic way to beat 2♠ one trick: West leads the J♥, ducked by Dummy A Heart to Dummy’s Ace A Diamond to West’s Queen The K♦ ruffed by East (yes, really) The K♥, ruffed by Declarer and overruffed The A♦, ruffed by East! Another Heart ruffed by Declarer and overruffed
That’s a very sexy defense for down one, but E-W do better to try a forcing game as follows: J♥ opening lead, ducked in Dummy, overtaken by East Club shift, won by Declarer’s Ace A low Spade, West splits his honors, Dummy’s Ace wins A♥ is cashed T♥ is led, low from East, ruffed by West’s Four Club ruff on the board Heart, ruffed by South’s Two, overruffed by West’s King Three Diamonds are cashed Another Club ruff on the board The defense has scored 6 tricks, and all of that ruffing on the board has promoted a trick for East’s 9♠. Down two!
West’s 2♣ showed invitational values (or better) with Heart support, after which East trotted out the game. Good hand evaluation by both players, please see the Bidding Quiz.
4♥ is a fine contract and will usually make 10 tricks, though there is an unlikely line of defense that beats it. South must lead the J♦ on the go, and later wins the K♥ and gets his Diamond ruff.
Most of the time we’d expect a low Club lead and a Spade shift, leaving Declarer with choices of play in each of the red suits: - In the Heart suit, the play which guarantees no more that one loser is low towards the A98752. If North follows low, then Declarer inserts the Nine, and if North shows out Declarer can jump up with the Ace and lead towards the Queen. - In the Diamond suit, the missing high cards are the same, but with only an eight-card fit in that suit it’s not possible to guarantee just one loser. But the percentage play is the similar … Declarer leads toward the holding with the Ace, and inserts the Ten if South plays low … if that holds (or loses to the Jack) we’ll run the Queen on the next round. This line gets 3 tricks 75% of the time, and 4 tricks 3% of the time (singleton King with South).
Not a successful N-S auction, but not unreasonable either. Unluckily for Declarer, the Diamonds are 5-2, and the long Diamonds are on opening lead, and then to compound the misery the Club finesse loses and the contract is down two.
Opening Lead Note Defending against a suit contract, we’d lead the A♦ from that Diamond holding, of course. But, against a No Trump contract it’s generally preferable to lead a low card, all the more so when, as here, we have no side-suit entries. Leading the Ace on this board would be quite disastrous, blocking the suit.
This week’s set of hands is replete with deals which have no clear resolution. Here is a good example of that, and in this case it’s South and East who might well have bid differently: - South passed East’s Double but might have raised to 2♥ or preempted with 3♦, we wouldn’t find fault with any of these bids. - East might have made a game try of 3♥ after West’s jump to 3♣. Again, we wouldn’t fault either of these choices. Of course, if East does make a 3♥ game try, West will bid 3NT with alacrity.
Anyway, it turns out that 3NT makes 10 tricks, and that 5♣ makes a rather lucky 11 tricks, so any E-W pairs who reached game should score rather well.
North’s 2♥ was about as minimum as a positive response can be, and that propelled South slamwards. When North showed two Key cards, but denied the Q♥, South had to choose between 6♥ and 6NT. An interesting choice! Please see the Bidding Quiz.
If North ends up playing in 6♥, East has a clear-cut choice of opening lead in the Q♠. Now the contract depends on picking up the Q♥ (and also a 3-2 Heart break). When this is successful, Declarer can run the Clubs (pitching her Spade loser), and can then try the Diamond finesse for 13 tricks.
If South ends up playing in 6NT, it’s far from obvious that West will lead a Spade. If he does lead a Spade, things will be quite interesting! Now the Q♥ must be picked up to avoid going down three tricks. Here’s how the play might go: Spade lead to East’s Ten and Declarer’s Ace The J♥ is successfully finessed Heart to the Ace Five Clubs are cashed The remaining three Hearts are cashed In the 2-card ending, a Diamond is led from the board and Declarer must decide whether or not to finesse the Q♦ for the overtrick. Here are the considerations: - If the K♦ is with East, then Declarer must finesse the Q♦ in order to stay ahead of those pairs who play in 6♥. - If the K♦ is offside, then West must decide whether to come down to a stiff King and a Spade (bold play!) or to come down to Kx of Diamonds (in which case the finesse is safe). It’s usually safe to take the finesse in this situation, unless you have enormous respect for West’s deviousness!
This time the boisterous N-S preempts pushed E-W into a slam that otherwise they would probably have missed. It’s an instructive auction: - North’s 3♥ was preemptive - East’s Double was Responsive, showing the unbid suits - South’s 4♥ was based on the extra Heart, not on extra strength - West’s 4NT told Partner to pick the minor suit (please see the Bidding Quiz) - East’s 6♣ was something of a stab in the dark, but he does have substantial extras with the perfect Heart holding (nothing wasted, Partner obviously short)
Against 5♣, South will lead the A♥, and now Declarer can get home by ruffing three Hearts on the board: Opening Heart lead is ruffed Cross to the A♣ Ruff a Heart Cross to the K♦ Ruff a Heart Cross to the A♠ Now, Declarer draws trumps, cashes the Diamonds and concedes a Spade at the end. This line works on the actual lie of the cards but would fail if trumps are 4-1 (the J♣ was used for ruffing) or if North started with Jxxx of Diamonds. Perhaps a better line, considering the likelihood of South holding the K♠, is to play on Spades at Trick Two, giving Declarer some extra chances if either of the minors break badly.
N-S have an easy enough auction to 3NT. We’d expect West to lead a Diamond, which, as it turns out, attacks Declarer’s weakest point. Declarer has no sensible option at this point other than to cash out for 10 tricks, and this surprisingly becomes 11 when the Q♥ comes down.
After West’s Takeout Double, we’d say that East is pretty close to a 3♥ bid, showing invitational values. If East does bid 3♥, then 4♥ will be the final contract, of course. And, if East bids only 2♥, then he’ll give poor West something of a headache with his next bid. Our featured West took a Tylenol and tried 3♦, but there were other choices available, for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz.
If E-W end up in 3NT, played by East, South will surely cash her top Spades, and lead a 4th round of the suit. Now Declarer can count 8 top tricks. The Diamond finesse is safe, and it also works, so now it’s 9 tricks. Squeeze buffs will immediately spot all sorts of potential on this hand, surely North will be under severe pressure in the end-game. And so it is, she is inexorably squeezed in Hearts and Clubs. Well, maybe it’s not quite so inexorable, because the Q♦ is tripleton and Declarer is deprived of his squeeze fun, 10 tricks roll in without that.
E-W buy this one in 3♥, and when East’s Dummy goes down, West could be entitled to be somewhat disappointed. Look at all that Diamond wastage, how much nicer if some of that power was in the majors. However, the good news is that the hand is extremely Declarer-friendly … Hearts are 2-2, the Spade King is onside, and likewise the K♣. Making 9 tricks.
West is super-maximum for that 1NT rebid, and East does not have quite enough to make a stronger move than 2♠. The end-result is a cozy 2♠ contract. Let’s say that South starts with Clubs. Declarer ruffs the second round, and his best line of play is to ruff two Diamonds on the board, in which case he ends up losing one Club and three trump tricks, for +140.
North might well have overcalled 2♣, in which case East would have cue-bid 3♣, showing invitational values or better, after which West will bid the game. But if North decides to preempt with 3♣ (we would), East must decide whether to bid 3♠ or 4♣ or 4♠. Our own choice is 4♣, please see the Bidding Quiz.
Anyway, all roads lead to 4♠, and all lines of play lead to 11 tricks thanks to the successful Diamond finesse.
With that miserable 4-count, West is close to passing 2NT, but he does have a couple of useful Tens, a 5-card suit, and an optimistic spirit, so he goes to 3NT via Stayman.
South tries the opening lead of a fourth-best Diamond, and North’s Jack forces Declarer’s King. Things look bleak for Declarer, but the card gods are with him. He plays A♣ and out a Club, and not only are the Clubs miraculously fortunate, but also the winner of the second Club is South. At this point Declarer has 9 top tricks, and if South persists with Diamonds, that’s Declarer’s 10th.
Suppose that South, when in with the Club, shifts to the safe Spade. Dare Declarer try the Heart finesse for a 10th trick? Well, it’s not without risk, if South’s opening lead of the Diamond Seven was from A987, and if the Heart finesse loses, then a low Diamond to North’s Queen, and a Diamond back, will sink the contract. Would you go for the overtrick and risk the contract? We admit that we would be tempted, it needs three things to go wrong for us to regret this play: - The Heart finesse must lose - Diamonds must be 4-3 - The Q♦ must be with North
Smith Echo Note Do you play Smith Echo? The way that this works is that, after the opening lead against NT, when Declarer plays on his suit (in this case Clubs), the defenders can give their attitude to the opening lead. So here, after the Diamond lead, when Declarer plays on Clubs, North would play low-high in the suit, indicating that she had nothing good left in the suit.
Paradoxically, the Smith Echo might help Declarer on this hand! South leads the Diamond to Declarer’s King, and the Clubs are played as before. Now, against a Smith pair, unless North is a consummate swindler, Declarer will know that South’s Spade switch was not just a wrong guess, and that she surely has the missing high Diamonds. So, the Heart finesse is quite safe.
Quite a wild deal! It’s a double-fitter with both sides able to make 11 tricks and we predict some successful doubled contracts, expect to see a handful of 990’s and 850’s on the score-sheet.
In the featured auction, North’s 2♥ was Michaels, showing Spades and a minor, so, even without prior discussion, it seems reasonable to treat East’s 3♠ as a Splinter, showing game values, Heart support, and Spade shortness. After that both sides kept bidding until someone decided that it was time to double.
As West, what would you lead against 5♠ doubled? One possibility is a Club lead, trying for a ruff, but that only makes Declarer’s life easier. West gets the ruff alright, but that is the end for defense, Declarer ruffs a good Diamond to get to her hand for the Spade finesse (she should play West for the K♠ based on the auction), and it’s 11 tricks.
A better defense to 5♠ is to start with a Heart, ruffed on the board. Now things get really interesting. Declarer has only one entry back to her hand for the Spade finesse, and that is achieved by ruffing a Diamond winner. The trump finesse works (if Declarer leads the Jack then West will cover) but East shows out. Now Declarer has a certain Spade loser and no way back to her hand for a Club finesse. Forced to play the Club suit from Dummy, the only play for one loser is lead the King, hoping to squash the singleton Queen. Bingo! Making 11 tricks. If that Q♣ had not been singleton, Declarer would have been down an ignominious 3 tricks, she would be unable to cope with repeated Heart leads.
If West is allowed to play in Hearts, the play will be less exciting unless North finds the astonishing opening lead of the K♣! Declarer lays down the A♥ and sees the bad break, and further sees that he cannot afford to draw all the enemy trumps before playing on Diamonds. The road to 11 tricks is for Declarer to play on Diamonds, keeping the trumps in his hand to handle the Club force. But this line is pure fantasy, on less amazing opening leads, 11 tricks are made in comfort.
Total Tricks Note Slaves to the Law of Total Tricks will be disappointed to notice that there are only 19 total trumps, but a whopping 22 total tricks, quite a discrepancy! Yes, it’s double-fitting hands which usually account for such a difference, and that’s the case here, 19 black cards on one side, which are ipso facto arrayed against 19 red cards. The “Law” is more effective at lower levels, with less dramatic distribution.
West’s 3♥ was a simple game try, resolutely declined by East. Had E-W been playing Bergen Raises, then no doubt East would have tried a preemptive 3♥ and West would have passed that.
How does 3♥ do? With the Heart finesse working it looks as if Declarer can hold his losses to a Spade, a Diamond and two Clubs, except for one small detail. Yes, indeed, how does Declarer get to the board to take that finesse? The answer is that he cannot, but nonetheless it takes the right opening lead and some fine defensive play to beat the contract: Opening lead of the T♣, won by Declarer’s Ace K♠, ducked by North! (necessary to prevent entry) Spade won by North’s Ace Club to South’s Queen Diamond shift won by Declarer’s Ace Diamond exit to North’s King K♣ is cashed Club ruffed by South Down one, nice defense!
North showed a really good hand by opening and doubling twice, and South, with nowhere to go after the second double, and with her slender values in the enemy suit, decided to take her chances on defense. It’s quite bloody, down three, a penalty of 800. Any obvious culprit for this E-W fiasco? Yes, we would put the blame squarely on West’s shoulders. True, his side has a 9-card fit, but his hand has altogether too many negatives, for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz.
When the opponents are bidding two suits and Partner doubles, you can almost take it to the bank that he has at least 4 cards in both the unbid suits. But here is an exception, it would be feeble of West to pass 1♠ because of that slight Diamond deficiency, and so he doubles. West’s invitational 3♥ was quite aggressive, no doubt he liked how his hand was positioned over the 1♠ bidder. As for East, it was invitation he could hardly refuse, given the extra trump, two doubletons, and smattering of values.
In 4♥, on the lie of the cards, Declarer has a trump and two minor suit Aces to lose, and his success will depend upon not losing a second Club trick. That is achieved by ruffing two Clubs on the board, and pitching one on the Diamonds (which must be played on early).
Some players (ourselves included!) just cannot resist overcalling those chunky 4-card suit, and here that practice gets N-S too high. Double dummy defense beats 3♥ by two tricks … A♣, Club ruff, A♦, Club ruff, underlead A♠ to Partner’s King, and a third Club ruff. If the defense is less inspired, it may well be down only one. Down one or down two, undoubled and not vulnerable, is not necessarily a bad result, but it is here as East was also destined to go down in 2♣.
Walsh Addendum If E-W are playing Walsh, then North will be saved from his unsuccessful 1♥ overcall, because West will bypass those Diamonds and bid 1♥ first. This probably gets East into a 2♣ contract, down one.
East’s 2♥ showed a limit raise or better, and West’s Double was the so-called Maximal Double (a game-try) for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz. South showed restraint by not bidding up to 4♥ unaided.
It turns that that West may well make 10 tricks in Spades, with 5 Spades, 4 Diamonds, and a Spade ruff. There are two ways in which the defense can hold Declarer to 9 tricks: - One way is the highly unlikely opening lead of a trump. Declarer wins this and loses a Heart to South, who must now underlead her A♣, putting in Partner for another trump lead. Declarer loses a second heart, but North ruffs her partner’s winner and leads a third round of trumps, scotching the ruff. - More likely, North will start out with a Heart lead, and now the defense which holds Declarer to 9 tricks is to shift to Clubs, initiating a forcing defense. Declarer cannot afford to ruff Clubs more than once without losing control, and now no longer has the timing to organize the Heart ruff on the board.
A tame ending to a most interesting set of boards. East’s 2♣ was New Minor Forcing, an artificial device primarily designed to uncover a 5-3 major fit. North might well lead a Heart on this auction, after which Declarer will need to set up some minor suit tricks. He’ll play on Clubs, and will no doubt play South for the Jack. Why? Because if she must lose to the Jack, she’d rather it was to North who cannot attack Diamonds profitably. Well, of course, neither can South as the cards lie, but Declarer can see only two hands.
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