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Hand Analyses         10th October, 2007

 

 

 1

♠ KJ842

Q92

AQT

♣ 87

 

♠ A9653

764

2

♣ AT42

          North

West             East

          South

T853

97653

♣ KQ53


Dlr     North   
Vul     None 



 

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♠ QT7

AKJ

KJ84

♣ J96

West    North   East     South

            1♠        Pass    2

Pass    2♠        Pass    4♠

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

North had three choices of rebid:

-         3: North has good Diamonds, but only three of them, and that 5-3-3-2 shape is far from ideal.

-         2NT:  Show a minimum and balanced hand, but dangerous, perhaps, with two small Clubs.

-         2♠:  Some pairs play that, after a 2/1, a rebid of the major is “neutral”, meaning that it is the bid one makes when there is no good descriptive alternative available.  As, such, the 2♠ rebid does not guarantee a 6-card suit.  If the neutral 2♠ is available, then that would be a good choice.

 

Anyway, 4♠ looks like a normal spot, and whether East starts out with a Heart or a Club, the bad trump break beats the contract one trick.  For example:

            Defense cashes two Clubs

            Declarer ruffs the third round of Clubs

            Spade to the Queen and West’s Ace

            Heart return (good play!)

Now, Declarer must cash red winners, forcing West to ruff in at some point.  When he does so, it will be his last trick (if a Club comes back, she’ll ruff high on the board and finesse the Spade).  Getting out for down one will be a good result.

 

The defense can beat this contract two tricks if East finds the opening Diamond lead.  Now, when West gets in with the A♠ he can underlead his A♣ twice to get two Diamond ruffs.  Is this defense likely to happen in real life?  Maybe.  If North ever supports Diamonds, East will figure West to be short (void even) and may well start out with Diamonds.  When in with the A♠, it’s a low Club to East’s Queen, and a low Diamond back for a ruff.  The low Diamond is suit preference and tells West that Declarer did not misguess the Clubs and that East had KQ in the suit.

 

 

 2

♠ JT63

A43

JT2

♣ Q86

 
 

♠ KQ75

K

K96

♣ KJT97

          North

West             East

          South

♠ A942

65

AQ54

♣ A32

 

Dlr       East
Vul      N-S 


 
 
 
 
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♠ 8

QJT9872

873

♣ 54

West    North   East     South

                        1        2

Dbl      Pass    2♠        Pass

4♠        Pass    Pass    Pass

 

South leads the Q, won by North.  Hearts are continued and ruffed on the board.  Next, the K♠ and Q♠, getting the bad news.  Now Declarer guesses the Club correctly and it turns out to be 11 tricks.

 

6♣ is not a terrible contract.  Let’s say that North is on lead and starts with the A and another Heart which is ruffed by Declarer.  How would you play the Clubs?  With the Heart length in the South hand it makes sense to play North for the Q♣.  Which is better, do you think?

-         Cash the K♣, and then run the J♣?

-         Or, run the Jack immediately?

If Clubs are 3-2 if won’t matter, this is all about the 4-1 breaks.  If we cash the K♣ first, we’ll pick up a singleton Queen with South (just one possible holding).  If we finesse immediately we can pick up Qxxx in the North hand, which is 4 possible holdings and therefore clearly superior.

 

 

 3

♠ AJ62

J

J43

♣ AK542

 

♠ K987

K5

AT6

♣ T876

          North

West             East

          South

♠ Q3

Q9876

Q82

♣ Q93

 

Dlr     South
Vul     E-W 

 


 
 
 
 
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♠ T54

AT432

K975

♣ J

South   West    North   East 

Pass    Pass    1♣       Pass

1        Pass    1♠        Pass

2♠        Pass    Pass    Pass

 

Deep Finesse says that 8 tricks can be made in Spades on a Double Dummy basis.  If the defense leads a Diamond (most reasonable on the auction), then Declarer can come to 8 tricks only with this well-timed series of plays:

            Diamond to West’s Ace

            Spade shift won by Declarer’s Ace

            A♣ and K♣ are cashed

            Club ruff

            K is cashed

            A is cashed

            Heart ruff

At this point, Declarer has 7 tricks, and cannot be prevented from scoring two more in this end position:

                                    Declarer

                                    ♠ J6

                                   

                                    J

                                    ♣ 54

            West                                        East

            K98                                      ♠ Q

                                                         Q98

            T                                           Q

            ♣ T                                          ♣

                                    Dummy

                                    T

                                    T43

                                    9

                                    ♣

Look what happens when Declarer leads a Club:

-         If East pitches a Heart, Dummy ruffs, and Declarer scores a 9th trick by leading a Heart.

-         If East ruffs, then Dummy pitches a Diamond.  East now does best to play the Q, but to no avail, Declarer can still score the T♠ and J♠ separately.

 

 

 4

♠ A986

Q62

K7

♣ Q976


 

♠ T5

T543

AQ6

♣ AK52

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 743

KJ97

JT82

♣ J8

 

Dlr     West
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ KQJ2

A8

9543

♣ T43

West    North   East     South

1♣       Pass    1        Pass

2        Pass    Pass    Dbl

Pass    2♠        All Pass

  

Gone are the days when the opponents would routinely let us play in a cozy 4-4 fit at the two-level.  Nowadays, someone usually finds some way to balance or pre-balance.  And so it is here, South has both of the unbid suits in the balancing chair and, notwithstanding the vulnerability, chimes in with a Double.  This turns out to be spot-on, and 2♠ makes 8 tricks.

 

 

 5

♠ KQ64

652

8654

♣ T9




Bidding Quiz (West)

♠ 32

AKJT98

A

♣ A742

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 95

Q7

KQJT93

♣ KQ3

 

Dlr     North
Vul     N-S 


 
 
 
 
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♠ AJT87

43

72

♣ J865

West    North   East     South

            Pass    1        Pass

1        Pass    2        Pass

3♣        Pass    3        Pass

3        Pass    4       Pass

5        Pass    Pass    Pass

 

West had a good hand for a Strong Jump Shift, but this pair was not using that method.  3♣ was game-forcing and (the way that many pairs play this) artificial, not necessarily with Clubs, being analogous to the New Minor Forcing convention after a 1NT rebid by Opener.  Anyway, East does not have 3-card Heart support so he rebids his powerful Diamonds.  And that 5 bid?  It says “Bid slam if you have a control in Spades”.

 

That was a nice auction, even if it did absolutely guarantee a Spade lead and only 11 tricks.

 

 

 6

♠ J75

865

KJ92

♣ A86




Bidding Quiz (North)

♠ Q2

A2

863

♣ QJ9753

          North

West             East

          South

♠ T93

KQ943

A74

♣ 42

 

 Dlr     East
 Vul     E-W 


 
 
 
 
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♠ AK864

JT7

QT5

♣ KT

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    1♠

Pass    2♠        Pass    Pass

Pass

 

Here E-W have no realistic option other than to sell out to 2♠.  If West finds the inspired opening lead of the A, then the defense can take 3 Hearts, and the A, and can score a 5th trick when East leads the 4th round of Hearts for a trump promotion.

 

More likely, West will start out with the Q♣, won by Declarer’s King.  Now, it’s A♠, K♠, and a Spade to the Jack, then Declarer knocks out the A.  Having missed out on the trump promotion, the best that the defense can do now is 4 tricks, but even to achieve that East must keep his wits about him.  Clearly he must shift to Hearts, but it must be a low Heart, otherwise the suit will block and one of Declarer’s Heart losers disappears on the 13th Diamond.

 

 

 7

♠ Q3

K95

762

♣ KJ654




Bidding Quiz (West)

♠ AKJ4

Q3

A43

♣ AT82

          North

West             East

          South

♠ T6

JT742

J985

♣ 93

 

Dlr     South
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ 98762

A86

KQT

♣ Q7

South   West    North   East 

Pass    1♣       Pass    Pass

1♠        1NT     Pass    2

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

 Normally, a 1NT rebid by opener shows 12-14 HCP’s (assuming a 15-17 range for the 1NT opening), but here Partner is silent, so 1NT shows 18-19.

 

2 will make with careful play:

            K opening lead, won by Dummy’s Ace (no point in ducking this)

            Q is led from the board, won by North’s King

            Diamond to South’s Ten

            Q is cashed

            Q♣ shift is won by Dummy’s Ace

            A♠ and K♠ are cashed

Declarer’s plan was to execute a Scissors Coup.  He was always going to play the J♠ next, on which he would pitch a Club, cutting off the opponents from each other, and avoiding a trump upper-cut on the third round of Clubs.  The surprise appearance of the Q♠ from North on the second round does not change things … North can ruff the J♠ on the third round, and Declarer still pitches away a Club.  Making 8 tricks!  It takes an opening Club lead and accurate defense thereafter to beat 2.

 

 

 8

♠ Q986

T87

J985

♣ J9




 

♠ T7

QJ5

AT6

♣ AK842

          North

West             East

          South

♠ K53

K632

K32

♣ QT5

 

Dlr     West
Vul     None 


 
 
 
 
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♠ AJ42

A94

Q74

♣ 763

West    North   East     South

1♣       Pass    1        Pass

2        Pass    3NT     Pass

Pass    Pass

 

Against 3NT, South will no doubt lead her 4th best Spade to Declarer’s King.  Declarer knocks out the A, the defense cashes its tricks, and it’s 9 tricks for Declarer.

 

We confess that we’d be tempted to open West’s “good 14” with a 15-17 1NT, based on the 5-card suit and the Aces and Tens.  That will get 3NT played from the West side, and now North can dazzle the Vugraph audience by finding the spectacularly successful opening lead of the Q♠!  This picks up the whole Spade suit, and sets the contract by one trick.  If anybody asks what that opening lead was all about, North’s explanation might be “It was my 4th worst.  Duh!”

 

 

 9

♠ J87432

AQ

Q742

♣ K




 

♠ 96

J97

AT83

♣ AJ75

          North

West             East

          South

♠ AKQT5

T2

9

♣ QT843

 

Dlr     North
Vul     E-W 

 


 
 
 
 
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K86543

KJ65

♣ 962

West    North   East     South

            1♠        Pass    1NT

Pass    2♠        Pass    3

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

South realized that she might just be digging a deeper hole for her side when she bid 3, but she tried it anyway.  Against 3, West won’t have an obvious lead, and will probably start with a minor suit Ace:

-         If he leads the A, the defense continues with a Diamond ruff, A♣, a second Diamond ruff, after which the defense has two more tricks coming (either Clubs if Declarer draws trumps, or natural trump tricks if Declarer ruffs her Club losers).

-         If he leads the A♣, Declarer can escape for down one, as the second Diamond ruff is no longer a possibility.

 

Next, suppose that South does not venture 3, but instead lets Partner wallow in 2♠.  That is likely to be down four, for example, Club to West’s Ace, Club ruff, A and Q are cashed, Diamond to West’s Ace, Spade through allowing East to cash 4 trump tricks, after which the defense runs Clubs until Declarer decides to take her remaining trump.

 

 

 10

♠ J92

A73

K3

♣ A9543


 

Bidding Quiz (South)

Bidding Quiz (North)

♠ KT

6

QT9875

♣ K762

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 763

KQ984

A42

♣ T8

 
Dlr     East
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ AQ854

JT52

J6

♣ QJ

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    Pass

2        Pass    3        Dbl

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

South’s hand is a good example of why they should rename the Rule of Twenty to the Guideline of Twenty.  It may pass the Rule but it completely flunks the Law of Common Sense.  Look at all those quacks, most of them in short suits.  Of course, we have to admit that, as South, having passed, when the bidding gets back to us, we might be wishing that we had taken initial action.  Anyway, South should summon up a Double of 3, and we think that North should pass, they being vulnerable and this being matchpoints.

 

3 is down one trick, a triumph for South’s initial sound Pass, and North’s final bold Pass.  +200 will surely be a top, even though Deep Finesse tells us that 4♠ can make 10 tricks from the North side.

 

 

 11

♠ A986

985

AT5

♣ QT8




Bidding Quiz (North)

♠ KJT542

KQJ

Q932

          North

West             East

          South

♠ Q

T6432

J6

♣ K98762

 
Dlr     South
Vul     None 


 
 
 
 
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♠ 73

A7

K874

♣ AJ543

South   West    North   East 

1♣       1♠        1NT     Pass

Pass    2♠        Dbl      Pass

Pass    Pass

 

North had a couple of interesting choices on this auction.  Over 1♠ she has the right hand-type for a No Trump bid, but should that bid be 1NT (6-10) or 2NT (11-12)?  We think that North’s 10-count is very close to a 2NT bid, it has all those lovely fillers and a couple of Aces.  On the downside, the shape is square and there is only one sure stopper in the enemy suit.  But, change one of those low Spades to the Ten and we’d bid 2NT in a heartbeat.  The second interesting choice for North came over 2♠.  Yes, we like that Double, though it was somewhat speculative and though there would have been more upside if the opponents had been vulnerable.

 

Partnerships which habitually make close matchpoint Doubles must learn to defend accurately, and careful defense gets 2♠ down one trick for +100, not such a great reward for the risk of the Double:

            Club Eight, to the Nine and Jack, ruffed by Declarer

            Trump to North’s Ace

            Q♣, covered by the King and Ace, ruffed by Declarer

            Three rounds of trumps are drawn (everybody is now out of trumps)

            K won by South’s Ace

            A Club is cashed, Declarer pitching a Diamond

            North exits a Diamond

Now, with Declarer forced to play on Diamonds, it’s 3 more tricks to the defense and down one.

 

 

 12

♠ QT

8763

J876

♣ J63

 

♠ J942

A2

AKQ42

♣ T9

          North

West             East

          South

♠ K7

QT9

93

♣ KQ8742

 
Dlr     West
Vul     N-S 


 
 
 
 
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♠ A8653

KJ54

T5

♣ A5

West    North   East     South

1        Pass    3♣       Pass

3NT     Pass    Pass    Pass

 

 

If E-W are playing that 1 2♣ is not game-forcing, then that will be their start to the auction.  Here, E-W were playing that 2♣ would be game-forcing, and that 3♣ is invitational.  But, all roads lead to 3NT, usually played by West.

 

Against 3NT, North leads a Heart.  Which one depends on the N-S methods, maybe the Eight (top of nothing or top of a sequence), maybe the Seven (second highest from four small).  Either way, Dummy’s Ten is covered by the Jack and Ace.  West cashes three top Diamonds (pitching a Club from Dummy on the third round), and when the suit fails to break, he turns his attention to Clubs.  The T♣ is finessed and South must duck.  Then another Club, won by South’s Ace.  At this point South is down to major cards, and leading either one gives Dummy an entry to those Clubs.  Declarer ends up scoring 2 major suit tricks, 3 Diamonds and 4 Clubs.

 

 13

♠ Q92

542

KJ63

♣ J53


 

Bidding Quiz (East)

Play Problem # 197 (East)

♠ AK743

9

QT542

♣ Q7

          North

West             East

          South

♠ JT85

QJ

A9

♣ AKT92

 
Dlr     North
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ 6

AKT8763

87

♣ 864

West    North   East     South

            Pass    1NT     Dbl

2        Pass    3♠        Pass

4♠        Pass    Pass    Pass

 

Not everybody will approve of that 1NT opening bid, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with opening 1♣ and making a comfortable rebid of 1♠.  But, there is much to be said for opening 1NT against vulnerable opponents.  South made a DONT Double, showing a one-suiter, West transferred to Spades, and East made some kind of a Super-Accept, showing 4 Spades.

 

South leads the A.  North plays the 5.  What does this mean?  Usually, when defending a suit contract, if Dummy goes down with a singleton in the suit of the opening lead, that card is intended as suit preference.  So, North plays the Heart Five at Trick One, it’s the best that she can do in the circumstances.  It’s a high card and is attempting to convey the message “I have something in Diamonds, the higher ranking suit”.  Considering the threatening Diamonds in Dummy, that would probably have to be KJ or better.  If South is paying attention and shifts to a Diamond at Trick Two, the defense collects its three tricks.  To see what happens if South continues with Hearts at Trick Two, please see the Play Problem.

 

 

 14

♠ AQJ

K5

K9

♣ KJ6543




Bidding Quiz (N&S)

♠ KT975

T973

QT64

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 8643

AJ86

83

♣ Q82

 

Dlr     East
Vul     None 


 
 
 
 
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♠ 2

Q42

AJ752

♣ AT97

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    1

Pass    2♣       Pass    3♠

Pass    4♣       Pass    4♠

Pass    6♣       All Pass

 

The featured auction is discussed in the Bidding Quiz, in the meantime we’ll just say that 3♠ was a Splinter, 4♣ was Roman Key Card (Minorwood in this case), and therefore 4♠ showed 2 Key Cards without the Q♣.  North could see one missing Key Card, and, considering the presumed 10-card fit (North would not have splintered with only 3-card Club support), she was not overly worried about the missing Q♣.

 

How does 6♣ do?  Well, if trumps are 2-1 (which we can all see they are not) then 12 tricks are easy enough via 6 Clubs in Declarer’s hand, plus 4 side-suit tricks and a couple of Spade ruffs on the board.  So, the two big questions become:

(a)    Can Declarer figure out who is most likely to have the trump length?

(b)   Having done so, how does Declarer still manage to come to 12 tricks?

 

The answers to these questions will depend on East’s opening lead:

-         If East leads a Spade (no good reason for that lead in our view), that will solve the 12th trick problem, and it will come down to the Club guess.  Any clues as to who is more likely to have the 3 Clubs?  Nothing substantial that we can see, so happy guessing!

-         If East lays down the A, again the 12th trick has been presented, but again no serious clues about the Club situation.  Is East trying to grab his Ace in the hope that he’ll score the setting trick with his Qxx of Clubs?  Maybe so, but people cash Aces against slams all the time, so not especially significant.

-         If East leads the Diamond Eight (but why?), Declarer will surely get things right.  She’ll assume that this is a short suit lead, guess the Clubs correctly as a result, and eventually build the 12th trick in Diamonds.

Anyway, commiserations to any pair who got to the fine Club slam and went down, they deserved a better fate.

 

 15

♠ AQJ

Q975

QJ2

♣ 764




Bidding Quiz (West)

♠ K6

KJT

AK963

♣ T52

          North

West             East

          South

♠ T75

2

T875

♣ QJ983

 

Dlr     South
Vul     N-S 


 
 
 
 
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♠ 98432

A8643

4

♣ AK

South   West    North   East 

1♠        2        2NT     3

3        Pass    4        Pass

Pass    Pass

 

 West had a close choice between overcalling 2 and making a Takeout Double.  Then, North had a close choice of her own, whether to support Spade (via a 3 cue-bid) or whether to show the general character of her hand by bidding 2NT.  And, after South introduced Hearts, North had one more choice to make, whether or not to raise to game.  Actually, we think that raising to game is clear, North does have a double fit for Partner and almost all of her points in those suits.

 

As it happens, both major fits produce 11 tricks, and it should be a good board for those N-S pairs that reach game.

 

 16

♠ A876

AT54

2

♣ KJT4

 

♠ Q932

962

AT6

♣ Q76

          North

West             East

          South

♠ JT54

KQJ3

KJ8

♣ 95

 

Dlr     West
Vul     E-W 


 
 
 
 
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♠ K

87

Q97543

♣ A832

West    North   East     South

Pass    1♣       Dbl      1

1♠        Pass    Pass    3♣

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

Against 3♣, East will surely lead the K after which Declarer can scamper to 10 tricks via a cross-ruff:

            K lead won by Declarer’s Ace

            Concede a Diamond

            Q is cashed

            Trump shift, won by Declarer

            A♠ is cashed

Now, Declarer can merrily cross-ruff, scoring 3 side-suit tricks, a natural trump trick, and 6 ruffs.

 

 

 17

♠ JT32

874

K63

♣ KJ6

 

♠ A

KQJ62

T987

♣ AQ8

          North

West             East

          South

♠ K76

5

AQJ52

♣ T942


Dlr     North   
Vul     None 



 

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♠ Q9854

AT93

4

♣ 753

West    North   East     South

            Pass    Pass    Pass

1        Pass    2        Pass

3NT     Pass    Pass    Pass

 

Against 3NT, North leads a Spade, won by Declarer’s Ace.  Now, the T is successfully finessed, then a Diamond to the Queen, and a Heart to Declarer’s King (South must play low, of course, otherwise the whole Heart suit will set up and it will be 12 tricks for Declarer).  At this point, Declarer can settle for 10 sure tricks by playing another high Heart, or he can try for more by playing on Clubs.  Here’s what will happen:

-         25% of the time both Club honors will be onside, and Declarer will score 11 tricks.

-         50% of the time, the Club honors will be split, and Declarer will score 10 tricks.

-         25% of the time, both Club honors will be offside, and Declarer will be down two.

It turns out that this is not a good hand for being greedy!

 

System Note

Some pairs use 2 (as well as 2♣) by a passed hand as the Drury convention, typically showing 4-card support for Partner’s major.  If that were part of the E-W arsenal then we’d expect the auction to be: Pass 1, 1NT 2, 3 3NT, Pass.

 

 

 18

♠ K3

T97

T8754

♣ K72


 

♠ QJ72

J642

K2

♣ J86

          North

West             East

          South

♠ T9

AK

QJ93

♣ AQT93

 

Dlr       East
Vul      N-S 


 
 
 
 
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♠ A8654

Q853

A6

♣ 54

West    North   East     South

                        1NT     2

Dbl      Pass    Pass    Pass

 

 

 If South keeps silent, E-W will probably play this in 1NT, West’s poor 8-count not being good enough to make a game invitation.  However, it’s a most friendly layout for E-W, and 9 or 10 tricks will materialize.

 

However, in today’s world, lots of players will not be able to resist interfering with the South hand (even at this vulnerability), especially the DONT brigade, who will weigh in with a 2 bid (showing Hearts and Spades).  West will double and that will be the final contract.  The West hand has slow tricks in Declarer’s second suit and this begs for a trump lead.  The play will be painful for Declarer, perhaps something like this:

            Heart to East’s King

            A is cashed

            Low Diamond to South’s Ace

            K♠ and A♠ are cashed

            Spade ruff

            A Diamond to West’s King

            Shift to the J♣! (not low)

            Club to East’s Queen

            Q is played (not a Club)

Now, East keeps cashing minor suit winners until Declarer ruffs and is overruffed.  All that Declarer can manage is the Q, and that will be down three for -800.  Nice defense by E-W, the keys being the opening lead of the trump, the shift to a low Diamond, and the subsequent playing of the minor winners in the right order.  Well, done, but even a less accurate defense will get Declarer for 500 and that is enough to beat the few E-W pairs who bid the game.

 

 

 19

♠ Q93

AJT9

A5

♣ 9765




Bidding Quiz (North)

♠ K65

K82

Q972

♣ T84

          North

West             East

          South

♠ J87

Q4

KT843

♣ AQ3

 

Dlr     South
Vul     E-W 

 


 
 
 
 
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♠ AT42

7653

J6

♣ KJ2

South   West    North   East 

Pass    Pass    1        Dbl

2♣       2        2        3

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

North’s 3rd seat 1 was primarily for the lead, and the end-result will no doubt be 3 played by E-W, or 3 played North.

 

The cards are most favorably placed for N-S.  If they end up declaring a Heart contract, they’ll make lucky 9 tricks, thanks to the well-behaved Hearts, the onside A♣ and Q♣, and the guess-proof Spades.  Those well-placed cards (for N-S) will be unfortunately located for E-W if they declare 3, resulting in a likely down two and -200.

 

 20

AKT6

AQ74

♣ QJ763


 

♠ 8754

J95

93

♣ AT95

          North

West             East

          South

♠ K9632

Q72

J65

♣ K2

 

Dlr     West
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ AQJT

843

KT82

♣ 84

West    North   East     South

Pass    1♣       Pass    1

Pass    1        Pass    1♠

Pass    3        Pass    3NT

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

South’s 1♠ was natural and forcing, this pair using a 2♠ bid here for the purposes of Fourth Suit Forcing.

 

As West contemplates his opening lead, he will no doubt place South with 0-4-4-5 distribution, reckoning that if she were 1-4-4-4 she would have opened 1 (which gives her a 2♣ rebid if North responds 1♠).  With that in mind, he won’t be leading a Spade, for fear of giving Declarer a finesse that she could not take herself.  It hardly seems right to lead into their 4-4 Diamond suit, nor to attack Dummy’s 5-card suit.  So, by a process of elimination, he might well lead a Heart.  Dummy plays low, and East’s Queen wins the trick.  Now, the play might go one of two ways:

(a)    East switches to a Spade, which makes things easy for Declarer.  When the Q♠ holds the trick she can reasonably presume that East does not have both the high Clubs (that would be 13 HCP’s), so it must be safe to lead towards Dummy’s Clubs twice.  This brings in 10 tricks (2 Spades, 3 Hearts, 4 Diamonds and a Club).

(b)   If East goes passive and continues with a Heart at Trick Two, then 10 tricks are harder to come by.  In fact, the only way is for Declarer to run the 8♣, playing West for both the Ten and Nine.  So, in practice, passive defense is likely to hold Declarer to 9 tricks.

 

Walsh Addendum

Those pairs who play Walsh-style will respond 1♠ and the full auction may well be 1♣ 1♠, 2 3NT, Pass.  As usual, the Walsh auction is less informative, but it won’t help Declarer much on this board, no doubt West will start out with a Heart or a Diamond, and it will be 9 tricks provided that the defense resists the temptation to attack Spades.

 

 21

AT7652

KT92

♣ J63

 

♠ 982

KQ

8

♣ AKQT874

          North

West             East

          South

♠ J543

983

AQ653

♣ 9

 

Dlr     North
Vul     N-S 


 
 
 
 
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♠ AKQT76

J4

J74

♣ 52

West    North   East     South

            2        Pass    2♠

3♣       Pass    Pass    3

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

Accurate defense beats 3 by two tricks:

            Club opening lead is won by West

            Diamond to East’s Queen

            A is cashed

            Diamond ruff

            A Club is cashed.

Now, on the third round of Club, Dummy is forced to ruff, and that promotes the 6th defensive trick when East’s Heart holding wins the third round of trumps.  Pretty good defense, we’d expect down one to be a more likely result.

 

Some Souths might pass 2, correctly reasoning that game is unlikely, but we think it’s important to get that Spade suit into the auction, if only for the lead.  Look what might happen if South does pass … West might reasonably take a shot at 3NT!  At this point South will feel as sick as a dog at not having bid Spades (she does not know that Partner could not lead one anyway).  3NT is cold, of course.

 

 

 22

♠ KQ86

AK97

AT7

♣ 74




 

♠ J953

J42

J98

♣ K32

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 7

83

KQ3

♣ AQJT985

 

 Dlr     East
 Vul     E-W 


 
 
 
 
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♠ AT42

QT65

6542

♣ 6

West    North   East     South

                        1♣       Pass

1♠        Dbl      2♣       2

Pass    3        Pass    4

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

N-S stumble into their marginal 4 game, and the defense starts out with a Club to the Ace and a second Club ruffed by Declarer.  Next comes 3 rounds of trumps, ending in Declarer’s hand.  Declarer must now play on Spades, and, with at least 4 of them on her left, her best shot is to run the Spade Ten, picking up the suit in all cases except when East has the singleton Jack.  Of course, Declarer cannot lay down the A♠ first to cater for that singleton Jack, that would waste an entry and give up on the more common J9xx(x) with West.  And, leading the Ten is superior to a first round finesse of the Eight, as that latter play fails against the singleton Nine.

 

Back to the bidding.  Perhaps East’s 2♣ rebid was rather feeble, even though he has only 12 points he does have a magnificent suit and good playing strength.  A rebid of 3♣ may well keep N-S out of game … South will probably pass (though 3 is tempting), North will balance, and South will satisfy herself with 3.

 

 

 23

♠ AQT953

A72

Q8

♣ 86




Bidding Quiz (North)

♠ J87

JT5

T72

♣ QT43

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 6

9643

AKJ963

♣ 52

 

Dlr     South
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ K42

KQ8

54

♣ AKJ97

South   West    North   East 

1NT     Pass    4        Pass

4♠        Pass    Pass    Pass

 

 

 After South opens 1NT, it’s vaguely conceivable that there might be a slam, but rather unlikely, so North just bashes into 4♠ via a Texas Transfer.  It won’t be obvious to West that he must lead a Diamond against 4♠, and, when he doesn’t, Declarer can set up the Clubs for a Diamond pitch and score 12 tricks instead of 11.

 

Consider this hand to be a triumph for Texas Transfers.  If North had tried a 2 Jacoby Transfer instead (perhaps planning an optimistic slam try, or perhaps not having Texas available), then West will throw in a 3 bid, and that will be the end of any chance of Declarer making 12 tricks.  When you know where you belong, it pays to get there quickly!

 

 

 24

♠ Q98

K862

532

♣ J64




 

♠ 763

T4

A74

♣ K8752

          North

West             East

          South

♠ J54

J97

QJT86

♣ A3

 

Dlr     West
Vul     None 


 
 
 
 
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♠ AKT2

AQ53

K9

♣ QT9

West    North   East     South

Pass    Pass    Pass    1♣

Pass    1        Pass    4

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

4 needs some luck to make, at least the onside A and a 3-2 Heart break.  The Hearts break OK, but the A is offside, so this contract is going down.  With East on lead, can the defense get it down two?  He’ll start with the Q and let us say that Declarer calls for a low card from Dummy.  East should take the precaution of cashing the A♣ next, making life easier for Partner (who may not want to shift to Clubs holding the King), then another Diamond to the King and Ace, after which the K♣ and a Club ruff achieve the desired down two.  Thoughtful defense by East, anticipating Partner’s potential problem.

 

 

 25

♠ QJ6

AQ92

752

♣ 842




Bidding Quiz (South)

♠ KT4

KT

AJT96

♣ QT7

          North

West             East

          South

♠ A93

743

843

♣ K953

 

Dlr     North
Vul     E-W 

 


 
 
 
 
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♠ 8752

J865

KQ

♣ AJ6

West    North   East     South

            Pass    Pass    Pass

1        Pass    1NT     Dbl

Pass    2        All Pass

 

2 is good for 8 tricks:  Diamond to the Ace, Diamond to Dummy’s King, Heart to the Queen, A, Heart to the Jack, and a Spade to the Queen and East’s Ace.  Now, in order to prevent the overtrick, the defense must shift to a Club before one of Declarer’s losers disappears on the 13th Club.

 

Back to the bidding.  Perhaps West should have bid 2 over South’s Double.  It’s only a 5-card suit, but it has good intermediates and West has a pretty decent hand.  If West does bid 2, his Partner will compete to 3.  How does that do?  Poor North is virtually end-played at Trick One:

-         If she leads the Q♠ that hands Declarer a third trick in the suit.

-         Obviously, the A blows a trick.

-         A Diamond lead helps Declarer because it puts him a tempo ahead in the race to establish the 13th Club before the defense can build a Spade trick (the first Spade lead must come from South).

-         A Club lead saves the guess for the Jack.

We suppose that the most likely lead is the Q♠, and here’s what might happen:

            Q♠ won by Declarer

            Spade to Dummy’s Nine

            Diamond to the Queen and Ace

            J won by South’s King

            Heart to North’s Queen

            A is cashed

            Another Heart is ruffed by Declarer

Now, Declarer is a Club guess away from 9 tricks.  Will he guess right?  Maybe he should reason that South is slightly more likely to have the J♣, on the grounds that her shape might conceivably be 3-4-2-4.  A slender reason, perhaps.

 

 26

♠ AQ76

A43

7

♣ 85432

 

♠ KJT9

Q97

A8

♣ AJT9

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 432

KJ5

J9632

♣ K6

 
Dlr     East
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ 85

T862

KQT54

♣ Q7

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    Pass

1NT     Pass    Pass    Pass

 

 

East’s 8-count is not worth an invitation (no Aces, no Tens, and a weak 5-card suit), and, even if East got overly optimistic, West would decline.

 

On the lie of the cards, 9 tricks can be made.  For example:

            Club to South’s Queen and Declarer’s Ace

            Heart to Dummy’s jack

            Losing Spade finesse

            North continues with a Club to Dummy’s King

            Spade won by North

After this start, Declarer has an easy route to 9 tricks, via 2 Spades, 2 Hearts, a Diamond and 4 Clubs.  It doesn’t help for North to switch to a red suit, as South has no entries.

 

 

 27

♠ 85

KJT72

KJ42

♣ K5

 

♠ AQJ2

63

973

♣ AJ87

          North

West             East

          South

♠ KT963

A984

A8

♣ T6

 
Dlr     South
Vul     None 


 
 
 
 
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♠ 74

Q5

QT65

♣ Q9432

South   West    North   East 

Pass    1♣       1        1♠

Pass    2♠        Pass    4♠

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

Aggressive bidding by East, but he does have excellent controls, with the likelihood of a couple of Heart ruffs in Dummy.  Against 4♠, South leads the Q, won by Declarer, who leads a Heart right back.  Now, even if trumps are 3-1, it’s an easy matter to negotiate two Heart ruffs on the board.

 

 

 28

♠ A7

T52

K42

♣ AK854




Bidding Quiz (South)

♠ KT3

K7

AQT83

♣ J72

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 8652

A84

96

♣ QT96

 
Dlr     West
Vul     N-S 


 
 
 
 
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♠ QJ94

QJ963

J75

♣ 3

West    North   East     South

1        2♣       Pass    Pass

2        Pass    Pass    Dbl

Pass    2        All Pass

 

 It’s hard to predict what might happen in the bidding, all the more so as three of our featured players might have deviated from the above auction:

-         East might have dredged up a Negative Double over 2 (yes, it’s a bit much, but some players use the vulnerability as an excuse for anything!)

-         West might have balanced with a Double, it’s not ideal, but then neither was the actual choice of 2.  When East passes the balancing Double, North is in -500 or -800 territory, but South will save the day with an SOS Redouble allowing her side to escape to Hearts.

-         South might not have balanced (she really should!) or might have chosen to balance with a Double.

 

A Heart contract plays rather well, making 9 tricks.

 

 

 29

♠ T

AQT3

KJ874

♣ KJ7




Play Problem #198 (South)

♠ AJ97642

K

9

♣ 9632

          North

West             East

          South

♠ K85

J865

A632

♣ 54

 
Dlr     North
Vul     Both 


 
 
 
 
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♠ Q3

9742

QT5

♣ AQT8

West    North   East     South

            1        Pass    1

2♠        3        3♠        4

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

We think that 2♠ is plenty by West, considering the broken suit and the vulnerability.  What does 3 mean?  For partnerships playing the Good-Bad 2NT, it shows a constructive raise to 3, with a poorer hand that merely wanted to compete North would bid an artificial 2NT on the way to 3.  South’s raise to 4 was reasonable, North certainly could have had a better hand.

 

With careful play, South can escape for down one (please see the Play Problem), which won’t be such a bad result as West makes 9 tricks in Spades.

 

 

 30

♠ AK7

KQ63

4

♣ AKJ87


Bidding Quiz (West)

Bidding Quiz (North)

Bidding Quiz (South)

♠ QJ94

JT

KQJT53

♣ T

          North

West             East

          South

♠ 8652

75

A986

♣ 942

 

Dlr     East
Vul     None 


 
 
 
 
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♠ T3

A9842

72

♣ Q653

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    Pass

3        Dbl      5        Dbl

Pass    5NT     Pass    6♣

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

The most interesting bidding hand of the week!  We like West’s 3 in third seat with that fine 6-card suit and nice distribution.  East did well to raise to 5, furthering the preempt and making life most difficult for the opponents.  South’s Double showed some values, and North must have been tempted to pass (the number would be 800 if the defense gets their Spade ruff).  But, instead, she bid 5NT, intended as pick-a-slam.  This bid could have been based on a black two-suiter, so it would be a mistake for South to choose 6 … instead, she tries 6♣, reaching the lower-scoring slam, but still good enough for a decent board.  All four of the featured protagonists bid well, we think, please see the Bidding Quiz.

 

 

 31

♠ AT83

943

732

♣ KQ4




Bidding Quiz (East)

♠ Q942

K2

QJ954

♣ T6

          North

West             East

          South

♠ J65

AQJT87

A8

♣ J9

 

Dlr     South
Vul     N-S 


 
 
 
 
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♠ K7

65

KT6

♣ A87532

South   West    North   East 

Pass    Pass    Pass    1

2♣       Dbl      3♣       3

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

That cheeky 3 escaped a Double, and East had good reason to think that he could get away with this bid.  Please see the Bidding Quiz.

 

3 can be set two tricks, but it requires the highly optimistic opening lead of the K♠ (or the bizarre underlead of the A♣ followed by a Spade switch) to achieve this.  This allows the defense to start with two Spades and a Spade ruff, then the A♣, and the Q♣.  Now, North leads a 4th round of Spades, and, although Declarer can ruff this high, he still has a losing Diamond finesse in his future.  Even so, surely Declarer will make 8 tricks at most tables, a good result (even if doubled) considering that 3♣ is an easy 9 tricks.

 

 

 32

♠ KQ

J74

AT832

♣ A73

 

♠ T3

Q63

KQ6

♣ KJT54

          North

West             East

          South

♠ J87642

T85

5

♣ 986

 

Dlr     West
Vul     E-W 


 
 
 
 
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♠ A96

AK92

J974

♣ Q2

West    North   East     South

Pass    1        Pass    1

Pass    1NT     Pass    3NT

Pass    Pass    Pass

 

If North was thinking about one of those shaded 14-point 1NT opening bids then she was no doubt deterred by that doubleton KQ of Spades, a definite minus factor.  But, either way, it looks as if North will end up as Declarer in 3NT, and it’s all up to East’s opening lead.  Would you lead a low Spade or the 9♣?  A low Spade might work, for example Partner might have three of them (with the opposing Spades 2-2) but this is something of a long shot.  With this entryless hand, Dr Goodlead found the killing Club lead in less than a millisecond, and so, we are sure, did you.

                                                     

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