|
Hand Analyses 17th October, 2007
2♦ was Michaels, showing both the majors. Against 4♠, West leads a Diamond to East’s Ace, then it’s a Club back to West’s Ace, and a Diamond continuation. Best play now is a Spade to the Queen and a low Heart towards the board. East will take his A♥ but that is the end for the defense, who will wind up with just their three Aces.
West’s 3♦ preempt puts North on the spot. The actual choice of Pass looks somewhat feeble, but nothing else seems very appetizing either. As for South, she did not have enough for a reopening Double, so 3♦ was the final contract. 3♦ is down one or two tricks, the play is difficult to predict.
If North does find a bid over 3♦ it will probably be 3♥, which will get her to 4♥ in a hurry. That contract is down one, the defense scoring its minor suit Aces and two trump tricks.
South may have 10 HCP’s but we don’t think that her hand is worth anything more than a 2♥ raise, not even a Drury bid (if that is available). That doubleton KQ♣ is a big negative factor.
As North, how would you propose to make 9 tricks in Hearts? Please see the Play Problem.
Back to the bidding. Holding the West cards, would you be tempted to make a pre-balancing Double of 2♥? A bit risky at this vulnerability, but, yes, it is tempting. Intrepid pre-balancers will get to 3♣ down one (no doubt undoubled) for a good result. Or else N-S will push on to 3♥ and have a challenging contract on their hands (see Problem, as per above).
Well bid, Mr East! He refrained from bidding the Unusual 2NT (showing Clubs and Hearts in this case), and wisely bid his Club suit, in order to get Partner off to the right lead. As can be seen, a Club lead allows the defense to get their two tricks while the getting is good. If East had bid 2NT (or passed), West might well lead a Heart (trying to get a ruff) or a Diamond (trying to give Partner a ruff), and that will be 12 tricks for Declarer.
After South’s 2♥, North is faced with a familiar decision. Should she pass 2♥, probably playing in a 4-3 fit, or should she choose the 5-2 Spade fit? The 5-2 fit is usually the way to go in these situations, all the more so here because, with 2 Aces, South would like to keep the auction alive, just in case Partner has some extras. North does indeed have a little extra, but not enough to make a game try, so 2♠ will end the proceedings.
How do those Heart and Spade contracts play? According to Deep Finesse, both contracts make 9 tricks, and it’s easy enough to see how this might occur playing in Spades: Diamond lead is ducked, if only for practice Diamond continuation is won by the Ace Trump is lost to West’s King Diamond is ruffed Trump is lost to West’s Ace Diamond is ruffed A third round of trumps is drawn Now, with normal play, Declarer has a Heart loser at the end. 9 tricks.
Playing in Hearts, things are more delicate, and Declarer does best to play on the Spade side-suit early in the play. Yes, that’s usually good advice when trump control is an issue: Diamond lead is ducked (more practice!) Diamond continuation is won by the Ace Spade is lost to West’s King Diamond is ruffed Another Spade is lost, to West’s Ace Club shift won by Dummy’s Ace (important to keep that K♣ entry to hand) K♥ and Q♥ are cashed Now the Spades are run, and whatever West does, he will be held to just one more trick. Nice play by Declarer who (a) played on Spades early, (b) drew just two rounds of trumps, and (c) made sure that the A♥ was withheld from those two rounds to allow the overruff.
A long-winded auction for N-S, please see the Bidding Quiz. For the time being let us just say that 3♣ was Fourth Suit Forcing, 3♦ was an improvisation (what else could South do?), and that 4♠ and 5♦ were cue-bids.
On to the play. 6♥ is a pretty decent contract, but it is destined to fail. It may fail spectacularly or prosaically, but fail it surely will: - Spectacular Defense: This West is eager to get his name in the newspapers, so he tries a low Club to East’s Jack. When the Jack holds, East has no trouble figuring out that esteemed Partner has done a little bit of underleading and requires a Diamond ruff. Down one! - Prosaic Defense: This West has no such aspirations to glory (or perhaps he has a Partner without a sense of humor) so he leads the A♣. He then continues the suit, ruffed in Dummy. The K♥ and Q♥ are cashed, then a Diamond to Declarer’s Ace in order to extract that last enemy trump. Oops! West ruffs, cashes another Club, and that is down two! So, the underleader gets the good story, and the routine play gets the good board.
After that 3♣ preempt, 3NT is very much the required bid with the West hand. It won’t always make, of course, but it is the most descriptive bid available. Doubling 3♣, with those poor majors, would be quite wrong.
Against 3NT, North leads the Q♠, won by Declarer. Assuming that the Diamond finesse is probably losing, there are 8 tricks in view, and Clubs will provide the 9th. However, there is a shortage of entries to the board, so that Heart entry must be used to lead towards the J♣, and not for the purposes of taking the doomed Diamond finesse: Q♠ won by Declarer’s Ace Club to the King and South’s Ace Q♥ wins the return A♦ and K♦ are cashed The J♦ is lost to North’s Queen The K♠ wins the return Cross to the T♦ A♥ and K♥ are cashed Now a Club is led, and South can take his Q♣ and J♥, but must surrender the final trick to Declarer’s J♣. Nine tricks.
E-W can make 12 tricks in No Trump, but it’s a difficult slam to reach. In the featured auction, East’s 2♥ was Fourth Suit Forcing, and West’s 2NT showed 12-14. East’s 17 HCP’s put the partnership in the 29-31 HCP range, usually not enough for two balanced hands to make a No Trump slam. So, East quite reasonably signed off in 3NT, catching Partner with a super-maximum and a good fit. Making 12 tricks when the Diamonds behave.
North’s hand does not quite pass the Rule of Twenty, but we like the 1-4-4-4 shape so we would choose to open it 1♦, though there is absolutely nothing wrong with an initial Pass either. South’s 2♦ was an Inverted Raise, showing at least invitational values, and denying a 4-card major. North’s 3♦ showed a minimum hand and one that preferred 3♦ to 2NT opposite a minimum Inverted Raise. The play in 3♦ is straightforward enough, Declarer has 3 obvious losers and no reason not to make 10 tricks.
Back to the bidding. As West, would you have thrown in a 2♠ bid over 2♦? We’d say that was very risky indeed, being vulnerable and in the middle of a forcing auction by the opponents. Definitely not recommended.
Most players nowadays will open 1NT with a 5-card major, at least under some circumstances. Do you open the South hand 1NT? We know that we would, opening 1NT has a certain tactical (and preemptive) benefit and solves a rebid problem, but there are many who will say that this Spade suit is altogether too good, and that 1♠ is preferable. It looks as if the 1♠ bidders are the winners here, that should get them to the making 4♠ contract, whereas a 1NT opening bid looks likely to get N-S into the doomed 3NT.
Is that it? Actually, no! If you are a habitual opener of 1NT with a 5-card major then you might want to consider including Puppet Stayman in your repertoire. For more on this, please see the Bidding Quiz.
On to the play. If you got to 3NT, you’ll no doubt go down on a Diamond lead. If you got to the superior 4♠, it will be 10 tricks, provided that you arrange for a Diamond ruff on the board. It might even be 11 tricks if the play develops as follows: Q♦ lead, won in Dummy Diamond is conceded Q♠ is returned, won by Declarer’s King Diamond ruff Cash K♠ Lose a Spade to West Diamond ruffed by Declarer Here is the end position: Dummy ♠ ♥ KT6 ♦ ♣ K96 West East Immaterial ♠ ♥ QJ8 ♦ ♣ QT5 Declarer ♠ 8 ♥ A9 ♦ ♣ A72 Declarer has 5 of the remaining 6 tricks on top, but East is squeezed if Declarer takes the trouble to cash her last Spade next. She pitches a Club from the board, and East (who has already pitched one Club) is forced to unguard one of his two suits. This squeeze works whenever either defender started with 4 (or more) Clubs and the QJ♥. Are 11 tricks inevitable? No, but they are quite likely, West must shift to Hearts when in with the Diamond, and continue the suit when in with the trump. It takes both those Heart leads to disrupt Declarer’s communications and break up the squeeze.
West obviously belongs to the school that likes to push the opponents around. Here he pushes them straight into 3NT, a rotten contract that would not be bid against a less aggressive West. Rotten, maybe, but 3NT happens to make. East leads the J♣, overtaken by West, and Declarer must duck. Next is a Diamond shift to Declarer’s King and East’s Ace, and the J♦ return which Declarer must also duck. Declarer wins the 3rd round of Diamonds, and plays on Hearts, his goal being to get an entry to the board for a Spade finesse. East can deny her that entry but to no avail as the K♠ comes down singleton. Declarer winds up with 4 Spades, 3 Hearts, a Diamond and a Club, for an improbable 9 tricks. Not a triumph for preemption.
We rather like the featured auction for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz.
There’s no doubt that 5♦ is the safest place to be, and that’s a contract which takes all the tricks when the K♦ is onside and the trumps happen to be 2-2. That’s +440 for E-W, can they do better playing the more shaky 4♠? South will probably lead a Club which Declarer does best to duck. He can win the continuation, cross to the A♠, finesse the J♦, cash A♣, ruff a Club, play a Diamond back to his hand, and draw trumps, for a surprising 12 tricks and +480. Yes, if they lead trumps on the go, the defense can hold Declarer to 11 tricks, but, of course, +450 still beats the Diamond game.
East leads the T♠, and Declarer establishes her 9th trick in Clubs. Deep Finesse says that 10 tricks are possible, but that does not seem likely with any normal sequence of plays.
What do you think of that 1♠ opening bid? Is it a psyche? We don’t think so, it seems better than the alternatives, please see the Bidding Quiz. South’s Double showed a decent hand and was co-operative in nature, and North tried 5♦ (she could hardly pass with undisclosed 5-card support for Partner). In the face of all that Spade bidding, it’s hard to see how N-S can bid the slam with any confidence, though South might have been slightly tempted to convert 5♦ to the better-scoring 5♥.
Playing in Diamonds, it’s an easy 12 tricks (13 if the defense fails to cash the A♣ at Trick One). In Hearts, it will be 12 tricks, unless East makes the swashbuckling Club underlead, getting Partner in so as to obtain a Diamond ruff. And, if East gets into sacrificing mode, he’ll manage 10 tricks in Spades, provided that he is able to guess the Club situation (he probably will get it right, with North showing a red-suiter).
Cautious bidding by North to pass Partner’s 2♠, but sensible considering that wasted Q♦. Against 2♠, West will lead a Diamond, and East promptly shifts to a trump, ending all hopes of a Diamond ruff, and holding Declarer to 9 tricks.
N-S made short work of this one, getting to the fine slam with speedy efficiency. 3♥ set the trump suit, 4♦ showed a control (and denied a Spade control and a Club control), and that was that. A most unfortunate hand for the good bidders, the slam goes down on the abominable 4-0 break.
North might well have opened that 5-4 11-count, and this is a hand which could take various twists and turns. Here are some possibilities: - West finds himself in 2♥ doubled, down one perhaps (but down two if South negotiates a Club ruff). - West is in 2♥ doubled, but East makes an SOS Redouble, getting E-W to 3♦, no doubt doubled, and down one with careful play from Declarer. - North might find himself in 2NT, which might be ugly. The defense starts out with 5 Diamond winners, then shifts to a Club won by Declarer. The Spade finesse loses, the defense cashes a Club, and it’s down two. - South plays it in a Spade part-score, probably making 9 tricks with normal play.
There’s not much going on here. The field will be in 4♥, and North will probably lead the T♠, which is not a good start. Declarer cashes the A♣, crosses to the A♥, cashes the K♥, then the K♣ (pitching the Diamond loser), and the friendly Spades are established with the aid of a ruff in Dummy. 12 tricks unless North starts out with the A♦.
South made a Support Double of 2♣, showing 3 cards in Partner’s Spades. The defense starts out with Clubs, Declarer ruffs the second round, takes the losing Spade finesse for 11 tricks and our nomination as The Flattest Board of the Week.
North had an interesting choice after Partner’s 2♥, whether to rebid the Spades or raise Hearts, for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz. South’s 5NT was the King Ask, and this particular pair showed a specific King rather than the number of Kings. Whether to bid 7♥ or 7NT was another decision, again please see the Bidding Quiz.
Dummy was no doubt a disappointment to South, who had the worst hand imaginable, it would have been nice if she had had a major suit Jack or another Heart. Nonetheless, 13 tricks roll in when both majors split 3-2 (or there is a singleton major Jack somewhere), working out to no better than about a 50% grand. Actually, it’s better than that, there is a small point in the play which raises the odds … West leads a minor suit, won by Declarer, now the right sequence of plays is K♥, Q♥, A♠, Q♠, and a Heart to the Ace. This line gives Declarer an extra chance, namely if one defender started with one Spade and two Hearts, improving the chances up to about 55% according to our (rough) calculations.
How do you play that Double by South of East’s Michaels bid? Various treatments are possible, this particular South was conveying the message “I have a good hand”, and not “I have Hearts”. Another treatment is that the Double shows a simple raise to 2♥ (with a stronger hand and support, South can always cue-bid the enemy suit, in this case Spades).
Against 3NT, West leads a Spade, and Declarer should come to 10 tricks. It would be a mistake to play on Hearts early, it’s highly unlikely that Hearts are 3-3. Far better to establish a Spade trick and finesse the Diamonds.
Back to the bidding. N-S would have done better to take a shot of defending 2♠ doubled, as it happens, that goes down four with accurate defense (a trump lead is required). But, let’s face it, it’s not so appealing to double non-vulnerable opponents at the two-level with only one trump trick when we have a vulnerable game for the taking.
West’s 2NT was a little gadget which has become quite popular in recent years. It asks Partner to describe his hand, and the responses are: 3♣ 3-card support, bad hand 3♦ 3-card support, good hand 3♥ 4-card support, bad hand 3♠ 4-card support, good hand
After learning that East had 4-card support, West was prepared to go to slam provided that there were enough Key Cards. When East showed two of them, 6♠ it was.
How do you like that West bidding? Isn’t it somewhat cavalier to charge into a slam which may well depend on a Club finesse? We think that 6♠ is a reasonable gamble, all the more so as West’s fine Club suit was not revealed during the auction. North might well lead a Club (with or without the King), or the opponents might lead the wrong red suit allowing the loser in the other red suit to be dumped. And, it all else fails, that Club finesse might even work!
Against 6♠, North may well lead a Club, and that will be 13 tricks. If North leads a Heart, the Diamond goes away and now the Club finesse is for the overtrick. If North finds the Diamond lead it will come down to a winning Club finesse. All in all, a pretty good slam, wouldn’t you say?
A difficult auction for both players. South might have rebid 2NT, North did well to raise on a singleton honor. We’d guess that most pairs will end in 3NT played by North, and that is a contract which seems likely to make 9 tricks (Diamond won by the King, A♥ is knocked out, the defense takes its 3 Diamonds, but now Declarer has 9).
How does 4♠ do? It’s not much of a contract, and will probably be down a trick unless Declarer takes an inspired view in Hearts.
It looks to us that 1NT is going down a trick, but it’s always hard to predict the outcome of these 1NT contracts, so we move on to more fertile ground. But, before we do, a question: Should E-W have got into the auction? And, if so, how?
4♠ is a routine contract, there are two Aces to be lost, and when the trumps are 4-1 it’s just 10 tricks for Declarer.
It’s easy to see how some pairs might end up in 3NT. Not a good contract, however, please see the Play Problem for how West might wriggle out of that ugly mess.
North’s 1♠ was surely the right bid, doubling with 5 Spades is rarely a good idea without substantial extra values. Anyway, it seems likely that N-S will buy this part-score, after all they do have the majors and also the majority of the points.
There’s a certain symmetry to this deal: - If N-S declare in Hearts, the defense can get their 4th trick via a Spade ruff, but probably won’t. - If N-S declare in Spades, the defense can get their 4th trick via a Heart ruff, but probably won’t.
So, thanks to the friendly major splits and the onside K♣, it looks like 10 tricks in either major. No need to feel excessively proud if you bid and made this game.
North’s 3♠ was a try for 3NT, and South, with her stopper, was able to oblige. What would you lead from the West hand? It seems normal enough to start out with a Spade, probably the Ace, you’d hate to see Declarer win the K♠ and then rattle off 12 more tricks in the minors. Alas, for West, a Spade lead is the only way for 3NT to make, providing Declarer with her 9th trick when any other suit holds her to 8.
Back on Board 14, East had a remarkably similar hand to the one he holds here … 8 HCP’s, a 7-card broken Spade suit, and an outside Ace. On Board 14 we advocated a 1♠ opening bid, preferring not to preempt with an outside Ace. But here East dives right in with a 3♠ preempt. Are we being inconsistent here? Not at all, on this occasion Partner is a passed hand (which gives us some latitude), the opponents clearly have the majority of the points, and the vulnerability is favorable. Everything suggests preempting and that’s what East should do.
It turns out to be a miserable hand for N-S. West won’t double 4♥, of course, he doesn’t want to hear the opponents bidding 5♦, and is content to collect his plus score 100 points at a time as South goes down 3.
If East merely overcalls 1♠, it’s easy to see N-S reaching 5♦, a far more friendly contract than 4♥. 5♦ makes from the North side: Heart lead won by Dummy’s Ace (Declarer pitching a Spade) Club won by West’s Ace Spade to Dummy’s Ace Cash a high Club Ruff a Club Knock out the A♦ 11 tricks, losing just the minor suit Aces.
East leads the K♥, won by Declarer’s Ace. Declarer needs to ruff some Spades on the board, so at Trick Two she leads A♠, then out a Spade. Now, whatever the defense does, Declarer will be able to ruff three Spades on the board, or else East will ruff one of them with a natural trump trick, and Dummy will then need to ruff only two Spades. 10 tricks.
Rather a tame auction, it seems feeble of N-S to let West play in 1♠ when the points are divided and nobody is vulnerable. But North had no reason to jump into a live auction with that rotten Club suit and South had nothing worth saying. It looks as if West will scrounge up 8 tricks thanks to the favorable lie of the cards.
South was able to take advantage of her passed hand status by coming in with 3♠ over 3♣, she could hardly have a much better hand in the circumstances, though perhaps the Spade suit leaves something to be desired. North didn’t have to bid 4♠, Pass was certainly an option.
Against 4♠, West will probably lead a Club to East’s Ace, leaving East no option but to try for the Diamond ruff. Down one when Declarer loses 3 Aces and the ruff.
That 2NT was slightly off-center, at least it kept the enemy Diamonds out of the auction. Against 4♠, North might reasonably lead a Heart or a Diamond. Let’s say it’s a Heart, after which the correct sequence of plays is to win the opening lead, cash A♠ and cross to the K♠, and take the Club finesse (temporarily leaving a trump at large). This careful use of the Dummy entries gives Declarer the chance to pick up Kxxx of Clubs in the South hand. As it happens, Kxxx is in the North hand, and a quick Diamond switch holds Declarer to 10 tricks.
© BES, Inc All Rights Reserved | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Home Hand Analyses Bidding Quizzes Play Problems System Library | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
