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Hand Analyses 21st November, 2007
South’s 2♦ was an Inverted Minor raise, showing 4 or more Diamonds, game-invitational values (or better), and no 4-card major. West bid his Spades and would no doubt have bid 3♥ later if the auction had permitted. North’s 3♦ showed some extra Diamond length and South’s 3♠ asked if Partner had a Spade stop.
3NT is a hopeless contract, on any lead by East (except a bizarre Club), it will be 8 tricks, no more, no less. The good news is that a Diamond contract does not play well either, and that 3NT is actually a fine save against 3♥ or 3♠ by E-W!
As a passed hand, with invitational values and support for Partner’s major, East has a perfect hand for Drury. However, North’s 2♣ gets in the way of that idea, and East has to bid 3♣ to show his good support. This is not ideal, of course, West might have opened all sorts of third-hand horrors, and there is also the possibility of a 4-card suit to be reckoned with. After 3♣, West is close to going to game, we would say.
In 3♥ (or 4♥) it turns out that the defense is entitled to 4 tricks (a Club, a Spade, and two Diamonds), but it’s highly likely that one of those tricks will get away. Here are some of the ways: - North finds a Spade opening lead, a highly dangerous play which gets what it deserves. - North’s opening lead is the A♣, which is more reasonable but equally fatal. North’s best chance to recover is to underlead the A♦ to Partner’s King and then a Spade through. But Declarer jumps up with the Ace, draws trumps, finesses the J♣, and gets rid of a Diamond loser. Or, at Trick Two, North can cash A♦ then play a Diamond to South’s King. A Spade comes through but Declarer again jumps up with the Ace, cashes A♥, then a low Heart to Dummy, Diamond ruffed high, back to the board with a Heart, and the Spades go on the Diamonds. - North cashes the A♦, and now Declarer has the timing to set up the Diamonds for Spade pitches.
So, what does North need to lead in order to beat the contract? An underlead of the A♦ (yeah, right!) and a Spade shift, but even that is likely to fail when South misreads the lead and inserts the Ten (now Declarer can make five!).
We are always advised against the opening lead of a singleton trump but it’s the winner here, or at least it is the winner if South also makes a tip-top defensive play. A trump is led, and Declarer wins this on the board because he wants to lead the first round of Diamonds from dummy at Trick Two, thereby putting South to the test. How many Souths out there are capable of jumping up with the K♦ and shooting back a Spade? Not many, we suspect, but congratulations to anyone who found that play, it’s a thing of beauty. Newspaper-worthy stuff!
South has a normal enough 4♠ bid, but the mirror N-S distribution means that the opponents can do serious damage to 4♠ doubled, scoring 6 top tricks, plus a Club in the fullness of time. That’s -800, but West could see the vulnerability, too, and, in the featured auction, calculated that his side would be better off making game.
Playing in 5♦, West has 12 tricks provided that he does not misguess Diamonds. But it’s only a so-so slam, we don’t see many pairs bidding this one.
A difficult auction for E-W. East has to fudge a jump shift in Clubs, West improvises with 3♦, and eventually the contract lands in 4♥. It’s easy to concoct other auctions where West plays in 4♠, or either player declares 3NT, or where a major suit slam is bid, it’s a deal with many potential destinations.
How many tricks are available in Hearts? It takes a Club lead to hold this to five, and that seems unlikely on the featured auction, so score up +680 for E-W.
How many tricks are available in Spades? This will be played from the West side and the auction might well persuade North to lead a Diamond, which is just +650 for Declarer and a good board for the defense.
How many tricks are available in No Trump? Well, from the West side, 6NT is cold! North’s best lead is the T♦, won by South’s King. But the joy is short-lived for the defense, because Declarer now has 11 top tricks, and the 12th comes from a squeeze, if Declarer untangles his tricks carefully. Let’s say that the K♦ wins the first trick, and a Club comes back. Declarer plays low (must preserve that Club threat card) and wins the Ace, cashes the A♦, crosses to the K♥, cashes the Q♦ (North showing out), and runs the Hearts. Here is the end-position with one Heart left to play:
West East ♠ K9 ♠ A32 ♥ ♥ 5 ♦ 7 ♦ ♣ Q ♣
South is the only defender who can protect the Diamonds, so she cannot hold on to 3 Spades. North surely has the Q♣ (otherwise South’s Club shift was suicidal), and so, if she is the one with the 3 Spades, she’ll be squeezed in the black suits. Even though it’s not possible for both defenders to guard the Spades, the hand plays just like a Double Squeeze. Either North will be squeezed in the black suits, or South will be squeezed in Spades and Diamonds. Hence its name, the Either-Or Squeeze.
Opening bids these days are getting lighter and lighter but North’s seems clear-cut, even if it doesn’t pass the Rule of Twenty. The suit is too good to leave on the shelf, don’t you think?
2♣ was New Minor Forcing, and North showed 3-card Heart support. South’s 3♦ was game-forcing, suggesting Diamonds as a place to play. Without a Club stop, North could hardly bid 3NT, so she tried 3♠, hoping that Partner could bid No Trump. When that was not the case, 5♦ was the final contract. A good auction.
On lead against 5♦, East will surely start with the A♣, the auction seems to beg for that. When Declarer gets in, she’ll cash the A♦, she’ll note the appearance of a quack on her left, and, applying the Principle of Restricted Choice, she’ll cross to dummy with a Club ruff and finesse against the missing Diamond honor. The aforementioned Principle comes in about two times out of three, but this is the one where it loses. That’s Declarer’s second loser, and she still needs to avoid losing a Heart in order to make her contract. Best play is to ruff the third round of Spades, and if the Q♠ does not fall, then to rely upon the Heart finesse. 11 tricks.
A straightforward auction. West invited with 2NT, and East said to himself “I’m a little bit better than minimum, perhaps I should accept. But, hang on a minute, my shape is square, that’s not good, perhaps I should pass” Then he noticed those two lovely Tens and said, “What the heck, I’ll bid the game”
No doubt North will lead a Club, after which the successful Diamond finesse brings in 9 tricks. But wait, there’s more! The ♠QJ is conveniently doubleton, so 10 can be made (actually, 11 are possible double dummy, but we won’t go there, except to say that interesting play in the Heart suit by North and East is involved).
We wouldn’t say that there is a right or wrong way of handle that South hand in first seat, but we do know that our personal preference would be to open 1♥. A tad light, perhaps, but we like to get 6-card majors into the auction whenever possible. A Weak Two? Not our style, altogether too much in the way of side-suit strength and defense.
On the actual deal, opening 1♥ works out quite well. North gets to show some strength with a Redouble, and it’s likely that N-S will buy it in 2♥, making 8 tricks.
Suppose that South decides to start with a Pass, somewhat pusillanimous in our view, but not necessarily wrong. The auction might well unfold thusly: South West North East Pass 1♣ Pass 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ 1NT Pass 2♥ Pass Pass Pass A reasonable auction to the right spot.
Finally, we are delighted to report that the option we like least of all works out badly for N-S: South West North East 2♥ Dbl 3♥ Pass Pass Pass Who would fault North for giving the auction a nudge to the 3-level? True, she doesn’t have the perfect hand for it, those minor suit holdings are more defense-oriented. But AJx in Partner’s 6-card suit is hard to be denied, and that gets N-S one too high. Blame it on that defense-laden Weak Two.
Opposite Partner’s Takeout Double, South might well bid 1NT or 3♣, both bids are eminently reasonable, and both bids look likely to end the auction.
Playing in 3♣, West does best to lead a Heart, won by Dummy’s Ace. Now what? There are five potential losers, namely 3 Spades, a Diamond and the A♣. Of course, the A♠ might be onside but that seems unlikely considering the bidding. Far more likely that the Ace is doubleton offside, so our line of play would be: Win the Heart lead on the board Lose a Club to the Ace Win the Heart continuation Draw just one more round of trumps (keeping a trump on the board helps maintain control) Duck a Spade, won by West’s Nine Ruff the Heart return Duck another Spade The A♠ does not come down doubleton but the Spades do break 3-3, so eventually the 13th Spade will provide a parking spot for the Diamond loser. It was good technique by Declarer to draw only two rounds of trumps before starting on the Spades, though not necessary on the actual hand. 9 tricks and +110 for Declarer.
Playing in 1NT, the play is as simple as can be. Dummy wins the Heart lead, the A♣ is knocked out, and it’s easy enough to see how Declarer will come to 2 Hearts, 2 Diamonds, and 4 Clubs, for 8 tricks and +120. Well, maybe not quite so simple, West will need his wits about him if he is to avoid getting end-played and surrendering a 9th trick to Declarer. After the Heart lead won on the board, and the A♣ won by West, Declarer might duck the next Heart, and win the 3rd round. Which Heart does West have left in his hand? It should be a low one, as in lower than East’s remaining Heart, and the best way to achieve that is for West to lead the Q♥ on the second round of the suit (not an obvious play, by any means). If West leads a low Heart on the second round and Dummy ducks, then East wins the Jack, then East can save the day by shifting to the T♠ or Q♠ pronto.
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