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Hand Analyses 2nd January, 2008
There’s an abundance of links on this page, here’s what they all mean: - Notations such as Bidding Quiz (North) are links to the weekly Bidding Quiz, a selection of the 15-20 most interesting bidding situations of the week. - Each week we pick out two or three hands which are suitable for presentation in problem format, as in Play Problem 203 (West), linking you to a page with only two hands on display. Solve the problem first, then see the solution and the entire deal. - Some analyses contain references to bidding conventions, and you’ll see links to articles in our Convention Library such as Roman Key Card - In BridgeOpedia we have categorized by theme the entire history of the most instructive Wednesday Game hands, two year’s worth. Occasionally you will see purple arrow, linking to the relevant BridgeOpedia section. For example, in this week’s Board 5, Declarer scrambles his way to 8 tricks in 2♥. Adjacent to the text for that hand you will see the link >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Scrambling Tricks”>> which will transport you to the collection of hands with the same theme.
On Boards 1 and 4, North held somewhat similar hands … 17 HCP’s, balanced, with a 5-card major. For why this particular hand is not considered to be a 1NT opening, please see the Bidding Quiz.
For our first board of the New Year, we could have come up with all sorts of different auctions with these hands, so naturally we chose one of the more entertaining possibilities. Here is our running commentary: - North’s 1♠: Not a 1NT opening in our opinion, as we said before, please see the Bidding Quiz. - South’s 1NT: A Forcing No Trump in a 2/1 framework. - North’s 2♣: North is planning a stronger move later in the auction, if she ever gets another chance. - South’s Pass of 2♣: Now, it looks as if North will not get another chance. - West’s Double: West comes to the rescue of N-S with a quite reasonable balancing Double. - North’s Redouble: This says “Partner, I have a pretty good hand!” - South’s 3♣: South could have passed, so bidding 3♣ must show something extra, which, in this case, is the 6th Club. - North’s 3NT: A reasonable gamble. The Hearts are stopped, presumably the Clubs are running, hopefully the opponents cannot score too many Diamond tricks.
On to the play. Firstly, how does South fare in 3NT? West will lead a Diamond, and the standard lead (against No Trump only) with that holding is the Queen. Partner is supposed to drop the Jack if he has it, otherwise he gives count. Well, there’s one other case, and that’s the one on the actual hand. With Ax, East overtakes and returns one, but now Declarer’s Jxxx stands up, and 10 tricks are made. The only lead which beats 3NT is an improbable low Diamond (or the Nine or Ten).
Next, how about a 5♣ contract? With two Diamond losers, this obviously requires the trump suit to behave. Even if it does, there are only 10 sure tricks, and the 11th will have to come from establishing an extra Spade trick, or else from getting a Diamond ruff on the board. Going after the long Spade is preferable, because if the Clubs are 2-2 then the Diamond ruff is always a fallback position. Let’s say that East leads a Heart which is won by Dummy’s King, then A♠, Spade ruff, A♣, Spade ruff, K♣, Spade ruff, etc. Making 11 tricks.
West’s 2NT asked Partner if he had a feature, in this situation generally defined as an Ace or King (maybe a QJx or QTx would qualify). The common style is to show the feature only with a decent Weak Two, and with lesser hands to rebid the long suit. Well, East certainly has a good hand along with his feature, so he rebids 3NT and the game is reached.
Against 3NT, North will lead a Heart and there’s something to be said for leading either the Queen or the Seven. Either way, it will be a routine 10 tricks for Declarer.
Double Dummy Footnote Suppose that East somehow manages to become the Declarer in 3NT. Now, with South on opening lead, there is just one card in her hand which holds Declarer to 9 tricks. Yes, it’s the Club Nine, which allows the defense to scoop up 4 Club tricks in a hurry.
E-W did well to stay out of a hopeless Spade game. West was not quite good enough to show a limit raise, and East not quite worth a game try. South will lead the A♦ against East’s Spade contract, and Declarer will wind up with the obvious 9 tricks (5 trumps, 4 side-suit tricks, and, of course, no ruffs in that square Dummy).
We wouldn’t expect anyone to bid it, but 3NT turns out to be cold. A Heart lead is ducked, the second round is won, and with both high Diamonds in the hand without the long Hearts, 9 tricks roll in.
The computer seems to delight in dealing layouts where our recommended course of action ends up badly, and here is yet another example. We would open a 15-17 1NT, we don’t mind the 5-card major, and we don’t think that the hand is too good. After this most enlightened opening, East makes a DONT Double (a one-suiter somewhere), and South transfers to Spades. 2♠ is the final resting place, down two for the dreaded -200.
Look what happens when North is less than enlightened. She opens 1♥, East overcalls 2♦, and now the dreaded -200 is scored on the other side of the ledger. Oh, well, the “right” bid is not always the winning bid.
There are varying theories on what to open when holding 4-4 in the minors, you’ll find plenty of advocates for 1♣ or 1♦ or “better minor”. In most cases it’s not particularly important, really not worth worrying about too much, but on this particular South hand it’s essential to open 1♦. It’s easy enough to see why. If South opens this 1♣ and North inconveniently responds 1♠, South will be without a rebid.
So, 1♦ it is, followed by a rebid of 2♣. That has solved South’s rebid dilemma, but the problems are only beginning for North. What should she do over 2♣? Passing might work, but in this situation it’s usual for Responder to take a “false preference” back to Diamonds, for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz.
Not only is this a difficult hand to bid, it’s also a tough hand to play. The two most likely contracts are 2♣ and 2♥, and 2♥ is likely to fare better, perhaps as follows: J♠ lead is won by Dummy’s Ace The T♦ is finessed, forcing West’s Ace A Heart is returned, won by Declarer’s Queen Two Diamonds are cashed (Dummy pitches a Club) A Diamond is ruffed by West, Dummy pitching a Club K♥ is returned, won by Declarer A♣ is cashed, then a Club ruff in Dummy Now Declarer ruffs a Spade with her last trump and has managed to scramble 8 tricks. It doesn’t help the defense to lead trumps at every opportunity, they still won’t be able to stop Dummy getting a ruff. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Scrambling Tricks”>>
2♣ will also stagger home if West’s opening lead is a Spade, the play will be similar to that above. However, if West starts out with an opening lead of a trump, Dummy’s ruff can be stopped and Declarer will be held to 7 tricks.
On lead against 3NT, it seems reasonable for North to start out with a Spade lead, but which one? Back on Board 2, North held ♥ QJ876, and we suggested that a lead of the Queen or the Seven were both reasonable. But here, with the weaker (and shorter) holding of QJ74, the Four is clearly called for. Anyway, North leads the Spade Four, and it’s West’s job to make 11 tricks. Please see the Play Problem.
After South’s 1♠ overcall, West has several bids available, all of which are flawed, and for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz. This particular West’s choice of flawed bid was a Negative Double with only 3 cards in the unbid major, propelling E-W into a 4-3 Heart game.
The play in 4♥ is quite fascinating! For Declarer to have a chance of making the contract, trumps must be 3-3, but even then some stellar defensive play will set the contract. To have a chance the defense must start with three rounds of Spades, and the first line we’ll look at is one where the defense drops the ball Take 1: Two rounds of Spades are cashed The third round of Spades is ruffed The Heart Seven is ducked around to North In with the Heart trick, North has no Spades to lead, so Declarer wins the return, draws trumps, and has 10 tricks. Cut!
Take 2: For the defense to prevail they must to make sure that South wins the defense’s Heart trick, allowing Spades to be continued and causing Declarer to lose trump control. So, when the Heart Seven is led, South must split her honors, preventing the ducking of the trick into the North hand. If South does indeed split, Dummy must win the trick, and now another Heart is led from Dummy. North plays low, Declarer’s Ace wins, and now Declarer can safely exit to North’s Q♥, making his contract. The defenders have bungled again. Cut!
Take 3: Yes, on the second round of trumps, North might jump up with the Queen, trying to unblock the suit and force an entry into South’s hand. But that doesn’t work, Declarer simply ducks the trick. Cut!
Take 4: Let’s roll the cameras one last time and take a look at the winning defense. Two rounds of Spades are cashed The third round of Spades is ruffed The 7♥ is led, South splits her honors, Dummy plays the King, North unblocks the Queen! Stellar defense, now whatever Declarer does, he will be down one. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Blocking & Unblocking”>>
South’s 2♦ was New Minor Forcing, an artificial device for investigating the 5-3 major fit.
If South plays in 4♠ she’ll make 10 or 11 tricks, depending on the lead. Either red suit lead seems reasonable, but the Diamond turns out to be costly when it sets up a second Diamond trick in the Dummy, providing a pitch for one of the Club losers, and 11 tricks in all. If West finds the passive Heart lead, Declarer can come to no more that 10 tricks.
If the final contract is 3NT, it will likely be played by North. West has an obvious Diamond lead, and it’s 9 tricks when the Spade Queen comes down.
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