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Hand Analyses 5th March, 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 a purple arrow, linking to the relevant BridgeOpedia section. For example, in this week’s Board 11, Declarer scrambles his way to 8 tricks in a Spade partial. 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.
What’s your choice with the West hand after South’s 1♠ bid? If you were tempted to bid 4♥ based on the 10-card Heart fit then we offer our best wishes and hope that you will feel better soon. With that miserable shapeless hand, surely 3♥ is plenty.
Do you play Support Doubles? A fine convention indeed, but most pairs don’t play it at the 3-level, so that won’t be an option with the North hand after West’s 3♥ bid. With the singleton in the enemy suit it’s tempting to dredge up 3♠ here (Partner is known to have 5 Spades on this auction), but North passes instead and then supports Spades after the balancing Double.
Because of the friendly lie of the cards, it turns out that N-S can make all 13 tricks. We wouldn’t want to be in the grand slam, of course, but 6♠ is actually a pretty good contract, all the more so as the K♠ is likely to be onside. The obvious line is to win the Heart opening lead, cross to the A♣, run the Spade Eight, play another Spade, and ruff out the Diamonds. When that suit is 3-3 Declarer can cross to Dummy with a trump (those of an artistic nature will make sure that the trump entry is the lowly Four), and then cash the long Diamonds, pitching the Club losers. As North watches her Partner rake in all the tricks she’ll be thinking “Aah, if only I had dredged up that 3♠ bid, maybe that would have propelled us to the good slam”
This is not a good hand for those who like to open those “Rule of Twenty” hands. South’s 5-4 11-count qualifies on that basis, but then West’s 3♠ preempt pushes North overboard into a poor 3NT contract.
Against 3NT, East leads a Spade, and West must withhold the Ace, knocking out North’s stopper and maintaining communications for the defense. Then, East gets in with the Q♣ and the defense rattles off a total of 7 tricks.
However, N-S might get saved if West is an aggressive preemptor. Such a player might use the favorable vulnerability as an excuse to up the ante with a 4♠ preempt. If so, West would be right that 4♠ doubled (down three) is less than the value of a vulnerable game, but wrong that the opponents can actually make said game.
Against 1NT, West leads the Q♦, which Declarer ducks. A second Diamond is won by the Ace, then a low Club to West’s Jack and Dummy’s Queen. East must duck this, of course, and now the best that Declare can do is to rustle up 6 tricks (3 Clubs, 2 Diamonds and the A♠).
Another rather dull part-score hand. We promise they’ll get more interesting later on, in the meantime this one is an easy 9 tricks for Declarer.
North decided to pass her square 12-count, then showed a good passed hand with Club support when she bid 2♦. East’s rebid of Diamonds made East like that void even more, so she took a shot at 5♣.
Against 5♣, West leads a Diamond which Declarer ruffs. Trumps are drawn, and now Declarer must guess the Spade Jack in order to make 12 tricks. It won’t be obvious where the J♠ is, but the A♠ is most likely to be with East. So, the indicated play is a low Spade from the board, just in case East has the singleton Ace or doubleton AJ, and when turns out not to be the case, a finesse against West brings in the 12 tricks.
East might well have been tempted to take a sacrifice in 5♦. He can be sure that his side will be down no more than three tricks, but with two likely defensive tricks of his own he’ll not be sure that 5♣ actually makes. Our own guess would be to take the dive, but we may be influenced by seeing the whole deal.
For the second straight board, N-S zip into a fine 5♣ contract. North’s 3♣ bid showed invitational values. South tried for 3NT by showing something in Hearts, and then bid 5♣ when North could not oblige.
There’s nothing to the play of 5♣, 11 tricks when the trump finesse predictably fails.
What would be your choice of rebid as South? 2♦ (Fourth Suit Forcing) or 3NT? We like the latter, please see the Bidding Quiz.
Against 3NT, East will no doubt lead a Diamond, which removes the guess in that suit. Assuming a reasonable Club break, Declarer now has 9 top tricks, and it might seem a fairly routine matter to concede a Heart to set up the 10th trick and later to try the Spade finesse for the 11th trick. But suppose that South is not a routine kind of player, but someone who hates to take finesses when there is a more exotic alternative. With such a player at the helm, here’s how the play might go: Diamond lead won by Declarer’s Jack Cash two Clubs (to make sure that they break) Play the K♥ won by East’s Ace Diamond return won in the Dummy (necessary!) Cash the Clubs Here is the position with one Club left to be cashed: Declarer ♠ AQ ♥ QT8 ♦ A ♣ West East ♠ J95 ♠ KT ♥ 964 ♥ J5 ♦ ♦ Q9 ♣ ♣ Dummy ♠ 7632 ♥ ♦ 8 ♣ 8 At this point, East will already have pitched a Diamond, then on the last Club Dummy pitches a Heart and East another Diamond. Now Declarer plays a Diamond to the Ace, cashes the Q♥, and throws East in with a Heart for 11 tricks. Exotically done!
If the auction above looks a trifle odd it’s because E-W were playing Lebensohl opposite Partner’s Double of a Weak Two. Using this method, when West bid 2NT he was telling partner that he had a weak hand and was trying to get out at the 3-level (with a stronger hand he would go directly to the 3-level). East followed instructions by bidding 3♣ and that is where the auction ended. West was actually right at the top of his range to be bidding this way, with anything more a direct 3-level bid would be called for.
3♣ is a tenuous contract, but is squeaks home, primarily because of the fortunate Spade and Club situations.
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