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Hand Analyses 2nd April, 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 5, Declarer attempts to cross-ruff his way to 11 tricks in 5♦. Adjacent to the text for that hand you will see the link >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Cross Ruffing”>> which will transport you to the collection of hands with the same theme.
North wisely declined to open with a Weak Two, after which South got trapped by West’s penalty pass of 1♠. Now what should North do? The choices are: - Pass? Surely not right, there must be a better spot somewhere. - Redouble? That would be an SOS Redouble, asking partner to find a better place. This would be fine if the unbid suits were equal in length, or even if they were just one apart, but here the discrepancy is two cards’ length. - 2♦? Not much of a suit, but at least there are 6 of them.
Anyway, whether N-S play in Spades, Hearts or Diamonds, it won’t be much fun, and penalties of 300 and 500 are confidently expected.
Perhaps East was tempted to throw in a 1♠ overcall with his chunky 4-card suit, but either way it looks like this one will be played in Diamonds by North.
Against 2♦, East does not have an obvious lead. A Heart lead looks as good as anything but it does not work well. Declarer wins, unblocks the K♣, and leads a Diamond towards the board. East must duck (to avoid blowing a trump trick) and the K♦ wins the trick. Now the Spade losers go on the Clubs and Declarer ends up with 10 tricks, losing just a Heart and 2 trumps. Things are no better on an opening Club lead, instead East must lead a Spade if the defense is to score a 4th trick.
Back to the bidding. Perhaps we misspoke earlier, there’s a lot to be said for a 2♠ rebid with the North hand, a bid which will no doubt end the auction. With normal play Declarer can make 8 tricks in this contract.
With only 9 HCP’s West boldly takes action over 2♥ and then, over 4♥, East had no helpful constructive bid. Blackwood would be futile, and 5♠ would be invitational to slam, asking for a control in the enemy Heart suit. East felt pretty confident that his partner was short in Hearts, so, in the circumstances, he decided to leap majestically to slam.
With North on opening lead, South might well have been praying for a Diamond ruff at Trick One. If so, she should be careful what she wishes for, as that’s a lead which makes Declarer’s life easy. At least it does if Declarer guesses to play a low Diamond from the board. South ruffs but she is effectively ruffing a loser. Now trumps come down in two rounds, and a Club ruff and a Diamond finesse get Declarer up to 12 tricks.
If North’s opening lead is the K♥ then Declarer faces an uphill battle. She must somehow guess the trump situation and then back that up that with an inspired guess in the Club suit: K♥ opening lead is ruffed Spade to the King Finesse the Spade Ten Cash three Clubs Ruff a Club Ruff a Heart Draw the last trump Take the Diamond finesse Yes, an improbable line of play!
Against 4♥, South leads the K♠ won by Declarer. Those Spade losers must be disposed of in a hurry so the J♦ is overtaken in Dummy and two more Diamonds are cashed, the Spade losers being dumped. Now Declarer has one Heart loser and some unknown number of Clubs … only one Club loser if two can be ruffed in Dummy, or if the Q♣ wins a trick and just one Club is ruffed. The best play (after cashing the Diamonds), is to lead a Heart from Dummy. North ducks and Declarer’s King wins the trick. Now a Club won by South’s King and it’s all over. 11 tricks and +650 for E-W.
After East’s 2♥ reverse, West’s 2NT bid was weakness-showing, then the auction lurched and stumbled into the reasonable contract of 5♦.
On lead against 5♦, North will probably lead a Spade, after which Declarer might well try a cross-ruff. He can count 4 side-suit tricks, so all that is required is to score 7 trump tricks. That can be achieved by scoring 3 Spade ruffs in the short hand, plus ruffing with Dummy’s Four. Once that has been achieved, Dummy’s ♦KT98 will yield the required 3 more tricks on power. Alas, that plan fails because of North’s Heart shortness. The play starts: Spade ruff, cross to the Q♥, Spade ruff, then play the A♥ which is regrettably ruffed. Now Declarer needs a miracle in Clubs, but that doesn’t work, and 10 tricks is the maximum. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Cross Ruffing”>>
Who knows how to bid that South hand? We make no such claims, perhaps the best that South can do is to open 2♣, hoping that North bids 2♦ and that she can then jump to 3♥. This would set the trump suit and hopefully would allow a later 5♦ Exclusion Key Card bid. Not a bad plan but West and North get in the way, making the 3♥ jump impossible. So, eventually South jumps to 6♥, fingers crossed. It may seem strange for South never to mention the Clubs, but why bother, this is matchpoints and it’s unlikely that Clubs will be better. Anyway, it doesn’t pay to agonize too much over these freak hands, they will only drive you crazy. But, if that’s what you want, please see the Bidding Quiz!
A spirited and reasonable auction. E-W can certainly make 10 tricks in Hearts, but no more than that. The question is whether or not South can make 4♠. If so, then West’s 5♥ is a fine sacrifice, but if not then it is a phantom.
OK, what exactly does happen in 4♠? With normal play, it will be down. Let’s say that West leads the A♥ and shifts to a Diamond. If South is a genius she’ll recognize that Diamond as a singleton and the play might develop as follows: A♥ is cashed Diamond shift won on the board J♠ is run around, West craftily ducking West wins the second Spade Spade return won in hand At this point, Declarer may suspect that East started with 2=5=5=1. If that is indeed the case, then the percentage Club play is to run the Jack, hoping to pin West’s singleton Ten or Nine, and picking up the whole suit. Nicely (but improbably) done! We doubt that many South’s will make 10 tricks, in which case that 5♥ by East will indeed turn out to be a phantom sacrifice.
N-S are close to game and no doubt it will be bid at some tables. The Spade game can be beaten with a defensive Club ruff, but it may well make at some tables. West will lead the Q♦ won by East’s Ace. Now it’s up to East to make the right guess. If he tries to give West a Diamond ruff, then Declarer wins the K♦, draws trumps and has an easy 10 tricks. The winning defense, of course, is for East to shift to a Club at Trick Two. Will that be obvious? Not at all, West is no certainty to hold the A♣, and could well have a singleton Diamond. So we foresee a mixture of Spade games and part-scores, with some Declarers making 9 tricks and others making 10.
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