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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.
Let’s assume that West’s 2♣ is natural. South might well have competed to 3♠ over 3♣, considering the doubleton Club, 3-card support, and the non-vulnerability. As it was, South passed and North came to the rescue with a balancing Double. Playing in Spades it is quite conceivable that 10 tricks will be made, thanks to the onside K♥ and J♦. It takes an improbable defensive Heart ruff to hold Declarer to 9 tricks.
We don’t suppose that many E-W pairs will scorn the vulnerability and bid up to 4♣, but if they do they will be rewarded with 10 tricks. There is a Heart to be lost, also a Diamond. The trump suit can (and should) be picked up for no losers, but it won’t be possible for Declarer to do that and also to ruff three Spades on the board. Even so, 10 tricks in Clubs will be a fine result, all the more so as it might well be doubled.
If E-W are playing Support Doubles then East’s 2♥ shows 4-card support. 3♦ was a natural game try and East might have been tempted notwithstanding his minimum. In fact, thanks largely to the double fit, the Heart game is not bad, it’s on a finesse. Making just 9 tricks when that finesse loses.
Of course, N-S missed the boat when they didn’t compete to 3♠ though it’s easy to see why they wouldn’t. North has a minimum overcall but at least there is that nice singleton in the enemy suit. As for South, she has a little bit to spare for her 2♠ bid, but on the other hand she has only 3 trumps, and that K♥ is likely either to be under the Ace or else opposite a singleton. But 3♠ makes when both the black suits behave. We’d be surprised if many N-S pairs compete as high as 3♠ at this vulnerability.
On the previous board N-S had the black suits and E-W the red suits, but here the roles are reversed. As E-W can make 10 tricks in Spades and yet have sold out to 3♥, it may seem that they have grossly underbid. But it’s hard to see which of E-W should be faulted for not bidding more, neither has an extra trump, nor distribution, nor substantial extra values.
Of course, the play in Spades is simplified by the 2-2 Club break. And then there is the matter of the trump suit. Given that E-W don’t have the 9♠, it is not possible for Declarer to double hook the suit. So, the alternatives are: - Either, play North for doubleton honor, in which case the winning play is a low Spade away from the Ace. If North hops up with her honor then South’s honor becomes finessable. And, if North plays low, then her honor will fall under the Ace on the second round. - Or, play South for doubleton honor, in which case the winning play in to lead the J♠ on the first round of the suit. Now, whether South covers or not, there will be only one Spade trick for the defense. Is there any clue from the bidding as to which defender is more likely to be doubleton? None that we can see, both opponents have shown a one-suited hand and one guess seems as good as the other. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Suit Combinations”>>
For the third straight board the pair with the Spade fit manages to underbid. Here, it’s E-W’s turn, they can make 4♠ thanks to the lovely double fit, but that never came to light in the auction and they languished in a part-score.
On lead against some number of Spades, South may well lead her singleton Diamond, after which North’s Jack is won by the Ace, trumps are drawn, the Diamonds are cashed (pitching Hearts) and the lead of a Club from the board sets up an 11th trick. Should North be complaining about South’s rotten choice of opening lead? Absolutely not! North should not have squandered her J♦ at Trick One, if she plays low, Declarer cannot untangle those 11 tricks, 10 will be the maximum.
The opening lead of a singleton trump is generally frowned upon, and with good reason, but here it is likely to work out rather well. True, Declarer can make 10 tricks (win A♠, cash A♠, and use the J♠ and K♦ entries to lead Clubs twice from the board), but it’s likely that he will draw trumps, take just 3 Diamonds when the suit doesn’t break, and lead a Club from the board for the 9th trick.
South’s 2♣ was New Minor Forcing, and the Heart game is easily reached. This one should be 11 tricks at every table, it’s hard to believe that, looking at Dummy’s menacing Spades, West will not promptly cash the A♦ when in with the A♥. Also, it’s 11 tricks playing in Spades.
With that crummy suit and those modest values we would say that North’s 2♥ was somewhat adventurous, no doubt she was fortified by the nice 6-4 shape and favorable vulnerability. Alas for South, though she had a good hand, East’s 1♣ opening had stolen her thunder, and she was left with nothing to say (but see System Note below).
2♠ has all the appearances of a most comfortable contract, maybe even with an overtrick or two in Declarer’s future. But, no, it doesn’t quite work out that way, when the defense starts: Club to South’s Ace Q♣ covered by the King and ruffed A♥ is cashed Heart ruff Club ruff Heart ruffed by South and overruffed by Declarer Nicely done by the defense! The Q♣ was suit preference for Hearts. Note also that the second Heart ruff was worth another trick for the defense even though Declarer overruffed, because, without that second ruff, the Hearts would eventually provide a parking place for Declarer’s Diamond losers. With the actual defense, N-S were able to score the first 5 tricks with a Diamond trick still to come. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Suit Preference”>>
System Note After RHO opens one of a suit, most partnerships play that a direct cue-bid is Michaels. But how about a jump cue-bid? Here is the most common treatment: - If the opening bid is a minor: The jump cue-bid is natural and primarily preemptive. - If the opening bid is a major: The jump cue-bid says “Bid 3NT if you have a stopper in their suit”. The bid is usually based on a running minor suit. If those are the N-S methods then South might well try 3♣ over 1♣, creating an awkward problem for West. The winning bid is to pass (3♣ is down one), but he might optimistically make a take-out double (propelling E-W to 3♠, presumably down two).
A Variation Professor Oddbid has a serious aversion to opening 1♣ with that East hand, his preference is to open 1♠ and rebid 2♥. Playing 5-card majors this is somewhat “anti-Law”, but on the other hand it often works well when we bid suits that we would actually like Partner to lead if we end up on defense. Notwithstanding the Professor’s advide, the Total Trick advocates get the last laugh on this one, because a 1♠ opening allows South in with a 3♣ preempt, after which West bids 3♠ and once again E-W are down two.
The key to bidding the excellent slam was East’s splinter bid of 4♥. Isn’t that a bit much on just 9 HCP’s? We don’t think so, there’s that 4-card fit, a 5-card suit on the side, and shortness in the enemy suit. Lots of plus factors, we’d say that the hand is just too good for a mere game-invitational sequence. Of course, West’s already fine hand becomes even better opposite Heart shortness, and slam is inevitable. 12 easy tricks.
Perhaps North should have preempted to 3♥, in which case we think that North should still force to game, this time with a non-jump cue-bid of 4♥. Now West might try 5♠, inviting slam and warning of two losers in the enemy suit. Again slam is reached thanks to that good hand evaluation by East.
If you play 2/1 as forcing to game then, before each session, it’s an excellent idea to pray that you never pick up these East cards, it’s quite impossible to bid them satisfactorily. Though the hand is not really good enough for a game forcing 2♣ response, that is the recommended bid here. West bids 2♦, a bit stylistic perhaps, but it seems like the most descriptive bid available, with the added benefit of being cheap, too. West’s 3♥ was somewhat nebulous, the kind of 4th suit bid that is sometimes made in forcing auctions when nothing else makes sense.
Even if the auction was hard work, the final contract of 3NT, with just 21 combined HCP’s, is actually not bad. It’s on a Club finesse at worst, with some additional chances. Let’s say that South starts out with the Heart Six to North’s King. The 3♥ is returned and Declarer has a choice of plays, between the Queen and the Ten. If South’s opening lead was 4th best, then South has both the A♥ and J♥, in which case it might seem not to matter which honor Declarer plays. But, actually, it does matter! South knows from North’s play that East holds the Q♥, so that is the card that Declarer should play! Yes, the age-old advice holds true, “Play the card you are known to hold”. So, Declarer plays the Q♥ which is taken by the Ace, at which point South will not know whether North started with KT83 or K32. Being an optimist she will probably cash the J♥ next, and if she is also a sleepy optimist she might miss the spots and naively continue the suit (instead of making the necessary Diamond shift). This is won by Declarer, who now drives out the K♣. Yes, there’s another trap here. Declarer should play the Q♣ on the first round of the suit, just in case one of the defenders is lurking with Kxx of Clubs. It would be most embarrassing to blow this now-cold contract by cashing the A♣ first, getting a 3-0 break, and then seeing the defense duck the second round of Clubs.
There are many that would consider the South hand too good for a simple overcall, such players would prefer to show the HCP strength of the hand by doubling first. But the modern style is for the overcall to have a stronger upper limit, let’s say around 18 instead of around 16. Actually, the South hand is a seriously flawed 18, those points in Diamonds may not be worth much. And, nicely done by South not to push on to game opposite Partner’s preemptive Heart raise. Anyway, hats off to those South players who managed to stay out of game on this hand. 3♥ makes 9 tricks without any trouble.
As it happens it is E-W who can make game on this deal, though that requires a lucky lie of the cards and some anti-percentage card play. Let’s say that North starts out the defense by laying down the K♥. Good play! This gives North a chance to retain the lead and hopefully find the best shift at Trick Two. The obvious shift is to a Club, attacking Dummy’s entry in an attempt to shut out Dummy’s Diamonds. Declarer wins the A♣, plays a trump, planning to finesse the Jack if South plays low, then it’s a Heart ruff, lose a Club, back to hand eventually with a Club ruff and it’s 10 hard-earned and very lucky tricks. P.S. No, it doesn’t help the defense if South splits her honors, our double dummy Declarer will squash North’s Ten by playing the Jack on the second round.
Everyone gets to 4♠ and the number of tricks will depend upon the opening lead: - Spade Lead? This passive lead is not a winner, it allows Declarer to draw trumps, set up the Clubs and end up with 12 tricks. - Heart Lead? This gets what it deserves! North has a lot of HCP’s and there is no reason to expect any Heart help from a partner who must be almost bereft of points. We’d characterize this lead as optimistic in the extreme. - Diamond Lead? We cannot imagine leading anything else, to be honest. A safe lead that is also attacking, what could be more obvious? - Club Lead? Another poor lead, but North miraculously escapes the consequences if she follows up by giving Partner an unexpected ruff.
To start with, let’s suppose that South’s opening lead is the J♥. Declarer wins the K♥ and loses the Diamond finesse. Now, when the Q♥ comes back, Declarer must duck and take the Ace on the third round. This precaution allows her to cash all her minor suit winners before playing a Spade at Trick Twelve. At that point, North is out of Hearts and must surrender a Spade at the end. That Heart duck was the difference between 9 and 10 tricks.
Alternatively, on opening lead, South might reason that, with such a weak hand of her own (no entries), she might try to find Partner’s suit. As there was no Stayman in the auction, logic suggests that Partner’s length is likely to be in a major, suggesting a Spade lead. But to no avail, that will be 10 tricks also.
Opposite a vulnerable two-level overcall, South was always going to game, of course. She could have just bid 4♥ directly, but preferred to go to game via the cue-bid route, confirming that she had a “real” 4♥ bid, not merely a preemptive raise. And given her good Spade holding, weak Hearts and square hand, perhaps she should have considered 3NT also.
On opening lead against 4♥, East has an obvious Spade lead which Declarer wins in Dummy. Now she leads the 9♥, trying to look like someone who is about to take a finesse. But West wasn’t born yesterday and hops up with the Ace to give Partner his ruff. That simple defense holds Declarer to 10 tricks.
How does 3NT fare? Rather well, especially from the South side. West leads the J♠ which blows a trick and gives Declarer an easy route to 11 tricks. But Declarer didn’t even need that helpful opening lead to make 11 tricks, thanks to the obligingly doubleton onside K♦.
Squeeze Note In fact, if Declarer is to make 11 tricks in No Trump, then even the doubleton K♦ was unnecessary! Visualize the West hand with one more Diamond and one less Heart. Now, even if he avoids the Spade lead, West will find himself squeezed in Spades and Diamonds, and once again it is 11 tricks. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Squeeze Technique”>>
West reasonably decided to bid his strong 5-card major in preference to his puny 6-card minor, and East’s reverse to 2♥ then showed a good hand.
With the J♠ coming down and the Diamonds 2-2, Declarer has 12 easy tricks in 3NT. It’s not a slam that we’d want to be in, but 6♦ most certainly is a good contract, though awfully difficult to reach. We don’t have a believable sequence to offer you which will get E-W to 6♦, but we do have the rather less useful expertise to calculate the percentages for the slam that virtually nobody will get to! It’s about 72% to pick up the trump suit for one loser (all the 2-2 splits and some of the 3-1 splits). But the slam is not quite that good, because with some of the 3-1 breaks it will not be possible to get a ruff in Dummy. In those cases the 12th trick must come from the J♠ coming down in 3 rounds or the K♣ being ruffed out or finessed. Even so, the slam is still in the high sixties.
East’s rebid was a Support Double, showing 3-card support.
In the play of the hand, it may look like 11 easy tricks for Declarer, with just two Aces to be lost. But, along the way, there may be a nervous moment or two for Declarer. For example, suppose that North leads the A♣ and shifts to a Spade. Declarer cannot draw trumps and play on Hearts, he still has Club losers to worry about. And, if he takes two Club ruffs in Dummy, he might lose an unnecessary trick if trumps are 4-1. Declarer does best to win the trump shift in Dummy, and play a Heart to the Queen. If North takes the A♥ then it’s plain sailing to 11 tricks. But if North ducks, Declarer will not dare to play another Heart for fear of a ruff. So, his best line at this point is to take a second Club ruff and pray for 3-2 trumps. All is well, and it’s 11 tricks.
Back to the auction. Not everybody will be enamored of that 1♦ opening bid. The Q♣ is not pulling its full weight and there is a noticeable shortage of Aces in the hand. If East passes originally, one of two things might happen: - If West opens 1♠, North will overcall 2♣, East will show invitational values, and game will be reached. - If West opens 1NT, things could be more difficult for E-W. Suppose that North makes a DONT double (showing a one-suiter). East bids 2♣ (still Stayman), then 2♠ by West. Now, hopefully East will not gamble on 3NT (down three!), but will bid a forcing 3♦. This lets West bid 3♠ (presumably showing 5), and 4♠ is again reached.
The most noteworthy bid in this auction came from West. After East’s overcall, and with 10 HCP’s, it hardly seemed right to pass for a second time, so West improvised by raising with only a doubleton, albeit a rather good doubleton. As for North, her Support Double showed 3 Spades, one of several times that this useful convention has come up in today’s set.
It’s easy enough for South to make 8 tricks in Spades, but surely 9 will be needed to achieve a good matchpoint score. After West cashes the AK♦, Declarer can reasonably expect East to have the K♣ and A♠ for his overcall. With that in mind, here’s a route to 9 tricks: A♦ and K♦ are cashed Club shift won by Dummy’s Ace J♣ covered by the King and ruffed Diamond ruff T♣, pitching a Heart K♥ and A♥ are cashed Club ruff Diamond ruff At this point, Declarer has 8 tricks, with one more trump trick to come. Yes, West can stop one of those Diamond ruffs, but only at the expense of a natural trump trick.
After West has decided to open 1NT the auction cruises smoothly to 4♠, played by the West hand. In the play of the hand Declarer cannot escape the loss of the A♠ and the A♥, and the only question is whether or not he loses a second trump trick. Sure, it’s possible to pick up trumps for one loser, by leading the Ten. This is covered by the Queen, King and Ace, then on the second round Declarer leads the Eight, pinning North’s Seven. But that line is anti-percentage, and, with the normal play of a low trump towards Dummy’s KJx, there will be two Spade losers and only 10 tricks altogether.
Back to the bidding. Suppose that West belongs to the school that does not open 1NT with a 5-card major, or perhaps just not a 5-card major that is so good. In that case the route to 4♠ is rather tortuous: West East 1♥ 1♠ 2♦ 2NT 3♠ 4♠ Pass In this auction, West had a rebid problem. Too good for 1NT and 2♠ he made up a 2♦ rebid, and the auction eventually limped into 4♠. We prefer the 1NT auction!
A straightforward hand, at least in the bidding. We’d also expect 10 tricks at every table, one way or the other. For example, South leads a Club to Dummy’s King and Ace. Let’s say a Spade comes back and the finesse loses and a second Spade is won on the board. A Diamond is led to Declarer’s King and South’s Ace, and yet another Spade is played by the defense. The defense has done everything right, and both Aces and the K♠ were all offside. No matter, the Hearts break and it’s 10 tricks anyway!
After South opens 1NT, North’s goal in the bidding is simply to get to the better major suit fit at the two-level. How she does that depends on the N-S methods, for which we refer you to the Bidding Quiz. In the meantime, let us just say that, in the featured sequence, according to this pair’s methods, North’s 2♠ showed a weak 5-4 hand, a variety of Garbage Stayman.
The play in 2♠ is too complicated to contemplate, please allow us to predict 7 or 8 tricks for Declarer without going into any detail.
A missed opportunity by West! If he had found the reopening Double of 2♥, the ensuing Penalty Pass would have been most painful for N-S. The final number would be 300 (maybe 500), not good considering that the opponents have no game. Having said that, we don’t fault West for balancing with 3♦, he does have a 7-card suit and an usually weak defensive hand. If you are wondering why East decided to stay silent for the entire proceedings then please see the Bidding Quiz.
When East bid 1NT he denied holding as many as 4 Spades, so in this situation West’s reverse to 2♠ is usually more of a strength-showing maneuver than it is an attempt to find a Spade fit. Is West good enough to bid 2♠? 16 HCP’s is minimum for sure, but the hand does have particularly nice fillers, and 2♠ is certainly more descriptive than a 2♦ rebid. 2♠ is forcing, of course, and the real question is how E-W can stop short of game after that start to the auction. What are your own partnership methods? One suggestion (for more on which please see the Bidding Quiz) is that a 2NT rebid by Responder allows the partnership to stop below game, all other bids are game-forcing. That being the case, 3♦ was game-forcing and 3♥ showed a 6th Heart (or 5 good ones).
Against 4♥, North does best to start out with the Q♣, knocking out Dummy’s entry before the Diamonds are established. Dummy’s A♣ wins the trick and the Spade successfully finessed. Next comes a Diamond to Dummy’s Jack, at which point the defense can go one of three ways (none of them successful): - If South ducks the Diamond, Declarer scrambles 10 tricks with: Club ruff, A♠, Spade ruff, Club ruff, Spade ruffed and overruffed, A♦, Diamond ruff. Now Declarer wins the last three tricks with his trumps. - If South wins the Diamond and shifts to a trump, Declarer draws trumps and enjoys Dummy’s Diamonds for a total of 11 tricks. - If South wins the Diamond and continues Clubs, then Declarer is back to scrambling mode: ruff the Club return, cross to the K♦, ruff a Club, cash A♠, ruff a Spade, ruff a Club, etc. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Scrambling Tricks”>>
It will be a great matchpoint result for any pairs that bid and made 4♥, and surely making 5♦ will also be above average. 5♦ is another perilous contract if the defense leads a Club, but Declarer can prevail with some good guessing (such as ruffing out the Hearts rather than finessing).
West’s sequence showed 5 Hearts and 4 Spades and, when offered the choice between a 4-4 major fit and a 5-3 major fit, it’s normal to choose the 4-4.
Playing in 4♠, there is no escaping a second trump loser and Declarer is held to 11 tricks. In practice it will be 11 tricks in Hearts also, although there is this neat double dummy line for 12: A♣ wins the opening lead K♣ is cashed A♦ and a Diamond ruff Club ruff A♥ and J♥ are cashed Diamond ruff K♥ is cashed At this point West, East and North are all down to 4 Spades and nothing else. The Q♠ is led and whatever North does she will find herself end-played sooner or later.
Playing in 3NT, there are 7 top tricks, with the chance of an additional trick in each of the 4 suits. First, suppose that West leads a Club. Not good for the defense, that gives Declarer her 8th trick, and now Declarer does best to pursue the 9th in Diamonds. She’ll lead towards the Jack, and when that doesn’t work, the 9th trick will come from the 3-3 Diamond break. The defense can shift to Hearts but can only take 3 tricks in the suit. So, a Club lead gives Declarer a comfortable route to 9 tricks.
Next, let’s suppose that West’s opening lead is the T♦. Nice lead! Now, Declarer can still make 9 tricks by guessing Clubs correctly and playing on Spades (or Diamonds) hoping for a 3-3 break. But that’s a tall order, so we’d expect a few unfortunate Declarers to go down in 3NT if West is clever enough to start out with Diamonds.
East’s 3♠ had the desired effect of creating complications for N-S. North’s Double simply said “Do something”, and at any other vulnerability South would probably have passed. But, being Red vs White, she went in search of the game, and the partnership ends up in the rather poor contract of 5♣. At first glance it might appear that 5♣ will be a lucky make. The Clubs are breaking, the Diamonds turn out to be worth 4 tricks, and the only losers are the AK♠. Not so fast! After the two Spades are cashed, the defense has a surprising resource. East leads a third round of Spades, allowing West to deliver an upper-cut with the 9♣, thereby promoting a trick for East’s JT3. Nice defense! >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Trump Promotion”>>
South was close to going directly to 4♥, and, although North had a most respectable 2♥ bid, that K♣ was clearly a dubious asset. With the A♣ predictably with offside, 9 tricks is the limit.
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