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Hand Analyses 6th August, 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 8, Declarer needs to place cards based on the enemy bidding. Adjacent to the text for that hand you will see the link >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: "Remembering the Auction”>> which will transport you to the collection of hands with the same theme.
How do you play that 1♠ bid? The most common style is to play it as natural and forcing (for one round), and if West had wanted to invoke a Fourth Suit Forcing sequence, he would bid 2♠ at his second turn, showing a game-forcing hand with less than 4 Spades. But whatever the methods E-W are destined to play in 4♠, probably from the West side.
Against 4♠, it’s 11 tricks on any defense. Declarer will lose the A♥ and a trump trick, with the Heart suit providing a pitch for the losing Club. Looks to us like a pretty flat board.
Those who open 1NT with a 5-card major will play it there when East rightly decides that his mediocre 8-count is not worth a game invitation. The defense can hold 1NT to 7 tricks by leading a Spade to South’s King and shifting to a Club. But that’s an unlikely defense, a Spade and a Spade continuation is more likely, allowing Declarer to rustle up 8 tricks (the 8th trick comes from Hearts).
Considering that E-W have an easy +140 in 2♥, that +120 might seem like a poor board and one in the eye for the “1NT with a 5-card major” brigade. But maybe not! If West opens 1♥, then North will overcall 1♠, East will bid 2♥ and South will raise Partner to 2♠. Will E-W pass this out? If they do they will get a bad result, setting 2♠ one trick will not be enough to beat those 120’s. It won’t be obvious to E-W to bid on to 3♥, neither of them has an extra trump, neither has a singleton, and although West has some extra values they are all in Queens!
What does all of this demonstrate? Maybe not a lot, except that, even when opening 1NT with a 5-card major results in a missed 5-3 major fit, sometimes the preemptive value of 1NT may come to the rescue and be enough to salvage at least a half-decent board.
Against 1NT, South cashes 4 Clubs, with the 4th round probably being won by North. Whatever North returns will give Dummy an extra entry and an easy route to setting up the Diamonds for 9 tricks.
An interesting auction! Let’s assume that N-S are playing DONT, and therefore their way of getting a one-suiter into the auction is to double first (requesting Partner to bid 2♣ after which the long suit is revealed). However, when Spades are the long suit there are two ways to show the one-suiter. North can bid 2♠ directly (usually the weaker way) or can double followed by 2♠ (a stronger hand). South’s hand qualifies for the stronger sequence, wouldn’t you say? So, South doubles, and North dutifully bids 2♣. Enter East into the auction! Now he can show his Diamonds! It’s not much of a suit, but East does have some values and maybe West can compete to the 3-level. That indeed is what happens, E-W get to 3♦ making (a rather lucky) 9 tricks.
It’s not a good hand for DONT. If South had been able to bid a natural and competitive 2♠, then she would have played it there, the Diamonds would have been shut out.
West’s first cue-bid said “Diamond support and at least game-invitational values” and it surely also says “Less than 4 Hearts” by the failure to make a Negative Double. And the second cue-bid? Now, West is showing game-going values, and presumably would be delighted if East had something in Spades and could bid 3NT. East does precisely that, although the KQ doubleton holding in the enemy suit is far from ideal.
Against 3NT, South leads her Spade suit to North’s Ten and Declarer’s King. Declarer crosses to the A♣ and finesses the J♦, losing to South’s King. It might look simple enough for the defense to cash the Spades for down one, but there is the chance that South will misread the situation. For example, South might reason that a Declarer holding of ♠ KQ8, ♥ J2, ♦ AJ876, ♣ Q74 is consistent with the bidding, in which case the winning defense is a Heart shift and a Spade through. Something of a guess we would say.
Several bids of note in this auction: - South is quite minimum for that 3♣ bid, but a suit like that compensates for all sorts of deficiencies. - With a weak hand and a known 10-card fit West would usually bid a preemptive 4♥ here. But at this vulnerability it’s “caveat preemptor” and the square shape is one more reason for holding back with only 3♥. - North’s Double was Responsive, showing values and (at least ideally) the unbid suits. - North’s 5♠ obviously invites slam, the message being “I have two Heart losers”. - South’s 6♣ says “I have the Heart situation covered but perhaps 6♣ is a better spot”. Good thinking by South, her Partner might, for example hold: ♠ AKJ8, ♥ 874, ♦ AKQ6, ♣ 987. If that were the North hand then 6♣ would indeed be much the better slam. - North, of course had no such qualms about the quality of the Spade suit so converted to the higher-scoring 6♠.
If the bidding was interesting the play is not. 6♠ requires 3-2 trumps and Clubs not 4-0, about a 60% chance. How about 6♣? That slam is down one, as Declarer has 11 top tricks but nowhere to look for a 12th.
Look at the West hand. Partner has doubled and South interjects with 1♥, a suit in which West has 4 cards, and which West was planning to bid himself. Here are West’s options in this situation: - Double shows 4 Hearts which may expose a psyche by South or, more likely will suggest a 4-4 fit to Partner, regardless of the expected 4-1 break. In terms of high-card strength, West could have virtually anything, let’s say about 6+. - 2♥ shows 5 Hearts and less than game-invitational values.
That’s a fairly common (but not universal) agreement, and on this board it gets E-W to where they belong which is 2♥. Thanks to West’s abysmal Heart spots there are 3 Heart losers, but 2♥ struggles home anyway, making 8 tricks on the nose.
East’s 3♦ was a valiant attempt to get in the way of the N-S auction but it slowed them down not one bit as they zoomed into the obvious 4♠ contract.
West leads the Q♦ and it’s apparent when Dummy goes down that there are 12 tricks provided that the two major suit Queens can be captured. When playing Spades, Declarer plays Dummy’s Ace on the first round of the suit, reasoning that if the suit is 3-0 then the void will most likely be with the 2♦ bidder. As it happens, the trumps are 2-1 and that hurdle is easily overcome. Using the same logic the Q♥ is more likely to be in the hand with the short Diamonds, so Dummy’s Ace is played on the first round of Hearts, followed by a Heart finesse. No problem, 12 tricks for Declarer. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: "Remembering the Auction”>>
West has a pretty good 8-count, wouldn’t you say? Both those Queens are supported by Tens and that 9♣ might well be useful, too. Good value for a game invitation, which, in the case of our E-W pair above, had to be done via Stayman (with a direct 2NT being used for something else, perhaps Minor Suit Stayman).
Against 2NT, South leads the K♥, which is generally played as asking Partner for “Queen attitude”. When the Queen appears in Dummy North is relieved of that obligation and is expected to give count. Dummy wins the third Heart trick, then the losing Club finesse is taken, the last Heart is cashed and South exits the won by Declarer’s King. At this point, Declarer has 8 tricks and the only chance for a 9th is if South mistakenly pitches a Diamond (she should get this one right, she’s pitching after Declarer).
Back to the bidding. South might be playing DONT and find the favorable vulnerability irresistible for 2♥ bid (showing the majors). Yes, really, some DONT players just cannot resist jumping into the fray with those 4-4 hands. West doubles 2♥, and the defense gleefully proceeds as follows: A♦, K♦, K♠, A♠, Spade ruff, A♣. That’s 6 tricks in, and when East leads another Spade it’s down two and -300 for the over-zealous South.
Some Easts will open 1♣ planning (after 1♥ or 1♠ from Partner) to rebid 1NT (not ideal with a small doubleton in the other major) or else 2♣ (not ideal with only 5 Clubs). Others, as our East above will open 1♦ planning to rebid 2♣ … it’s a distortion of the minor suit lengths but at least it shows a minor-oriented hand and is more likely to right-side a No Trump contract. Anyway, opening 1♦ works well here, allowing West to compete to 3♦.
In order to make 3♦, Declarer must lose just one trick in each of the minor suits. Normal play in each suit is to take the double hook against the KJ, but Declarer has only two entries to Dummy, so here’s how the play might go: Q♥ won by Dummy’s Ace 9♦ run around to South’s Jack (wrong guess!) J♥ won by Dummy’s King Q♦ is finessed and the A♦ cashed Thanks to the wrong guess in the trump suit, Declarer must play the Clubs from his own hand for just one loser. Here are some deductions that Declarer might make: - Hearts are surely 5-3 from the bidding - How about Spades? Best guess is 5 with North and 3 with South. If North had 6 she might have bid 2♠, and if South were 4-5 in the majors she might have doubled initially. - That suggests (it’s far from a certainty) that South started with 3=5=2=3 distribution and North with 5=3=3=2. How about the HCP’s? South presumably did not start with both the A♠ and K♠, surely she would have lead one. Therefore she needs the K♣ to give her the values for a vulnerable overcall. If this imprecise and tenuous logic is worth anything then Declarer should attack the Clubs by laying down the Ace and following with the Queen, hoping to squash North’s doubleton Jack. Nicely done (but only if East also remembers to unblock the Ten on the second round of Clubs!). >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: "Remembering the Auction”>>
South’s failure to make a Negative Double of 1♠ denied 4 Hearts but nonetheless North bids 2♥, showing extra values, something in Hearts, and interest in game. Even though South had a stopper in Spades she had a minimum hand otherwise so she expressed her glum opinion by going back to Diamonds.
Let’s take a look at how the play might go: - Playing in Diamonds, there are 3 obvious losers and that’s all. - Playing in No Trump: perhaps North should have been more optimistic because 3NT has some practical chances. South is Declarer and let’s say that West leads a Spade to East’s Ace. Now, the Q♠ knocks Declarer’s King, following by a Diamond won on the board. Dummy’s Q♣ is now led, and if East routinely covers it’s the end of the defense! Now, Declarer’s Clubs are set up before the defense’s all-important Heart trick. To beat the hand East must duck and await the Heart return from West. - Playing in Spades: East might well have competed up to 3♠ with that nice 6-4 shape. That might be doubled by South, but either way E-W are headed for a good board when this contract goes down only one. N-S can get their 5 tricks the fast way (with the aid of two Heart ruffs) or the slow way (two natural trumps, one Diamond, plus two natural Hearts when Dummy can only lead the suit once).
A highly disciplined auction! West might have used the vulnerability as an excuse to open 1♠, East might have thrown in a 2♣ overcall as a lead-director but reckoned he would probably be on lead himself, North (not having a 6th trump) refrained from competing to 3♥, and South, who did have an extra trump, discounted that because of her square shape and slow values.
After all that self-restraint the par spot of 2♠ is reached, the defense scoring a Spade, two Hearts, a Diamond and a Club. If N-S do happen to push on to 3♥ then E-W must double if they are to get a good board.
Would you open the East hand 1♦ or 3♦? Some would disqualify the hand from a 1♦ opening because of the lack of HCP’s and quick tricks. Others would say “Hey, it’s only 9 HCP’s but it’s got too much defense for a preempt, and it passes the Rule of Twenty”. Take your pick, for what it’s worth we like 1♦.
After the 2♦ rebid, West was stuck for a sensible bid so he temporized with 3♣. East bid a discouraging 3♦, and West continued the torture with 3♠. After 3NT, West tried Minorwood, East showed no Key Cards and West bid the small slam. It’s not a particularly convincing auction, E-W could easily have had two top Spade losers. But we can say that it will be extremely difficult to reach 6♦ if West opens 3♦.
Here’s a common problem … RHO opens one of a minor and we have 4 Spades and 5 Hearts … if we overcall 1♥ we’ll no doubt lose our 4-4 Spade fit (if we have one), but if we double then we risk losing our 5-3 Heart fit. Actually, there’s a third option, and that is to make a Michaels Cue-Bid. Yes, that’s usually 5-5 but it’s only a slight distortion and that 4-card Spade suit is strong enough to survive a 4-3 fit.
Alas for E-W, on this particular board, the Michaels Cue-Bid works out badly. North doubles 2♥ to show extra values, and South passes, having nowhere else to go. Against 2♥ doubled, North cashes AK♦, then AK♣, and leads a third Diamond. Dummy ruffs (it doesn’t matter with what) and South overruffs. Later, when North gets in with the A♥, she’ll lead another Diamond and that ensures that the defense scores 4 trump tricks and 8 tricks overall. That’s +500 for the defense on a hand where they cannot even make game.
3♣ was New Minor Forcing, looking in this case for a 5-3 Spade fit.
Playing in 3NT, North might reasonably lead a Spade through Dummy’s suit (South presumably has at least 5 of them), or she might attack with her own Club suit: - If North leads a Spade: Declarer should suspect a short suit lead so he jumps up with the A♠ and runs the J♥. This gets covered by the Queen and King, and now Declarer has 9 tricks. - If North leads a Club: If it’s a low Club that gives away a 10th trick, otherwise it’s the same 9 as before.
Would you make a Support Double of 2♣ with that West hand? Here are three schools of thought: - One extreme is always to make a Support Double with three in Partner’s suit. - The other extreme is only make a Support Double if you would have raised Partner had RHO passed. - The middle road is usually to make the Support Double, but to pass with some minimum hands with poor distribution.
If E-W were middle-of-the-roaders then West would no doubt decline the Support Double with that miserable hand and square distribution (in fact many would pass that instead of opening 1♣).
Playing in 3NT, North can make 9 tricks by dropping the doubleton Q♦, but a tragic down 4 is also possible! For example, East leads a Club, won by the King. Declarer unblocks the A♠, and leads a Heart to the King and Ace. Back comes a Heart won in Dummy, then the K♠ is cashed and everything rides on the Diamond finesse. When that fails, East is astonished to find himself taking no fewer than 7 tricks (Q♦, two Hearts, 4 Spades)!
West considered that the outside Ace made his hand unsuitable for a preempt, so his plan was to bid 2♥ and then to compete to 3♥ later. But later never came when South bid 3NT in front of him. It was too bad that E-W were not playing Constructive Raises in this situation. Using that method West could have bid 3♦ showing a 4-card raise and 6-9 points. After that intervention we doubt whether N-S would have found their 3NT contract.
Against 3NT, West leads the J♥ and East must jump up with the A♥ and shoot back a Spade to hold Declarer to 10 tricks.
With 18 HCP’s and 4-card support for Partner’s major East might have considered leaping to game, but that would be something of an overbid, wouldn’t you say? Yes, East should downgrade a tad for that dangling Q♠ and we would say that 3♥ is enough here.
Even 3♥ is dangerously high. There are 3 top losers, plus the Q♥ and Q♣ to worry about, and with both Clubs offside it’s even possible for 3♥ to be defeated with the aid of a Club ruff. It all depends on the opening lead. If North leads a trump or a Diamond then trumps are drawn, there is no ruff and it’s an easy 9 tricks. But a black suit lead will ultimately result in the Club ruff for down one.
Yes, South’s Club are somewhat lacking in quality, and there are only 6 of them, but that 6-4 shape adds some extra offensive potential. And, let’s face it, that favorable vulnerability is like a red rag to a bull for energetic preemptors. The 3♣ preempt works like a charm! E-W are frozen out of the auction and end up defending 3♣ (making) when they could have been making their own 3♠ contract.
West saw no reason to introduce those mangy Diamonds and instead made the more descriptive response of 2NT. Against 3NT, the defense that makes Declarer most nervous is a Club attack: Club to Dummy’s Ten Diamond to the Ace Diamond to South’s Jack Club to Declarer’s Ace Diamond to South’s Queen Club to Declarer’s King The two Diamonds are cashed Next Declarer plays on Spades, and thankfully the A♠ is in the hand without the long Clubs. Declarer now has 9 tricks, and probably won’t dare to go for 10 by taking that dangerous Heart finesse.
How did you like that line of play? You are quite right, it wasn’t very good! Sure, it worked fine on the actual hand, but let’s suppose that North had held the A♠. Now, the contract is down one. What’s the solution? Well, if Clubs are 5-3 then the 5 is assumed to be with North, so, when North shows out on the second round of Diamonds, Declarer should play on Spades after winning the second round of Clubs. North wins that with her hypothetical A♠ and can lead a third round of Clubs, but now Declarer reverts to Diamonds and South can win that but is unable to reach Partner’s good Clubs.
E-W were playing DONT, and like many aficionados of that convention West could not resist chirping in with 2♥ (showing Hearts and Spades). West will probably make 9 tricks (though 10 are possible with an inspired Club guess) and might be pretty pleased with himself for jumping into the fray with his 4-4 hand and wresting the contract away from N-S to score +140.
But some contracts are better left unwrested! If West had left things well alone (he does have a balanced hand, after all) his side would have made a bunch of tricks on defense. East leads a Heart and the suit is cashed, with East winning the 4th round. Now East, being a helpful fellow, solves his Partner’s problem by shifting to the Ten of Clubs. Dummy ducks (blocking the suit) and the defense takes 3 Clubs. Now West shifts to a Diamond (necessary, otherwise Declarer can get out for down one by strip-squeezing East), and Declarer is down two for -200. If fact, she’ll probably try to get out for down one by taking the Diamond finesse and that will be an unseemly down three! See also Board 9 for another example of over-zealous DONTing.
West’s untimely intervention with that 4-4 hand got his side a bad board, but suppose that N-S had not been vulnerable, and the West had held his peace. Now down two in 1NT is a good result for N-S and West would have done better to get into the auction. The moral is that it is not only our vulnerability that influences whether or not we should compete, it’s also their vulnerability. In other words, we should be less inclined to butt in against vulnerable opponents, perhaps we can get a good board via a +200.
After a Jacoby Transfer, what are your methods for “super-accepting”, thereby showing 4-card support for Partner’s major. We always like to promote the following method, and here we go again: - With a bad hand we don’t super-accept, we give a simple acceptance - With a medium hand we jump to 3 of Partner’s major - With a good hand we bid 2NT. As usual, “bad”, “medium” and “good” are in the eye of the beholder, it’s not just a matter of “15” or “16” or “17”, it’s necessary also to downgrade the square hands and those which are loaded with quacks. Anyway, we’d say that the East hand qualifies as “good”, 16 fine points, the right distribution, and the only quack is bolstered by an Ace.
Over to the West hand. Is it worthy of a slam try? It’s close, but that hand would look so much better if the ♠QJ and ♦QJ were replaced with a couple of Kings, for example. So, instead, West bids 3♦, which, after a super-accept, is a “re-transfer”. Is there a difference between re-transferring with 3♦ followed by 4♥, and retransferring with 4♦? Some pairs play that the slow sequence is a mild slam try, and if West is an optimistic fellow then that might be the way to go with this hand.
As it happens, the slam is on a finesse, and it’s 11 tricks when the K♠ is offside.
4♥ is an obvious enough contract but it won’t make! Against 4♥, North has a horrible hand from which to lead. She might reason that South has next to no high cards, so perhaps an opening A♣ will give away nothing (and maybe Partner will miraculously get a ruff). Declarer wins the Club continuation and must guess the location of the Q♥. Just about the only clue (and a slender one at that) is that North’s opening lead was somewhat unusual, perhaps she had a reason not to lead a trump. Anyway, if Declarer guesses the trump Queen he escapes for down one, otherwise it will be down two.
North made a DONT Double showing a one-suiter, and with E-W playing “systems on” in this situation, 2♣ was Stayman. Then, East’s 2♠ showed an invitational hand with 4 Spades and West zipped right to game.
On lead against 4♠, can South deduce what is North’s long suit? Almost! The opponents have a 4-4 Spade fit so Partner has 3 of those. Partner also has at least 4 Hearts (E-W have denied a 4-4 fit in that suit), so if Partner’s suit is a minor she must be precisely 3=4=6=0 or 3=4=0=6 (with 4-5 in Hearts and a minor she would probably have shown a two-suiter). So, rather than play Partner for such a specific holding, it seems more likely that Partner has Hearts. That might prompt South to start with the J♥, playing a forcing game. How does Declarer make 4♠ after that Heart lead? Please see the Play Problem.
Against opening preempts it’s most common to play Doubles up to 4♥ as primarily for take-out, and above that for the Double to be value-showing (and quite likely to be passed). South might have doubled here but, opposite a passed Partner, concluded that the hand was more likely to belong to the opponents. So, inspired perhaps by the favorable vulnerability, she bid 4NT. What does that mean? It used to be played as showing a strong 3-suiter, but nowadays the preferred treatment is for it to be a two-suiter, that hand-type is more likely to occur. North’s 5♦ was natural, and presumably North was ready for a 5♥ bid (in case South’s suits were Clubs and Hearts). South, with longer Hearts converted to the higher-scoring major, and East ends this exotic auction with a lead-directing Double. And, while all this was going on, West was sitting there wondering just how useful his hand was in support of Spades … it’s actually very useful, of course, but swap East’s minors around and 5♠ doubled goes for 800.
In 5♥ good defense gets South for 800, as in: Diamond ruffed by East A♠ is cashed Spade ruff (East figures that West would bid 5♠ with Kx support) A♣ is cashed Diamond ruff Now another Spade promotes West’s K♥. We would guess that -800 won’t be such a bad board for N-S. Surely some E-W pairs will be doubled in 4♠ and 5♠, resulting in a smattering of -990 and -850 scores. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: "Trump Promotion”>>
South might well have passed 1♠, but her actual choice of 1NT worked better, pushing West one level too high (and perhaps North should have doubled 2♠!). Just making 7 tricks requires some detective work by Declarer: Club to the Ace Heart to North’s Jack Club ruff Heart to the Ace Club (in case a trump promotion is required), ruffed by the Queen and overruffed K♠ is cashed T♠ to North’s Jack Spade return Now, Declarer plays a low Diamond towards the board, North casually playing low. Can Declarer guess the Diamond situation? He should! By now, South (who passed originally) will have shown up with Q♠, Q♥ and A♣. Surely there is no room in her hand for the A♦, so Dummy’s K♦ wins the tricks and it’s down only one. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: "Counting Points”>>
Against 3♠, South might lead a trump, won by Declarer. Next is a Heart to South’s Ace, and another trump. The 2-2 trump break makes things easy. A Club can be ruffed, a Diamond goes on the K♥, and there are two Diamonds to be lost. Making 9 tricks.
West’s 1NT rebid (a reverse to 2♦ was also an option), opposite a silent Partner, showed 18-19 and eventually after some sparring around, N-S end up in 3♥.
The play in Hearts is most interesting! Club Two to the Ten and Declarer’s Queen Spade Ten to West’s Jack A♥ is cashed K♦ is cashed A♣ is cashed Club to the King, Declarer pitching a Spade Heart to the King Spade ruff Diamond ruff With 4 cards left, and Declarer needing all the tricks, here is the end-position: Declarer ♠ KT ♥ QJ ♦ ♣ West East ♠ Q ♠ A5 ♥ ♥ T ♦ A2 ♦ 8 ♣ T ♣ Dummy ♠ ♥ 9 ♦ J97 ♣ Looking at all 4 hands it’s clear enough that Declarer makes the rest by leading the K♠, squashing West’s Queen. But will that be obvious to Declarer? Here’s what can be deduced: - The A♠ is with East. West has already shown up with J♠, A♥, AK♦, AJ♣, that’s 17 HCP’s. Surely West cannot also have the A♠, that would be too much. - What is the enemy distribution? That’s a bit harder to fathom than the missing high cards. Let’s give West 5 Clubs (perhaps East would have supported with 4, perhaps his opening lead was 3rd best). Did West start out life as 4=1=3=5 or 3=1=4=5? It won’t be obvious! Anyway, full marks if you realized that the A♠ had to be with East, and bad luck if you misguessed the distribution. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: "Counting Points”>> >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: "Counting Distribution”>>
South’s 2NT asked for a feature, 3♦ denied one. It was still possible for North to have the magic hand for slam, all that was needed was the ♦AQ and the Q♣. But without methods for finding that out South subsided in 3NT.
Let’s say that West leads the Q♠, won by Declarer’s Ace. The safe play now is to cash one Diamond in hand, then overtake the second Diamond on the board, ensuring 6 Diamond tricks, even in the face of a 5-0 break. But this is matchpoints and Declarer does better to overtake both Diamonds in the Dummy. This risks utter disaster if East has Diamond void (if West has a Diamond void then Dummy will not overtake the first Diamond). But it does provide Dummy with a second entry with which to tackle Clubs. So the sequence of plays is: Win the A♠ K♦ overtaken by the Ace Club from the board, East jumps up with the Ace Spade to Declarer’s Ace A♥ is cashed Run the Diamonds After the last Diamond is cashed, in the 3-card ending, Declarer has ♥ K and ♣ KJ, and must decide whether to take the finesse, making 12 tricks if the finesse wins, but only 9 if it loses. We cannot see any good reason not to go for the max, and there is one small clue to suggest that the finesse is likely to work … if East had the Ace but not the Queen then perhaps he would have smoothly ducked that first round of Clubs. Note the importance of cashing a Heart before running the Diamonds. That way if the Club finesse loses then at least Declarer is sure of making her contract. Scoring a mere +600 won’t be a great matchpoint result but at least it will beat those pairs who ended up in slam.
By all but the most lax standards South’s Spade suit does not pass the requirements for a second seat Weak Two. But a 6-card major cannot be suppressed forever and eventually N-S get to 2♠.
West leads a Heart to Declarer’s Ace, then a Spade is won by West’s Ace. West leads a Diamond and Declarer (for entry reasons) must spurn the “free finesse” and win this in her hand. Next is a Spade to the Queen and King, and a Spade to Dummy’s Jack. Then a Heart ruff, Diamond finesse, A♦, Heart ruff. Declarer leads towards the K♣ and when the Ace is offside there are 3 Clubs to be lost. Making 8 tricks.
Back to the bidding. E-W might well compete to 3♥ and if they do then North does well to make a somewhat speculative Double. Can East get out for down one and a good board? Maybe! Here’s one route to 8 tricks, and, if it looks somewhat double dummy, then perhaps it is: Spade to Dummy’s Ace J♣ is finessed Low Heart to South’s Ace Spade to the King Spade ruff A♣ is cashed Club to the Queen, ruffed by North Diamond to the King Diamond to the Jack Diamond ruffed by Declarer Club ruffed with the King Now Declarer gets his 8th trick with a Diamond ruff.
E-W will be doing well if they manage to hold Declarer to 9 tricks. The minor suit opening leads don’t look at all attractive which is just as well for the defense because they give Declarer a free run to 10 tricks. The opening lead of a Spade doesn’t look so great, either, because (a) it might well blow a trump trick, and (b) ruffs in Dummy might not be such a threat because East may be able to overruff. So, by a process of elimination, West leads the T♥. The play that follows is most interesting! Imagine that Partner has overbid yet again and put you in the lofty contract of 4♠. Can you make 10 tricks? Please see the Play Problem.
E-W were playing that Drury was still on after the Double, so 2♣ showed Heart support and game-invitational values. Bold 4♠ bid by North! White against Red, with 5-5 distribution and no defense, she was confident that either 4♠ would make or else it would prove to be a good sacrifice against the enemy 4♥. Good thinking! 4♠ has 4 top losers, and 4♥ makes 10 tricks when the Diamond finesse works.
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