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Hand Analyses 1st October, 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 3, Declarer is advised to remeber the auction as he plays the hand. 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.
Does that 5-0 Spade break derail 4♠? North starts out with a Club to the A♣, then the Q♣ is covered by the King and ruffed. North has nothing better to do than return a Diamond, won by Declarer’s Ace. He plays a Spade to the King, getting the news of the 5-0 break, but the contract is cold, anyway. The remaining trumps are drawn, then Declarer plays on Hearts, making 10 tricks. Does North do better not to ruff that Club at Trick Two? No, Declarer wins the K♣, plays 5 rounds of trumps, and can still develop the Hearts for 10 tricks. The way to beat 4♠ is for North to start out with a Diamond, immediately attacking Dummy’s entry to the long Hearts. That’s far from obvious.
What would you bid with the West hand after South overcalls 2♣? You’d get votes for a bold 4♠, a somewhat weird 3♠ preempt, and a more sedate 2♠ (perhaps planning to bid one more time). None of these is ideal, it’s a hand which is halfway between wanting to preempt and wanting to bid constructively. Actually, there is an alternative for those who play Constructive Raises in Competition. Using this method, a jump here to 3♦ would show something in between a preemptive raise and a game-invitational raise. Follow the link!
Anyway, we wouldn’t care to predict what will happen on this hand, but we can say that 4♠ makes no fewer than 11 tricks. How about 5♣? This makes 11 tricks unless West is inspired enough to lead the A♥ and give Partner a ruff.
South, with 10 HCP’s and a total of 10 cards in her two longest suits, was no doubt inspired by the Rule of Twenty when she opened 1♦. Not only does her hand pass the acid test, it also has no wasted values and is replete with intermediates in the long suits. Excellent value for the 1♦ opening, we would say.
East could have cue-bid 2♦ after West’s Double, letting his partner choose the major, but that hardly seemed like a good idea. East has a clear preference for Spades, and would further like to prevent North from leading a Diamond through his KJx, surely it’s better to put South on opening lead.
Against 4♠, South leads the J♣, won in Dummy, and trumps are drawn. At this point South is marked with the K♥, so there is no point in taking the Heart finesse. Better to cash the A♥ and lead a low Heart towards the Jack, catering for the likely possibility that South has the singleton or doubleton King. When that turns out to be the case, one of Declarer’s Diamonds goes on the Hearts and 11 tricks are made. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Remembering the Auction”>>
On the previous board we encountered a 10-count which passed the Rule of Twenty and looked like a pretty decent opening bid. Here, North has a 12-count which fails that same Rule, due to the square distribution. It wouldn’t be terrible to pass that North hand, but in its favor it does have two Aces and a King, and a couple of useful-looking Tens. We could go either way on this one. Over to South, holding that lovely 19-count opposite a 12-14 Partner. Good enough for slam? We’d rate it borderline between insisting on slam and inviting to slam, and our South in the above auction decided that it was worth insisting on slam. But she went via Gerber just in case her side was missing two Aces. Here is a set of modified Gerber responses that is worth consideration: 4♦ 1 or 4 Aces 4♥ 0 or 3 Aces 4♠ 2 Aces with a minimum 4NT 2 Aces with a maximum As can be seen, these responses are influenced by the 1430 responses to Roman Key Card, and, if in use in the featured auction, would allow North to show 2 Aces and also warn Partner of a rotten hand.
The combination of the marginal opening bid and some optimism from South have landed North in a shaky slam. There are only 10 top tricks and there is some finessing to be done to get up to 12. It turns out to be a very lucky hand, with no fewer than 4 Hearts tricks available. That alone brings home 12 tricks and Declarer can get to 13 if she guesses to take the Club finesse in preference to the Spade finesse (East might save Declarer that guess by starting out with a Spade).
East cannot pass that 2♣ bid. West’s 2♣ (as on the actual hand) might well contain enough extras to make game opposite a good 9-count such as East’s. Should East bid 2NT? With all the values in the unbid suits, that would be descriptive, but it’s also quite an overbid. So, East gives a “false preference” to 2♠, and West tries for game with 3♣. Now 3NT is an easy choice.
After South’s opening Heart lead, Declarer needs some luck in Spades or Diamonds. Declarer wins the K♥, is delighted to be able to run the Diamonds, getting him up to 9 tricks in a hurry.
West might well have passed 1♠, but if he must dredge up a response he does best to start with 1NT, and then, when Opener rebids 2♥, West gives a preference to 2♠. This weak sequence by West is designed to prevent East from getting overly excited, but also to keep the auction alive in case East has a super-duper hand. The alternative of raising Partner directly to 2♠ might well provoke East into a game try, getting the partnership to a highly perilous 3♠ contract.
In the only-slightly-perilous contract of 2♠, South will lead a minor suit, let’s say she leads the more aggressive Diamond (better for the defense, as it happens). Declarer ruffs the third round of Diamonds, and must now play on trumps. Obviously, Declarer will want to finesse against the Jack and the percentage play is to lead to Queen and finesse coming back. Why is this preferable to a first-round finesse against South’s hoped-for Jack? Simply because it caters for the singleton Jack in both hands, not just in the South hand. The singleton Jack turns out not to be a factor, but at least Declarer is persuaded by the odds to guess the Spades correctly. For once, virtue is rewarded and the Spades are picked up for one loser. Now 8 tricks are assured, can Declarer also guess the Clubs and make 9 tricks? It won’t be a sure thing, but Declarer might conclude that South, who has shown up with the A♠ and K♦, and also with just a doubleton Spade, may not have the A♣ also, that might be a hand that would have made a White vs Red Takeout Double. It’s a slender inference, to be sure, but the only one that Declarer has. The slender inference works on the actual deal and Declarer ekes out 9 tricks.
North knew that her side had a 9-card fit, but her modest collection of Queens and Jacks was not quite enough to compete to the 3-level, at least not vulnerable. In fact, 3♥ is going down one, and, after West’s strong bidding, East might well try a sporting double along the way.
In 2NT the play is most interesting. Here is one line where the defense lets Declarer escape with 9 tricks: Heart lead to the Queen and South’s Ace Heart to Declarer’s Queen (the suit is now blocked!) The K♣ is ducked The J♣ is ducked Now, let’s say that Declarer cleverly reads the suit as being 4-2 (perhaps North gave an ill-advised count signal). That being the case, he cannot persist with Clubs, that would allow North to pitch her blocking Heart on the trick, allowing South to win the A♣ and rattle off the Hearts. So, Declarer changes tack, playing A♦, K♦ and out a Diamond. North wins the Diamond, cashes her good Heart, and exits a Spade (that’s all that she has left). Declarer wins, cashes his good Diamonds, and reverts to Spades, scoring 9 tricks in all. Poor South never did score her A♣, nor the long Hearts.
Of course, the defense can do better than that! South must duck the first Heart! Having done that, she must also duck the first two Clubs as before. Now, when North gets in with her J♦, she crosses to Partner’s A♥, dumps her blocking Heart on the A♣, and watches gleefully as South cashes 4 more Hearts. Down two! >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Defensive Blocking & Unblocking”>>
For those who don’t play Bergen Raises, East has an easy 2♠ bid after which West might dredge up a game try, one which East will decline.
But suppose that E-W are playing Bergen. Now, there are no fewer than three reasonable bids from which to choose: - 3♠: A preemptive 4-card raise, typically played as 0-6 HCP’s. East’s hand fits into this general range, but it’s not exactly ideal, with two outside cards and weak trumps. - 3♣: A constructive 4-card raise, 7-9 HCP’s. East might choose to upgrade his hand, based on the outside cards, in which case West will make a game try, and East will sign off in 3♠. - 2♠: As neither of the 4-card raises feel quite right, East might bid 2♠, ostensibly a 3-card raise. This lies about the number of trumps but is a reasonable choice considering that neither of the alternatives are ideal.
Anyway, whatever East does, it looks as if E-W will manage to avoid going beyond their last making spot of 3♠.
Does this auction look a little strange? Not if you play Lebensohl after Partner has doubled their Weak Two. 2NT was a relay to 3♣, after which East will either pass (weak hand in Clubs) or else bid 3♦ or 3♥ (also weak bids). “Weak” here is less than game-invitational strength, so East’s hand is at the top end of the weak range. Despite the warning that East had a poor hand, West tried game anyway, and not unreasonably, ♦Qxx and not much else would have been enough for game.
Against 3NT, North leads a low Spade, won by Declarer’s King. There are 8 top tricks and Declarer will start by playing Clubs, hoping that a 3-3 break will give him the 9th. North shows out on the second round and does best to pitch a Diamond. Now, Declarer might choose to take the Heart finesse, ending up down two. But suppose that North pitches a Heart on the second round of Clubs. That rather gives the game away, doesn’t it? North surely did not start with Qxxx for that play, so Declarer just takes her 8 tricks and goes down only one trick.
Against 3NT, East will not be leading Spades, of course, and will probably start with a low Heart. Declarer ducks the first Heart, wins the second on the board and starts playing Diamonds (the Clubs can wait). West wins and returns a Heart which is won by Declarer. Before deciding how to play the Clubs, let’s look at what has happened in Hearts. Here is the play to the three rounds (the leader of each trick is in bold): South West North East 6 T 2 5 A 3 4 7 Pitch 8 K Q Who has the J♥? Probably West, that return of the Three on the second round was the giveaway, he would be unlikely to make that play if his remaining holding was 83, it’s more normal in that situation to play the 8 and let Partner know that West started with 3 cards in the suit. OK, so West has the defense’s Heart winner, how should Declare play the hand? Obviously, there’s no reason not to play the Clubs normally, keeping the danger hand (West) off play and praying that if the Club finesse loses then West also has the A♠. That’s the way it is, and it’s 9 tricks.
West leads a Spade, of course, and the standard card from that holding is the Ten. East must overtake with the Queen (to prevent Declarer from winning a cheap trick) and Declarer wins the Ace. Now Declarer crosses to Dummy with a Heart and loses the Club finesse. How should West continue? He’ll know that Declarer has the J♠ and that she has denied 4 Spades. Did she start with ♠AJ or ♠AJx? In the first case, West will want to cash those Spades immediately in case Opener started with hands such as ♠ AJ, ♥ Qxx, ♦ Axx, ♣ AQxxx, or ♠ AJ, ♥ Qxx, ♦ Axx, ♣ AQxxx. In the second case, Declarer will not want to give Declarer a second Spade trick, that might be her 9th or maybe a disastrous (for the defense) overtrick. There are no sure things on this one, and East won’t have had the opportunity to provide any clear and meaningful signals. But it does seem to us that, after winning the K♣, a Diamond shift has more ways to win than a Spade continuation. It will almost always be right if Declarer started with ♠ AJx, or if Partner has the A♦, and most of the time when Partner has the Q♥. On the actual deal, either a Spade continuation or a Diamond shift will beat 3NT, but the Diamond shift beats it two. Congratulations to those patient Wests who shifted! >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Going Passive”>>
A more optimistic South might have invited game with that hand, and an especially optimistic North might even have accepted. Game is actually not a terrible proposition so perhaps we are overstating the extent of the aforementioned optimism. If the trump suit is 2-2, then there are 6 trump tricks, a Club and a Club ruff and the A♦. That’s 9 tricks and 10 are made if either the A♥ or the Q♥ is with West. The combined percentage of the Spade and Hearts behaving is about 30%, can the odds be improved by also catering for some of the 3-1 breaks? Actually, yes, and what we have done is to create a Play Problem with the E-W hands suitably modified in order to provide a worthy test for your card-playing skills.
West might well scramble 8 tricks in that 2♠ contract. For example: Heart lead to the Ace Low Diamond won by North’s King A♠ is cashed Spade to Dummy’s King (stopping the ruff in Dummy) Cross to the K♥ Cash Spade ten Cross to the Q♦ Now a Club is led and there is no wrong guess for Declarer. He ends up with 3 trump tricks, 2 Hearts, 2 Diamonds, and a Club. But it wasn’t great defense by North, was it? When she wins the K♦ she does better to shift to a low Spade … playing the A♠ only succeeded in compressing the N-S natural trump tricks from three to two. So here is Take Two: Heart to the Ace Low Diamond won by North’s King Low Spade won by the King (we’ll let Declarer guess correctly!) Q♦ is cashed Heart to the King Diamond ruff Club won by South’s Ace Diamond ruff Heart ruff The defense still has two natural trump tricks to come and that is down one.
Playing Michaels, would you bid 2♥ over 1♥, showing a two-suited hand in Spades and a minor? Surely it’s not a good idea when that major suit is both longer and stronger than the minor. So, South overcalls 1♠, and North makes a preemptive raise to 3♠. Isn’t that rather strong for a preemptive raise? It may be relatively strong in terms of HCP’s, but there is not much defense in this hand … the K♥ is likely under the Ace, the Diamond suit is suited to offense, not defense … and the K♠ will be worthless of offense unless the opponents are 2-2 in Spades (not very likely). So, though 3♠ is not guaranteed to succeed (what bid is?), it looks like the best guess to us.
Playing in 4♠, let’s suppose that West leads a Heart won by East’s Queen. East plays a second Heart which Declarer ruffs with the Ace(!). Best play now is to set up the Diamonds (that’s why Declarer ruffed the Heart high, she wants to make sure that all 4 of Dummy’s trumps can be used as entries to the board). So, Declarer loses a Diamond, and East wins that trick and returns a trump. Declarer plays the Queen and overtakes with the King! Then a Diamond ruff (high, just for the heck of it!), and a trump to Dummy’s Nine. Nice play by Declarer, now she has sufficient entries to the board, even if the suit is 4-2. It’s something of an anti-climax that Diamonds were 3-3 all the time, allowing less ostentatious lines of play to succeed.
Surely, most tables will surely play in 2♠ and the defense is not difficult to predict: Heart to the King, then the A♥ is cashed, then a low Heart (suit preference for Clubs) ruffed by South. At this point, South will know that North has the A♣ (and surely not the A♦), and even though she knows she’ll be unable to overruff Declarer she might as well lead a Club anyway, if nothing else it will make Partner feel good that someone was actually paying attention to her signals.
Suit Preference Note Actually, North had another way to give suit preference on this hand. On the opening lead, North could have won the first trick with the Ace, and then played the King. As this is playing the honors out of order, the play of the high one first indicates interest in the high suit (Diamonds). But playing the lower K♥ first does not necessarily indicate interest in the lower suit, that K♥ is simply the normal play and not necessarily suit preference. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Suit Preference”>>
South’s raise to 3♠ was furthering the preempt, and that was enough to shut out E-W from further action. Against 3♠, the defense has five easy tricks, provided that East does not lay down the A♣ on his opening lead. Of course, E-W can make 5♣ thanks to the onside K♣, but if that K♣ were to be offside then 5♣ is down two, for the dreaded -200.
West decided to rebid a slightly off-shape 2NT instead of a slightly heavy 3♦ and ended up in the practical contract of 3NT. North will lead something black: - If North leads a Spade, Declarer will have a choice to make. Claim 10 top tricks or else takes the Club finesse, making 11 tricks when it works (as on the actual hand), but only 9 tricks when it doesn’t. You choose on that one. - If North leads a Club, there is a different choice to be made. Should Declarer play the Queen, making sure of 11 tricks? Or should he play low, just on the off-chance that North has the Ten and South the doubleton King. Although this is the winner on the actual hand (making a whopping 12 tricks), it’s a real long shot and will result in only 10 tricks if North has the King and South the Ten. Better to take the certain 11 tricks by playing the Queen from Dummy.
After this auction, it seems like the most natural thing in the world for South to lead the J♠, but alas for the defense it allows 12 tricks to be made. Dummy’s Club loser is immediately disposed of on the 3rd round of Spades, the A♦ is unblocked, then the T♥ is finessed, and the only loser is the A♥.
Those E-W pairs who play “Walsh-style” will bypass the 6-card Diamond suit in favor of responding 1♥, and the auction will be: 1♣ 1♥, 3♥ 4♥. In this auction, less information has been given to the opponents (one of the benefits of Walsh), and the hand is played from the other side. With North now on lead, we’d expect a Spade or a Diamond lead, and the same 12 tricks will result.
South might been more adventurous and opened 1♣. It’s a tad short on the “Rule of Twenty” basis, but it is a lovely suit and the vulnerability is favorable. If South does open 1♣, her side will probably end up in 4♥, a dubious contract which goes down on normal play.
In the actual auction, South had a choice of cue-bids at her second turn and a common treatment is for both cue-bids to show a good hand with support for Partner, the difference being that the cheaper 2♦ cue-bid shows 3-card support and the more expensive 2♠ cue-bid shows 4-card support.
Finally, how about West’s 3♠ bid? He has a minimum opening bid (at least in HCP’s) and his side is vulnerable, those are two reasons for caution. On the other hand, all the HCP’s appear to be working, there is the singleton in the enemy suit and, most important of all, West has an extra trump, and knows that his side has a 9-card fit. 3♠ looks reasonable enough, though once in a while it might get punished.
It turns out that 3♠ can be defeated, but it’s unlikely that it will be. The winning defense is the A♣ opening lead, then the Q♣ covered by the King and ruffed. Now South still has a Heart entry and it’s 5 tricks for the defense. More likely, though, South will lay down the A♥ on which North can give suit preference (standard treatment when Dummy goes down with a singleton in the suit of the opening lead). She’ll probably play a high Heart saying “I have the A♦”, in case it is South with the Diamond singleton. But as South does not, she’ll do best to play the A♣ and then the Q♣ which is covered and ruffed. North shifts to a Spade, won in Dummy, then the K♦ knocks out the Ace. Eventually the Club loser goes away and the rest of the hand is cross-ruffed. 9 tricks!
Some N-S pairs will play in Hearts, no doubt, and that is the subject of a Play Problem.
Against 3NT, South leads his highest Diamond (“top of nothing”). North plays the Ace, and returns the Jack to East’s King. Next comes the Club finesse, and it’s no comfort to Declarer when this wins, as North might well be ducking. Nonetheless, Declarer returns to hand with a Heart and repeats the Club finesse. When this wins and the suit is 3-3, Dummy’s Clubs are cashed, and then the K♠ is played. North wins and with Dummy cut off Declarer is held to 9 tricks. Declarer could have done a trick better, do you see how? Yes, after the first Club finesse he could have played the K♠, setting up a Spade trick while Dummy still had a Club entry.
West’s 2♦ was Michaels, in this case showing the majors. Some partnerships don’t use Michaels with that kind of middling hand, they prefer their Michaels bids to be weak or strong (with the middling hands they bid the suits naturally). Anyway, North has nothing to say over 2♦, and East preempts to 3♥. That may seem a bit much with such a miserable hand, but favorable vulnerability is a good excuse for all sorts of excesses.
What should South do over 3♥? 3NT might be a fine place if Partner has the Hearts stopped. Would 3♠ here be showing something in Spades or would it say “I have something in Hearts, do you have Spades stopped?” Normally, when we cue-bid their suit we are asking for the suit, but here the enemy has bid two suits, one more strongly than the other. So, logic suggests that bidding 3NT over 3♥ says “I have the Hearts, I may have the Spades also”, and 3♠ says “I have the Spades, not the Hearts”.
Against 3NT, East obediently leads a Spade won by West. The Q♥ shift is won by Declarer, and another Spade is lost to West. Now, the best that West can do is exit with a Spade and wait for his K♣ in the end-game. Declarer is unable to score a second Heart trick but she has 10 tricks anyway.
Would East have done better to start with a Heart on opening lead? No, the play goes: Heart to Declarer’s Ace Cash A♦ and K♦ Lose a Spade to West’s King Win the Heart return (pitching a Spade from Dummy) Cash the remaining Diamonds In the 3-card ending, West must hang on to both his Clubs and a high Spade. If Declarer reads the situation correctly (which she should) she can throw in West with a Spade and take the last two Clubs. 10 tricks once again. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Throw-In Squeezes”>>
After 2♣, East decided that his hand was worth a good (at least game-invitational) raise in Spades. The normal way of showing that in a competitive auction is to cue-bid the enemy suit. However, here, East has two cue-bids available (as did South back on Board 19), in which case a common treatment is: - The cheaper cue-bid (2♦ here) shows a 3-card raise - The expensive cue-bid (3♣) shows a 4-card raise. So, East’s 2♦ shows values and 3-card support, and by the time the bidding got back to him he was liking his hand a lot! 4♥ served two purposes … lead-directional if West was on lead against a Diamond contract … and informative in case West wanted to push on to the 5-level.
Because of the unfortunate Diamonds and the ugly 5-0 trump break, 5♣ doubled is down three (and 5♦ would be down two), but that is still a good sacrifice against the E-W Spade game.
The play in 4♠ is fascinating, and good play brings in 11 tricks: A♣ is cashed (South must pitch a Diamond) Diamond to the Queen and Ace Diamond ruff J♠ is run around Club ruff (again South must pitch a Diamond) Diamond ruff Club ruff (now South can afford a Heart, or else she pitches her last Diamond) A♥ and K♥ are cashed Another Club ruff Now, South exits with a Heart which South must ruff (she has nothing but trumps left). At Trick 12, South is end-played in trumps!
North does not have an opening bid by any of the standard measures, but it’s close enough for third seat, especially considering the fine Spades. West’s Double was Responsive showing the unbid suits, and South’s final Double was somewhat speculative. However, good defense justifies the aggressive South bidding. South leads the T♠ to North’s Ace, and a Club shift is now essential. Declarer might duck the first Club, but to no avail. Clubs are continued, won by Dummy’s Ace, the Heart finesse loses to the King, and South gets out safely with a Spade. Now, the A♥ drops the Queen, the last trump is drawn, and Declarer plays the J♦. South alertly wins the A♦, gets out again with a Spade, and Declarer is stuck in his hand with a Club still to lose. Nicely done by N-S, that’s +200!
Despite her 14 HCP’s, South had no convenient bid over 1♠, and (considering what would follow) she no doubt wishes that she had also had no convenient bid over 2♦. But her Takeout Double was quite reasonable, with 4 cards in each of the unbid suits, though disastrous on the actual deal. North turns out to have a useless hand and there are only 7-card fits available for N-S. The final result is likely to be down three. Yikes!
Does that 1♥ bid look a little strange? Well, South’s main fear in this situation is that the hand will get passed out (as it happens, it won’t). In that case the odds suggest that it will be N-S who will have missed the boat, as South’s majors suggest that her side will have the advantage in a part-score battle. So, to avoid the pass-out, South tries 1♥, not liking 1♦ which might get North off to a terrible opening lead. Over to North, who might have raised Hearts (perhaps via Drury) but decided that three small trumps and a square hand had that No Trump look about it.
Let’s skip the play, neither side has a fit, and according to Deep Finesse, N-S can make 7 tricks in Hearts while E-W have 8 in Clubs.
Once West has bid 1♠, East has enough for game, and has no fewer than 4 ways of proceeding: - Raise to 4♠: This bid is normally reserved for balanced 18-19 hands, so not really appropriate in this case. - Fake Reverse to 2♥: The plan here would be to raise to 4♠ later, typically showing 4=4=4=1 or 4=3=5=1. Why not splinter with such a hand? The normal style is for the reverse then the raise to game to show a stronger hand. Well, this hand is not that good, so no fake reverse this time. - Jump to 4♦: This is generally played as showing a good 6-card suit (some would say solid), 4-card Spade support and game values. - 4♣ Splinter: Shortness-showing with game-going Spade support.
According to the above descriptions, East has a 4♣ splinter which does not excite West very much at all. More than half of his points are opposite Partner’s short suit, he has almost no help for Partner’s first suit, and he has no 5th trump. All in all, it seems that West should tamely bid 4♠.
How good is the slam? There are 10 top tricks, and the shortfall can be made up with two ruffs in one hand or the other, or, failing that, a Club finesse and just one ruff. So not a bad slam, all in all. If the defense plays Hearts, Declarer takes two Heart ruffs and does not need the Club finesse. But supposing North finds the fiendish lead of a Diamond (we cannot think why she would). Now Declarer will fear a Diamond ruff and will be afraid to knock out the Heart before drawing trumps … and he does not have the entries and the trump spots to organize two Club ruffs. So, after that Diamond lead, he may just draw trumps and try for the 12th with the losing Club finesse. Down one!
Now, if you would like to check out an extraordinary coincidence, please go to Board 29.
With the A♠ onside and the Clubs 3-3, Declarer can count 10 potential tricks, but the entry situation means that 8 tricks are more likely. Let’s say that East starts out with a low Club (top-of-nothing leads are usually made only with 9xx and weaker holdings). West ducks this and Declarer’s Nine wins. Declarer plays a Club to the Queen and again West ducks. Now a Diamond to the King and the A♣ is knocked out. West must now shift to a Heart, attacking Dummy’s entry, and now the best that Declarer can do is 8 tricks (a Spade, a Heart, just 2 Diamonds and 4 Clubs).
Good defense holds 1NT to 7 tricks. West leads a Diamond won by Declarer, and now Declarer plays on Spades. Provided that (a) the defense ducks the first or second round of Spades, and (b) they attack Clubs at every opportunity, then Declarer will lose two Spades, two Clubs and 2 Hearts.
North might well rebid 2♠ instead of 1NT. This turns out rather well when there are 8 easy (and rather lucky) tricks. We predict that 2♠ making 8 tricks will be a middling score, as quite a few N-S pairs will not receive the good defense needed to hold 1NT to 7 tricks.
Look at the similarities between the E-W hands on Board 26 and these N-S hands! In both cases, one hand is very strong with 4=3=5=1 shape, and with solid Diamonds. And it both cases the other hands has moderate values and 4=1=4=4 shape. Quite remarkable! So, as on Board 26, Opener has some interesting choices for his second bid. We repeat them here: - Raise to 4♠: This bid is normally reserved for balanced 18-19 hands, so not really appropriate in this case. - Fake Reverse to 2♥: The plan here would be to raise to 4♠ later, typically showing 4=4=4=1 or 4=3=5=1. Why not splinter with such a hand? The normal style is for the reverse then the raise to game is a stronger hand. - Jump to 4♦: This is generally played as showing a good 6-card suit (some would say solid), 4-card Spade support and game values. - 4♣ Splinter: Shortness-showing with game-going Spade support.
We would say that this time Opener is worth a fake reverse followed by a raise to 4♠, and that is enough for North to launch into Roman Key Card (1430 responses in the auction above). 6♠ is a fine contract, making 7 when the Spade finesse works. Actually 6♦ is a better contract (it’s less susceptible to a ruff if the Spade finesse loses) but no self-respecting matchpoint player will want to play in that contract!
Footnote 1 Don’t try one of those fake reverses with a Partner who might pass that bid! It has been known, and there’s nothing more frustrating than playing in a 3-3 Heart part-score, making an overtrick or two, when a slam in the 4-4 or 5-4 fit is absolutely cold.
Footnote 2 There was a slight editorial disagreement on this one. Editor A took the aforementioned actions with mixed success (he missed the slam on Board 26). Editor B thought that 4♦ was appropriate on both hands, notwithstanding the absence of a 6th Diamond, reasoning that showing solid Diamonds was more descriptive than showing Club shortness. You be the judge, but let it not go unnoticed that a 4♦ rebid would get to slam on both of Boards 26 and 29!
At his second turn, West was reluctant to bid 3NT with that dubious Spade holding, so he bid where his values were with 3♦, leaving it up to East to bid 3NT. The play is most straightforward. North leads a Spade, Declarer holds up Dummy’s Ace until the third round, and knocks out the A♦. South wins this but is out of Spades, so she gets out safely with a Diamond. However, Declarer has only 9 tricks only, with no sensible way of developing a 10th. There is a non-sensible way, though, which is to take a “backward finesse” in Hearts (lead the Jack and run it, or if the Jack is covered then win the King and finesse the Nine on the way back).
At this vulnerability South does best to avoid a 2♥ opening with that minimum, shapeless hand and moderate suit. If South does indulge herself, she will probably play it there, and will probably scrape up 8 tricks (down one is also a distinct possibility). Other less bold Souths will likely find themselves on lead against 2♠, perhaps after the auction above. South leads Partner’s Diamond suit and good defense might set this no fewer than 3 tricks: T♦ covered by the Jack and King T♥ shift won by the Ace Spade to the Ten and Jack Diamond to the Ten, ruffed by Declarer J♣ finesse loses to the King Diamond ruffed by Declarer Club is cashed Club is ruffed by North A♠ is cashed Now North cashes Diamond winners and Declarer can take his solitary remaining trump whenever he likes, but that is all he gets. Down three!
Against 2♦, East leads a Club which Declarer wins in her hand with her Jack. Declarer does not have the entries to Dummy to take Diamond finesses, so let’s say that she plays A♦ and out a Diamond. Declarer’s plan is to lose two trumps, the A♠ and A♥, with his second Heart loser going on the 4th Club. A simple enough plan for 9 tricks, but as Declarer waits for East’s return, it might suddenly occur to her that she has misplayed this hand! If East is smart enough to return the Q♣ (!), Declarer will have to win Dummy’s Ace (Declarer unblocks the Ten), after which she must lose the lead in a major suit in order to get back to her hand to extract the last trump. If East wins that he might be able to give West a Club ruff, cutting off Dummy’s last Club winner. On the actual hand, Declarer is lucky that West started with only two Diamonds, but she could have avoided that risk by playing the Queen on the first round of trumps. Now, that Q♣ shift holds no terrors, Declarer can get back to hand with a Diamond and make 9 tricks the safe way.
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