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Hand Analyses 7th January, 2009
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 1, Declarer has a rather elegant throw-in play. Adjacent to the text for that hand you will see the link >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Throw-Ins”>> which will transport you to the collection of hands with the same theme.
N-S did well to play this one in Spades rather than No Trump, and would have done even better if they had reached the very lucky game (in No Trump or in Spades).
Playing in Spades, here is one route to 10 tricks: West leads a Diamond, won by Dummy’s Ace (fearing a singleton lead) Spade finesse Q♣, A♣ and ruff a Club Spade finesse Cash A♠ Cash K♣ Declarer has won the first 8 tricks (with a good trump still to come) and has reached this position: Dummy ♠ ♥ QT5 ♦ 54 ♣ West East ♠ ♠ ♥ AJ76 ♥ K9 ♦ 5 ♦ KJ8 ♣ ♣ Declarer ♠ 2 ♥ 8 ♦ Q97 ♣ The ♥10 is finessed, losing to the King. Now, if East returns a Diamond, the ♦Q is the 10th trick … and if he returns a Heart, Declarer pitches a Diamond and West is end-played after winning the ♥A. +170!
A difficult hand for East! After West has overcalled 2♦, East can hardly pass with 10 HCP, but, on the other hand, there’s no ideal forward-going bid. Certainly not 2NT without a Heart stopper, so the possibilities are: - 3♣? That’s where East lives, but after that bid things might get out of hand. - 3♦? We’d prefer better Diamonds for this. Also, this is a bid that could be made on fewer high cards, let’s say 7 or 8 HCP and 4-card support. - 2♥? This also shows Diamond support, with 10 or 11 points. So, let’s say 2♥ here, notwithstanding the skimpy support.
On to South. Was her Double a waste of time? Probably! The only reason for making this bid would be to encourage Partner to compete to 3♥, and that looks like a highly dangerous suggestion, looking at the vulnerability and all of South’s losers. That Double’s a bid that would make more sense if the singleton ♣K were put somewhere useful.
The bottom line on the hand is that East would have done better to make a craven Pass after West’s 2♦ (not that we think he should). Declarer must lose three Hearts, a Diamond and a Spade, and he must drop the singleton ♣K to make his contract. Will he know enough to do so? No, by the time the moment of truth arrives, South will have shown up with ♥AKQ and ♦Q, and that’s enough for many to bid the way South did.
Needless to say, North has her sights set on slam as soon as South opens, and it’s merely a question of which one. South’s raise to 2♥ could have been made on a 3-card suit, so North wheels out a gadget.
Gadget Number 1: By partnership agreement, 2NT asked South to describe her hand further and the responses are: - 3♣ is 3-card support and a minimum hand - 3♦ is 3-card support and a maximum hand - 3♥ is 4-card support and minimum hand - 3♠ is 4-card support and a maximum hand. Some players call this “that minmax thing”, perhaps it has a real name. Anyway, in this scheme of things, South’s response is obviously 3♥.
Now North tries Roman Key Card and hears “two with”. That accounts for 10 of the HCP in South’s minimum hand and North boldly bids the grand slam, hoping that South has the ♣Q (or that the Club finesse would work). Luckily, South does indeed have the ♣Q, and, also luckily, South did not have the fatal mirror distribution of 2=4=3=4.
Gadget Number 2: This second gadget was not used in the above auction, it’s the “Specific Suit Ask”, which works as follows: - After the initial response to Roman Key Card, a bid of a side-suit asks for Partner’s holding in that suit (not counting the Ace, as that has already been taken care of). - The simple version of the responses is: Return to trump suit denies a 3rd round control (xxx or Axx) 1st step is a 3rd round control (xx, Qxx, Qx, Ax or AQx) 2nd step is a 2nd round control (AK or Kx or a singleton) The 1st and 2nd steps are actually the cheapest steps excluding the trump suit. So, using this gadget in the above auction (after 5♠) North would bid 6♣ (hopefully South won’t think this is to play) and South would respond 6♦, showing a 3rd round control (clearly the Queen in light of the earlier bidding). Now North can bid the grand slam with confidence (well, almost, there is still that mirror distribution to worry about). This gadget won’t come up often, and if you really must use it then handle with care!
An uncomfortable 2/1 auction. After East’s Forcing 1NT, West might have wished he were playing Flannery. In the circumstances, his rebid of 2♥ seems reasonable enough. True, it’s not the promised six cards, but it is a very good suit, and, to us at least, seems less unappetizing than rebidding a two-card minor. After 2♥, East might well have passed (the winning call!), but no doubt liked his Club fillers enough to try for game. He could have made that try with 2NT or 3♥ and either of those bids is likely to get E-W to 3NT, played from the East side.
Against 3NT, South leads a Spade, which Declarer wins with the King (if he ducks he might get a nasty Diamond shift). Now the Heart finesse loses and it’s all over, the best that Declarer can manage is 8 tricks. Playing in a cozy contract of 2♥ would have been much more fun, that makes 8 tricks, maybe 9.
Some might-haves in this auction: - North might have opened 2♣, after all it is a 3-loser hand. The main trouble with that is that a 4-4 Spade fit might get lost. - After 1♥, East might have overcalled 1♠ (or 2♠!) considering the vulnerability and his strong preference for a Spade lead. - After South’s Forcing 1NT, West might have preempted 3♣, the presumed excuse for this being the favorable vulnerability. But even that wouldn’t help West here and the result would be a mirthful +800 for N-S. - North might have rebid 3♦, but went the cheap route with 2♠, even though her Partner had denied 4 Spades.
On lead against 3NT, West must avoid the disastrous opening lead of a low Club. That’s 10 easy tricks for Declarer when the red suits behave. The way to test Declarer’s mettle is for West to start out passively with a Heart. Dummy’s Hearts are cashed and now Dummy exits with a Spade. Which one? Look what happens if Declarer plays a low Spade from Dummy to her Nine and West’s Jack. Now West cashes the ♣A and Dummy is squeezed! A Spade cannot be spared (then East’s suit would run), so a Diamond must be shed. Next, West plays a Spade through and 8 tricks are the limit for Declarer. Yes, after cashing those Hearts, Declarer can do better. There’s a spectacular play coming up in this end-position: Dummy ♠ KT72 ♥ ♦ AKJ2 ♣ West East ♠ J5 ♠ AQ864 ♥ ♥ ♦ Q74 ♦ T9 ♣ AT7 ♣ 8 Declarer ♠ 93 ♥ ♦ 65 ♣ KQJ9 That’s right, Dummy makes the stunning exit of the ♠K, blocking the suit! East wins the Ace, exits with a Club and now Dummy can afford to pitch a Spade. West plays the ♠J which East must overtake. But that only prolongs the agony, as Dummy wins the third round of Spades, cashes ♦AK and throws in West with a Diamond. It’s Trick 13 and West is stuck with a Club which provides Declarer’s 9th trick. Hands up all those who found this line of play! It’s double dummy, but maybe just within in the realms of possibility if East overcalls 1♠. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Blocking & Unblocking Plays”>>
North decided she was too good for a preemptive 4♥ so decided to show a limit raise or better. As there was a choice of two cue-bids available, it’s usual to play that the cheaper 2♦ cue-bid shows 3-card support and that the more expensive 2♠ cue-bid shows 4+ trump support. Anyway, the par result is eventually reached. 4♠ makes 10 tricks, and 5♥ is a profitable sacrifice at -300. But there is a wrinkle to the play in 4♠, please see the Play Problem.
Here’s what this long-winded auction means! - 2♦: Waiting - 2NT: If N-S are playing 3♣ as a “second negative” then 2NT must be used to show some values. There’s no rush to support Hearts with honor doubleton, that can be done later. - 3♠: Natural - 4♣: This has to be a cue-bid in support of Spades. Responder cannot start introducing new suits at the 4-level expecting them to be a possible place to play. - 5♦: No Key Cards - 5NT: Specific King Ask.
That leaves us with the final bid, and a very big bid it is! Is North justified in leaping to 7♠? We think it’s a reasonable shot, the logic being: - South’s 5NT did not merely ask for Kings, it also announced that N-S had all the Key Cards. And the ♠Q, too, without that card surely South would have tried a Queen Ask of 5♥. - There was not much point in showing the ♣K, the earlier 4♣ has already laid claim to that card. - If Partner had wanted to know about the ♥K she could have made an earlier cue-bid of 4♦. That would have given North a chance to show the ♥K before South launched into Roman Key Card. So, if N-S are on the same wavelength then we’d say that 7♠ is a reasonable bid. How good is the grand slam? Trumps must probably break 3-2 (though one or two of the 4-1 breaks might be manageable). That, plus nothing disastrous in Hearts or Clubs, should be enough. Better than 50% but not by a huge amount (but so much better if South had the decency to hold the ♠J).
Kokish Note: Those (dare we suggest “enlightened”?) pairs who play Kokish will have a slightly different auction: 2♣ 2♦, 2♥ 2♠, 3♠ 4♣, etc. 2♥ is a two-way bid, showing a big balanced hand or just plain old Hearts. 2♠ asked which it was, and 3♠ said “Hearts, and also Spades, as it happens”. After that, the auction is essentially the same as before.
Like many preemptive bids, East’s 4♣ was wrong in theory but right in practice. Wrong in theory because, if doubled, it goes for -500 which is more than the N-S game. But right in practice because it pushes N-S into the inferior game of 4♥. Not that 4♥ doesn’t make, but the place to be is 3NT, making 11 tricks.
If East is asleep at the switch and passes 3♣, then South will bid just 3♥, and now North has an obvious 3NT call (and also an obvious Double if East belatedly tries 4♣). Preempting works!
After South’s first Double, North was planning to make a Penalty Pass, hoping that her Heart length and South’s high-card strength would be enough to set 1♥ and get the magic +200. Spot on, 1♥ doubled is indeed down one! But West gets in the way with his 1♠ bid, after which North gets a chance to double 2♥ instead! Even better, that will be +500 for N-S. East knows a doomed contract when he sees it and bails out to 2♠. But, it’s out of the frying pan into the fire, that one has 800 written all over it!
South made a good Double of 2♠. She has a moderate trump holding, but she had some extras and concluded that E-W were likely in a 5-2 fit. How so? Well, East might have raised Spades earlier with three, West might have rebid 2♠ with 6.
P.S Sure, N-S can make a 22-point 3NT, but nobody will bid it. Will they?
Against 4♥ South might lead the ♠9, not so much in the hope of getting a ruff, but because it is the lead least likely to blow a trick for the defense. It won’t be obvious to Declarer whether South has led a singleton or a doubleton or top of nothing. Declarer will no doubt draw trumps and is down for sure if he misguesses the ♥Q (probably down two, in fact). Let’s say that he guesses right (it’s far from obvious that he will). Trumps are drawn, Spades cashed and when the Club finesse loses it’s down one. Can 4♥ be made? Yes, but only double dummy, by dropping the stiff ♦A and subsequently leading towards the ♦Q.
With the Clubs coming home and the Heart finesse working, Declarer makes no fewer than 9 tricks in 1NT. But some N-S pairs will dive into the auction, perhaps with North making a balancing DONT bid of 2♣, showing Clubs (well, sort of) and another suit. Now South tries 2♦ and North shows her other so-called suit with 2♥. At this point West might guess to compete to 3♣ for +110, which is better than beating 2♥ a trick, but not nearly as good as playing in that cozy 1NT contract. So, the kamikaze DONT balance gets a good board!
South’s Double here showed values, and was not specifically for penalty or for takeout. It’s hard to blame North for passing the Double with that ordinary-looking hand, but the fact of the matter is that 4♠ doubled escapes for -500 while N-S can make +600 in 5♣ or 5♦.
System Note: Suppose that the vulnerability prompts North to bid game. Should she just bid 5♣, her longest suit? No, it’s better to play that 4NT here shows a two-suiter (not necessarily both minors, could be Hearts and a minor). This useful treatment greatly improves the chances of finding the best fit, although on this hand it makes no difference.
Another long-winded slam auction, though it’s simple enough. North’s 3♠ was more slam-encouraging than 4♠ (the Principle of Fast Arrival in action), and now West simply needed to find out about the missing Key Cards and the ♥K (or ♣K). West’s 5NT was the Specific King Ask and when all side-suit Kings were found to be missing in action, West settled for 6♥, confidently expecting +1430 or +1460, depending on the fate of the Heart finesse.
Wrong! Unless North leads a suicidal low Heart, or a dangerous low Diamond, 6♥ cannot be made. But talk about unlucky! Declarer could handle the 5-0 trumps, but could not overcome the 4-1 Diamonds, and the offside ♥K and the offside ♣K. Dummy’s Ace wins the opening Club lead, and Declarer, in search of the all-important overtrick, unaware that all hell is about to break loose, takes the Heart finesse. That loses, a Club comes back and is ruffed by Declarer. Now, when North shows out on the first round of trumps, Declarer is entitled to say “Oops!”, as his attempt for an overtrick has caused him to lose trump control. He may well say a lot more than just “Oops” when the Diamonds are also unobliging and he goes down no fewer than 3 tricks!
Playing DONT, South has three ways to show a Spade one-suiter: - Preemptive 3♠ - Competitive 2♠ - Constructive hand by doubling and then bidding 2♠
This hand is clearly competitive only and that knowledge warns North not to make a game try with her 11 HCP.
Playing in 2♠, it looks like 8 tricks in real life, but Deep finesse says that 9 tricks are possible. Appropriately, making 9 tricks does indeed involve some deep finessing, playing East for AQ8x.
After 2♥, opposite a passed hand, 4♠ looks like the practical bid, though it may miss slam occasionally when Partner has a decent hand and the right Diamond holding. The alternatives are: (a) 4♦ (Leaping Michaels) showing Spades and Diamonds, at least 5-5. Given the disparity in the two suits this looks like a serious distortion (but will work great when South has a Diamond fit and a good hand) (b) Double, and then 3♠ after South bids Clubs. This shows a good hand, but is not forcing. (c) 3♠, showing a good hand, and a good suit and not quite enough for game. The trouble with this bid is that Partner could have a Yarborough with a Diamond fit and game will be cold.
As there’s no ideal way to describe the hand, perhaps booting out 4♠ is the best option, putting East under pressure. “What pressure?” says East as he bids 6♥ directly! And, why not, he would surely have bid that when N-S push on to 5♠, so why not do so immediately and crowd their auction?
After 6♥, is South allowed to bid 6♠? Not without a really good reason. North’s 4♠ told South that she thinks slam is unlikely opposite a passed hand, and it would take a remarkable South hand to ignore that warning. The South hand doesn’t quite qualify for “remarkable” though it is rather fine. Is this a Forcing Pass situation? Surely not, North’s 4♠ bid could be almost anything, she’s opposite a passed hand, White vs Red, and has great latitude. So, South doubles 6♥, showing at least something.
The bottom line is that 6♥ doubled is down three for a fine sacrifice. N-S can count themselves lucky that they did not push on to slam, as 6♠ is down one when the Clubs break 5-2.
Would you use Michaels with the East hand? Some partnerships avoid Michaels with the intermediate hands, preferring to use the convention only with weak or strong hands. Not that it matters on this deal. Depending on their Michaels preference, E-W will declarer 2♠ from the East side or 2♥ from the West side. Both contracts make 8 tricks with no reason to expect more or less.
West did well not to bid 5♦ on this board, that’s a contract which is doubled and down one too many. But there will be many other layouts where 5♦ is most definitely the winning bid (for example, any East hand where the ♣A is with South and East has at least two Clubs). So, here’s to West, who guessed right this time.
Declarer makes 11 tricks in 4♠ without breaking a sweat.
With 3-3 in the minors, most players prefer to open 1♣, but let’s not be too dogmatic about this when the Diamonds are so much stronger. Here, opening 1♦ has the incidental benefit of picking off the opponents’ 9-card fit, with the result that they end up in the inferior 8-card Club fit. With the aid of a double hook in Clubs there are no fewer than 10 tricks available in Diamonds, but good defense beats 3♣: North leads a Diamond to South’s Ace ♦K is cashed Diamond ruff ♥K shift is won by Dummy’s Ace Club lead and South must split her honors! Declarer leads the ♠K and South must duck! Now Declarer cannot reach the board for another Club finesse and the defense gets 5 tricks. How did South know that she could afford to duck the ♠K? Could it not have been a singleton? No, North will have been careful to give a count signal on the ♠K lead, showing an odd number and making things crystal clear. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Giving Count”>>
With that South hand, opposite a 1NT opening, how many different plans can you come up with and how many actually make sense? - Garbage Stayman: If South thinks that her hand is not worth a game invitation then she bids 2♣, planning to pass 2♠, and bid 2♥ over 2♦. And, if Opener responds 2♥, no doubt South will invite based on the 9-card fit. - Transfer to Hearts and then pass: A dubious plan with such a moderate suit and 4 Spades. - Transfer to Hearts and then bid 2♠: This shows 4 Spades, 5 Hearts and invitational values. At least at matchpoints, we’d go the Garbage Stayman route, we just don’t think that this crummy 8-count is good enough to invite (unless North has 4 Hearts). Others will feel lucky, bid more, and end up in the hopeless game.
We expect the vast majority of N-S pairs to be in either 2♠ or 4♠. Deep Finesse can make 8 tricks, but only by double-hooking the Clubs and reading the Spade situation correctly. We predict that any N-S pair who escape for -50 on this board will have close to a top, and that there will be an abundance of -150’s.
It’s easy enough to imagine most E-W pairs ending up in the hopeless 3NT. North leads her 4th best Spade, won by Declarer’s King. The Hearts are cashed and North must find 4 pitches … two Clubs can be spared … then a Diamond … but finally North must part with a Spade winner. Now Declarer plays a Club and North takes her winners for down one.
Is North’s 3♦ strength-showing? Not necessarily, she could be merely trying to crowd the auction, and, opposite a partner who couldn’t even respond to an opening bid, this jump covers a wide range. Anyway, it has the desired effect of pushing E-W to 3♠ and that’s one more than they can actually make. South leads a Diamond, and North wins and continues the suit. Dummy ruffs the second Diamond, cashes ♠AK, and is destined to lose two Diamonds, two trumps and a Heart. Down one, just like we predicted.
Next, we visit the Twilight Zone. The contract is still 3♠ and, as before, South leads a Diamond. North wins that and decides that some Hearts should be cashed pronto, before the Clubs provide pitches. So, North shifts to the ♥A at Trick 2, then a second Heart which Declarer ruffs. Declarer leads the Spade Ten (!), South covers with the Jack and the Ace and Queen complete the trick. Now, Declarer pops over to Dummy with a Club, leads another Club and finesses the Four! What a show-off! Making 9 tricks.
If took no fewer than three defensive errors for Declarer to make his 3♠ contract: - That Heart shift was poor thinking. Looking at only three trumps in Dummy and one in her own hand, North should realize that Declarer has potential trump control issues. Persisting with Diamonds was the way to exploit that. - South was wrong to cover the ♠T with the Jack. Surely Declarer was not trying an obscure and double dummy swindle holding QTxxx in the suit. A smooth duck (easier to say than to do, perhaps) was required on this trick. - South blundered again when she failed to split her 98 on the second round of trumps. Splitting wouldn’t recover the previously lost trump trick but it would give South the third round trump winner, making it impossible for Declarer to get to 9 tricks. OK, it wasn’t very impressive defense, but you have to love Declarer’s two plays in the trump suit! >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Forcing Defense”>>
To call this auction “absolutely fascinating” would be an overbid, but it does have some points of interest. North has an obvious 4th seat Pass and our question is “Which of the other three hands would you have opened?” - Would you open the East hand? Hey, East has 12 HCP, why not? Well, those square 12-counts don’t play so well, and it does credit to the Rule of 20 that this would not be considered an opening bid. Also, the hand is Aceless. - Would you open the South hand? This one is only a 10-count and it also fails the Rule of 20 test. But only just, and there are some compensating plus points … we have the Spades … and a good suit (we’d love it to be led if West ends up as Declarer) … and a singleton … and some fillers … and the vulnerability is in our favor. Come on, South, let’s open 1♠ here! - Would you open the West hand? Many (perhaps most) would open this 10-count 1♥ in third seat (no doubt fortified by having Drury on their card). Is that really such a good idea? The E-W vulnerability works against a part-score skirmish (anyone for -200?) … the Heart suit is hardly a good lead-director … most of West’s HCP strength is in a doubleton suit … and the shape is unexciting.
The above analysis works rather well! - If East opens his garbage 12-count, his side may end up in 3♥ down two for the dreaded -200. - If East sagely passes, and South opens, then N-S will probably end up in a Spade part-score for +140. - If it goes two passes to West and he opens 1♥ he may well end up in 3♥ down two, as per the above.
Well, we seem to have beaten that one to death, the bottom line is that South has a decent hand but East and West do not!
East doesn’t have much of a vulnerable overcall, but it’s good enough for most of us. South then showed 3-card Heart support with a Support Double and West found himself in the same position as North was back on Board 6. He wanted to show game-invitational values in Spades and had a choice of two cue-bids. As before, it’s a common treatment for the cheaper cue-bid to show 3-card support and the higher cue-bid to show 4-card support.
How do you play that suit combination in Spades? If E-W had the Nine as well then the percentage play for just one loser (weighing in at 76%) is to finesse on the first round, and then again on the second round if the first finesse loses. But, here, in the absence of that Nine, best play for one loser (at 66%) is to cash the ♠A first. Not that is matters on this deal, both lines work and 9 tricks are made.
South reasonably decided that her hand was not quite good enough for a slam invitation, and she further declined to look for the 4-4 Spade fit, reasoning that with such a wealth of high cards 11 tricks might be possible without any ruffs. Well, on this hand she happened to be spot-on when it was 11 tricks in Spades or No Trump. But the slam is a decent proposition, requiring only a successful Heart finesse, so bad luck for the aggressive pairs that got there.
The big question mark in this auction is South’s 3♦ bid. Would you choose 2NT? We think it’s close, and the major advantage of 3♦ is that at least it’s likely to be the better spot if North has her usual rotten opener. As it happens, North has a decent hand for once, and is obliged to bid again. The only choice is 3♥, letting South pick a game.
Playing in 3NT, Declarer will probably make 10 tricks. But she has to play the Hearts as per the percentages by finessing on the first round.
You may disagree, but we don’t see anything so terrible about that 3♦ bid (look at all those fillers and the singleton!). We don’t think much of West’s Negative Double, it’s a tad on the light side and Pass is an obvious alternative. Either way, North (with one of the best hands she has held all day) has nothing to say, and nor does East. So, it’s 3♦, maybe doubled, maybe not, down 2 tricks for a miserable -200 or a really depressing -500. We always like to remind players that it pays to preempt (see also Board 8). But sometimes it doesn’t!
This is a suitable auction for some Total Trick analysis by North. When 3♥ gets back to her, North might reason as follows: - E-W have a 9-card Heart fit and N-S have an 8-card Spade fit - That’s 17 total trumps, so, according to the Law, there are likely to be 17 total tricks. - If E-W can make 9 tricks in Hearts then 3♠ is down one and worth bidding (even if doubled). - If E-W can make only 8 tricks in Hearts, then 3♠ can make and should be bid. How does this analysis stand up, who can make what?
The Play in Hearts: West will do some wriggling but will eventually goes down one. The wriggling will consist of a vain attempt to end-play South … Spades led, third round ruffed, lose the ♦A, win the Diamond return, Club finesse, ♥A, Diamond ruff, and out a Heart. Now, if a naïve South started with ♥Kx or ♥KJ doubleton, she’ll be end-played. Yes, “naïve” because South can avoid the end-play by dumping the ♥K under the Ace (though not if she has ♥KQ doubleton, of course).
The Play in Spades: As West could only manage 8 tricks in Hearts, the Law suggests that South should have 9 tricks in Spades. Does she? West starts with ♥A and another Heart … then three rounds of trumps … now the ♦J is run around to East, who is now end-played! East’s second Diamond honor is doomed (as Declarer is missing the Nine and assuming that Declarer goes with the odds), so the double dummy defense is to exit a Diamond. Declarer cashes the Diamonds, ending on the board, then leads a Club inserting the Ten. West wins the Queen and now it’s his turn to be end-played. Phew! 9 tricks. This time the Law does indeed hold true.
A difficult, and somewhat lucky, auction for E-W as they stumble into a reasonable spot. The play is hard to predict. Deep Finesse says that E-W can make 9 tricks in both Spades and Clubs, but that looks like quite a tall order, we’re predicting 8 tricks more often than not.
Regardless of whether E-W’s opening 2NT of 20-21 or 20-22, the East hand is too good and worth starting out with 2♣. That gets E-W to 6NT in a hurry, and Declarer can claim 12 tricks as soon as Dummy comes down.
This auction fizzles out when N-S are unable to find a fit, leaving West to enjoy the placid waters of 2♦. It’s possible to make 9 tricks in this contract but with “correct” play 8 tricks are more likely. North starts out with Clubs, Declarer ruffs the second round, crosses to the ♦A and finesses the ♦J. After trumps have been drawn, Declarer plays the ♠K which is won by South’s Ace. The Club return is ruffed, then the ♥Q is taken by North’s Ace. North must exit with a Heart and, when Dummy wins that, it’s decision time in Spades. Declarer will know from the bidding that South started with 4 Spades and North with 3. As one of South’s Spades was the Ace, both defenders have 3 small Spades and it’s even money which one has the all-important Ten. Good guessers score 10 tricks, the rest of us have to make do with just 9.
Who likes South’s 1♦ opening bid? Looks fine to us, it passes the Rule of 20, nothing is wasted and there’s a convenient rebid. As for North, she saw no reason to mess around with Fourth Suit Forcing and went straight to 3NT at her second turn.
Against 3NT, East has an obvious ♥Q opening lead. Declarer ducks (in case Hearts are 5-2), wins the second round, and plays on Spades. When the ♠Q comes down on the second round, Declarer has 9 tricks and moves into overtrick mode. It turns out that there is no wrong guess in the Diamond suit and Declarer notches up 10 tricks.
Every few months we put in a plug for our favorite method of super-accepting Jacoby transfers, and it appears to be that time again. After the 2♥ transfer, when Opener has 4 of Partner’s Spades, the suggested method goes as follows: - Opener may decline to make a super-accept if she has a truly rotten hand. “Rotten” is characterized more by square shape and quackiness than it is by HCP. - Opener bids 2NT with a good hand and 4 Spades (now 3♥ is a “re-transfer”) - Opener bids 3♠ with a middle-of-the-road hand and 4 Spades. The benefit of this method (other than being really easy to remember) is that it doesn’t offer the defenders any gratuitous information about Opener’s hand. For example, with the North hand, after 1NT 2♥, some would rebid 3♦ showing a doubleton. Not a good method in our view, that information is of interest to Responder 1% of the time, but is of interest to the defenders all of the time.
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