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Hand Analyses 6th May, 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 can improve his chances by taking the auction into consideration. 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.
Now that we are firmly entrenched in the 21st century surely everyone will open North’s hand with 1♦ and not 2♦. It passes the Rule of 20, nothing is wasted, it’s altogether too good for a Weak 2♦ bid.
South had quite a problem over East’s 1♠! What are the choices? - Pass? The assumption here is that North will re-open with a Double and South will make a penalty pass. We don’t like that idea! True, South has 5 Spades, but where are the Spade spots? There aren’t any, so South is likely to score just one trump trick (plus a ruff, maybe). How much better is South’s holding were QJT9x! That only uses up 3 of South’s HCP but is worth three trump tricks. In other words, the actual hand is more suited to offense than to defense. - 3NT? Same problem! South has only one Spade stopper and the wrong holding to choose 3NT unilaterally. - 2♣? Yes! It looks weird, but it’s the only forcing bid which is even remotely descriptive of the hand. Sure, South is supposed to have 5 Clubs, but this bid looks like the smallest lie. It doesn’t rule out a final contract of 3NT, and it also keeps 5♣ and 5♦ in the picture.
Anyway, you could no doubt construct a thousand different auctions for this deal, and we have constructed one which gets N-S to the woeful, but not hopeless, contract of 5♣. West leads a low Spade. Declarer will ponder upon what West has done so far: - Not good enough to raise to 2♠ - But chose to double South’s cue-bid of 3♠ - And then led a low Spade. No doubt, Sherlock, you have deduced that West has a Spade honor (presumably the King or Queen), and if he also had the ♦K would he not have raised to 2♠ directly? Sure he would, so it’s a fair assumption that the ♦K is offside! That being so, we suggest this line of play: Ruff the Spade lead in Dummy Cash ♦A Low Diamond to East’s King Ruff the Spade return Play on trumps The defense will score the Ace of trumps, of course, but that’s all they get! Good card-reading by Declarer, deducing that the ♦K was with East, and that the finesse was futile. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Remembering the Auction”>>
It’s easy to imagine numerous E-W pairs getting to the poor Heart slam on these cards. In the auction above it was East who charged into 6♥ (5♦ showed one Key Card, using the 1430 responses to Roman Key Card Blackwood). But even if East had been more circumspect then no doubt West would have got quite excited with his 10-count opposite a 2♣ opener.
As you can see, the poor slam actually makes, and there is even the chance of an overtrick if South fails to find the opening lead of a Spade. If a Club or Diamond is led, the Clubs provide pitches for the Spade losers, after which the winning Heart finesse and a Diamond ruff are all that it takes to get the trick total up to 13!
South’s 3♣ bid is about as good as it can be, so one has to wonder if North should really be bidding 3♥ here (which primarily says “Bid 3NT if you have a Heart stopper”). But fortune often favors the brave and the optimistic and this will no doubt be such a case. We suspect that most Wests will find the opening lead of the ♥A and that will present a grateful Declarer with her 9th trick. The way to beat 3NT is for West to find the highly improbable opening lead of a Club or a Diamond. Yes, it’s pure fantasy and won’t happen in real life, but if it does happen then Declarer has 6 Clubs and 2 Diamonds and no chance for any more.
Suppose that, in the auction, North is less sanguine and passes 3♣. West will probably lead a Diamond won by Declarer’s Ace. Declarer now makes the fine play of the ♥K! This puts West back on lead, and Declarer’s her plan is to get two Heart ruffs without letting in East for a Spade shift. West might exit a Club, but to no avail. Dummy does indeed get two ruffs, and also a Spade pitch on the ♦K. Late in the play Declarer will lead up to the ♠K, but with the ♠A (predictably) offside that will be just 10 tricks. Nicely bid by N-S, and also nicely played … but still losing matchpoints to the 3NT optimists. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Avoidance Play”>>
In the direct seat: - A 1NT overcall is usually played as 15-18 - With a better hand (say, 19-20) we double and then bid No Trump
But South is not in the direct seat, she is in the balancing position, in which case the No Trump ranges are: - 1NT shows around 11-15 (but the ranges vary considerably, the main point is that the balancing 1NT overcall is made with a weaker hand) - With a better hand (say 16-18) we double and then bid No Trump
So, if we are of the mood to play this in No Trump we can either double and bid No Trump, or else bid an immediate (and slightly heavy) 1NT. We don’t like either! E-W are vulnerable, and there is the lure of a two-trick set in 1♦, giving N-S the magic +200 on what is likely to be a part-score deal. Let’s not forget that Partner is likely to be short in Diamonds, and yet could not rustle up a bid over 1♦. What does that tell us? That we probably don’t have game on this hand! So, let’s pass and start counting the undertricks.
How many undertricks are there? One or two, in all probability, but both +100 and +200 are better than the +90 which will likely accrue if we declare 1NT.
How many Souths made a light third-seat 1♥ opener on this board? We are not sure that it’s such a wonderful idea, at unfavorable vulnerability, and it’s not as if South is desperate for a Heart lead. Anyway, suppose that South passes, and that West opens 1NT. East has a miserable 9-count (square distribution, no Tens) but is good enough to invite 3NT, either directly, as shown above, or via a Stayman sequence if the N-S methods use 1NT-2NT for something else (such as Minor Suit Transfers).
Anyway, West is destined to declare 3NT and even though all the suits are doubly stopped, there is much work to be done. The play might go: Spade to Declarer’s King Diamond to North’s King Spade to Dummy’s Ace Club to the Jack and Queen ♦J to South’s Ace Diamond to the Queen Club to the King and Ace At this point it will be apparent to Declarer that South is out of black cards, so a Diamond exit will force South to lead away from her ♥Q. Nice end-play! 10 tricks!
Several bids of note in this auction: - 2♠: With a 7-card suit we normally preempt to the 3-level, but preempting when Red vs White is a dangerous business so West holds back and bids just 2♠ here (which is plenty with that hand!). - Dbl: North can see slam in the cards and could go zooming off to some large number of Diamonds. But it’s matchpoints and 6♥ would score better, so she starts out with a Negative Double. - 3♠: This could be a cue-bid on the way to slam or else could be trying for 3NT. - 3NT: Protecting the ♠K from the opening lead, which on a different layout might be a good reason to play this in No Trump rather than in Hearts or Diamonds. - 6♦: South has something in Spades, and it’s a bit much to expect her to also have the ♣A, ♦K, and ♥AQ as well (such a hand might have opened 1NT). So North jumps to 6♦, offering partner a choice of slam. - 6♥: South has good Hearts and has no reason not to choose the higher-scoring major-suit slam. She might also have considered 6NT.
Against 6♥, let’s say that West leads the ♠Q won by Dummy’s Ace. How do you play the trump suit? There is no problem if trumps are 3-2, but suppose that they are 4-1. In that case, the defender with the singleton is likely to be West, he of the long Spade suit. If that singleton is the Ten or Jack then the suit can be picked up with correct play. So, Declarer plays a Heart to the Ace and then back to the King. Bingo! West does indeed have a singleton honor, and now there is a finesse position against East’s ♥J. After the Hearts are gone, the Diamond finesse brings in all 13 tricks. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Suit Combinations”>>
Some Souths might jump right in with a vulnerable 2♥ here, notwithstanding the vulnerability and the weak suit. West will pass (trying not to drool), East will make a balancing Double, passed by West, for a penalty of at least 800.
But in the auction above, South sensibly passes, and E-W eventually reach 3NT. West does not have an attractive lead. She’ll no doubt lead a minor, but which one? Leading the ♦A might set up tricks for Declarer, so our guess would be the ♣T through Dummy’s second suit. Dummy plays low, likewise North, and so must Declarer! Now another Club to North’s Ace and a third round to Declarer’s King. Next Declarer plays on Hearts and the good news is that the finesse wins. But the bad news is that the suit splits 6-1, and now, even with the ♦A in the safe South hand (safe because it does not have the Club winner), Declarer is still not up to 9 tricks. But his luck is in when Spades are 3-3 and the contract limps home.
Not much happening here. North has a super-sound Weak Two, East dredges up a 3♦ bid (which is down one and a good save against a making 2♥), and South guesses wrong when she competes to 3♥. East leads the ♦A, then smartly shifts to trumps, holding Declarer to 6 Hearts and two Spades. Down one.
Perhaps we misspoke when we said that South guessed wrong to bid 3♥. If N-S defend 3♦ they can beat the contract with a trump lead. But South is more likely to lead the ♥Q and now it’s too late to stop Declarer from getting a Heart ruff on the board, scoring 9 tricks.
Nine-card suits are rare but this set has two of them (see also Board 22). We suppose that West will be competing up to the 5-level, and were it not for the vulnerability he might well have gone to 6♥, which is down only one and a good save against a making 5♠, even at unfavorable vulnerability.
The contract is 5♠ and you are defending in the East position. Are you in the mood for something brilliant? Heart lead ruffed by Declarer Cash ♠A and ♠K Cross to the ♠Q Low Diamond, East playing the Queen, Declarer winning the Ace Low Diamond to Dummy’s Ten and East fiendishly ducks! Declarer has been careless with her entries and, as a result, that fine ducking play by East has shut out the Diamonds. Declarer has only one entry back to hand and is unable to knock out East’s Diamond honor and then get back to enjoy the good Diamonds. But, as it happens, Declarer wriggles out by ruffing a Heart, and playing on Clubs. The remarkably fortunate situation in that suit allows her to end up with 5 trumps, 2 Heart ruffs, 2 Diamond and 2 Clubs. Her only losers are a Club and a Heart.
But after the opening Heart lead, Declarer did not have to rely on mega-luck in Clubs to make eleven tricks. With better timing she could have made twelve tricks, with no luck in Clubs required! Heart lead ruffed by Declarer Cash ♠A Cross to the ♠Q Low Diamond, East playing the Queen, Declarer winning the Ace Yes, it’s the same line as before, except that Declarer delayed drawing that third round of trumps, keeping a high Spade in her hand as an extra entry, and forestalling East’s crafty Diamond duck. This line brings home 12 tricks … it takes an opening Club lead to hold Declarer to 11 tricks. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Drawing Trumps - Or Not”>>
Obligatory False Card In the first line of play, where Declarer erred by drawing the third round of trumps prematurely, she was forced to use the last entry in her hand to play on Clubs. The suit will only be good for two tricks if West holds a doubleton KQ, KT or QT. Declarer’s luck is in this time, but a wily West will play the ♣Q on the first round! A gullible Declarer, when playing to the second round, will now have to guess whether West started with QT or KQ. But if West plays the Ten on the first round there is no guess. Declarer should figure it out anyway (East needs the ♣K for his opening bid), but that’s no excuse for East not to put Declarer to the test! >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Deceptive Defense”>>
When 1NT got back to her, North had a choice between showing her extra Heart or doubling to get Spades into the picture. She chose the latter on the theory that it’s usually better to offer Partner a choice and that worked well when the 4-4 Spade fit was found.
Playing in 3♠, Declarer’s plan will be to set up the Hearts: K♣ won by Declarer’s Ace A Heart is conceded ♦A and ♦K are cashed The third round of Diamonds is ruffed ♠J is successfully finessed A♥ is cashed Heart ruffed with the Ten ♠K is cashed then over to the ♠A to enjoy the long Hearts 10 whopping tricks! But Declarer would have been struggling to make her contract if the Spade finesse had lost or if one of the majors had broken 4-1.
A strange-looking auction, what does it mean? - 1NT: West obviously belongs to the ever-growing band of enlightened bidders who open 1NT holding a 5-card major. - Dbl: E-W were playing DONT, so this Double shows an unspecified one-suiter. - Rdbl: Shows a good hand - South’s Pass: Without the Redouble, South would bid 2♣ to ask “What is your one-suiter?” However, the Redouble relieves her of that obligation and a bid of 2♣ now would say “I have good Clubs, that may be a better spot than your suit”. - 2♠: West guesses that Hearts are North’s suit, but either way it seems like a good opportunity to finally get that 5-card major into the auction.
The play in 4♠ is simple. The defense cashes two Hearts, and now Declarer must finesse twice in trumps to hold his losers in the suit to one. Making 10 tricks.
This hand is not a triumph for the Law of Total Tricks. N-S have 8 Spades and are down one, but unfortunately for West he has an extra trump so he bids on to 3♥ where their 9-card fit scores only 8 tricks. Any pair that actually makes a contract on this board will have done very well.
A routine auction but the play is really interesting! We’ll assume that West leads a trump and your job is to make 11 tricks. Please see our Play Problem.
North was a few HCP shy of being able to double West’s 1NT overcall, so she satisfied herself with 2♥, a bid which does not promise a lot, and could well be made with a weaker hand and a 6th Heart.
Put yourself in the East seat. If you pass here, it seems likely that 2♥ will be passed out or else that South will bid 2♠. If 2♥ is passed out will you be a happy camper? We don’t think so, you’ll be wondering wistfully whether you should have competed to 3♦. And if South bids 2♠, back to you, you’ll also be tempted to compete. So, we suggest that you do so right away. If you are playing Lebensohl in this situation, you’ll bid 2NT, which is a relay to 3♣. Now, you’ll convert to 3♦ saying “I have a weak hand in Diamonds, I am merely competing”.
Of course, if you are not playing Lebensohl then if you are to compete you will have to bid 3♦ over 2♥, and this is less attractive, Partner might expect more values from you. If nothing else, this hand is a good commercial for Lebensohl, allowing East to compete with lesser values. Anyway, we suppose that South will push on the 3♠ and that will no doubt be doubled by West (the way the auction has gone he does not know which suit East owns).
3♠ doubled rolls home on normal defense, Declarer losing two Spades, a Heart and a Diamond. Here is the only (and most unlikely) defense which beats 3♠: Club lead ♠K won by West Club lead ♠Q is cashed Spade to West’s Jack Low Diamond to East’s Queen! Club ruff! That’s 4 tricks with the ♥A still to come. Anyone find that defense?!
South might have tried a 2♠ opening, but that’s a pretty rotten suit for a vulnerable Weak Two, even for us! How about West’s 1NT? Did he miscount his HCP? No, he upgraded his nice 14-count due to the 5-card suit and that working ♥T (we say “working” because it is backed up with another honor and therefore more likely to be useful). Another reason for West to grab the No Trump is that it seems likely that his hand should be Declarer (he wants to protect the ♠K and ♣Q from the opening lead).
Against 3NT, what will North lead? After a 1NT-3NT auction there is a tendency to lead a major on the grounds that Dummy presumably has no 4-card major (he didn’t use Stayman). If that is North’s thinking he will lead a low Heart and that is fatal for the defense. Declarer now has 4 Hearts and 5 Diamonds. Any lead but a Heart will lead to down one.
So far, this set seems to have been really interesting hands interspersed with really dull hands, and this board is one of the dull variety. North’s 1♣ might well get passed out, scraping up 8 tricks or thereabouts. Moving right along.
East jumps to 3♣ and for the second time today (see also West on Board 7) we find ourselves in a drooling situation. Here it is South who is eagerly awaiting a reopening Double from Partner and a whopping penalty. But this time, Partner does not oblige, and shows her distributional hand with a 3♥ bid.
The play in 3NT is straightforward. West leads a Club and that allows Declarer to score 11 tricks (a Spade, 5 Hearts, 4 Diamonds and a Club).
With such weak Diamonds, after East has already announced Diamond values with his 1NT bid, we’d say that 2♦ (vulnerable) is quite risky. We don’t blame East for finding a matchpoint Double here, especially as the opponents are vulnerable, but here the bid will probably work out badly. A Heart lead from East will beat 2♦, but a Club lead seems more likely, after which Declarer squeaks home as follows: Club to West’s Ace Diamond to Declarer’s Ace ♠Q covered by the King and Ace ♠J is cashed Spade ruff ♦K is cashed ♣K is cashed Club ruff Now a good Spade is played from the board, on which Declarer pitches a Heart loser. East can ruff, but he is doing so with a natural trump trick. 8 tricks and +180 for Declarer!
East invites slam and West, with a minimum and square hand, has an obvious Pass.
As North, what is your opening lead? Anything but a Heart, we would say. The opponents obviously have around 30-31 HCP and it would be overly optimistic to try and set up the Heart suit. That lead is all too likely to blow a trick, so we’d just play it safe with a top-of-nothing lead … and as they didn’t us Stayman, that lead might as well be a Spade. On the actual hand, it doesn’t matter! Thanks to the 3-3 Spade break, Declarer has 12 tricks on any lead … and if North leads a Heart then it runs around to the ♥Q and now Declarer has 12 tricks without even needing the Spades to break.
North did not consider her hand to be good enough for a reverse of 2♠ and thought it too good to pass, so she improvised with an odd-looking 2♣.
Against 3NT, East leads a Spade, low from Dummy, to West’s Ace. A Spade comes back to East’s Queen, but now Declarer has 10 tricks. West must lead a Diamond in order to hold Declarer to 9 tricks, and that will be far from obvious.
West’s 4♥ puts North on the spot. We are always told to “support with support” and nobody would disagree with the assertion that AK96 is fine support indeed. But, the North hand is shapeless … it’s minimum … and that ♥KQ is more useful on defense (it’s one trick) than it is on offense where (opposite Partner’s likely singleton) it is likely to be worthless. But, put those Heart honors in with the Diamonds (somewhere useful, in other words) and we would dredge up a 4♠ bid, being seduced by the magnificent support and undeterred by the minimum values.
North is in the hot seat again on the next round of bidding. When 5♥ comes back to her should she double or bid 5♠? North’s magnificent Spade support remains undisclosed, but that is the extent of the good news for a Spade contract. The rest of that North hand is virtually useless on offense, so we suppose that North should double, but she should not be overly surprised if 5♥ makes. In fact 5♥ is down two tricks.
How many tricks can be made in Spades? 9 or 10 is the answer and it all depends on East. West will probably lead a Heart to East’s Ace. Now what? The wining defense is a Club shift, scoring a ruff and holding Declarer to a 9 tricks. But East could easily go wrong, shifting to a Diamond and allowing 10 tricks to make.
Double here is usually played as being for penalty. How about 4NT? There was a time when that was played as a three-suited take-out, but nowadays the bid is often made with a two-suiter. Anyway, we would say that the choices here are 4NT (planning to pass whatever suit East bids) and 5♣. Either could work, but it’s 5♣ which is the winner on the actual hand. 5♣ is down one, but we suppose that North will bid on to 5♠ and N-S will be down one instead. If West guesses to bid 4NT, East will bid 5♦, and that will be doubled by North, for down 3.
Someone once said, in reference to bidding after an enemy preempt, “Put your faith in the long suit”. The rationale here is that, even if you find a 4-4 fit there is a good chance it will get derailed by a 4-1 break and/or by a forcing defense. That being the case, it often works better to bid your long suit and hope for the best. Good advice, at least on this hand, where bidding the long Club suit turns out to be the winning action.
There are quite a few reasons for West not to open the bidding: only 11 HCP, doesn’t pass the Rule of 20, miserable distribution, and vulnerable also. But having said all that we would still open 1♥ … it’s only a tad light, and such a magnificent major needs to be mentioned. But, having opened a hand like that, it’s always a good idea to have a carefully-worded and groveling apology handy in case it propels the bidding too high.
After 1♥, East bids the Jacoby 2NT, and West makes whatever bid says “I have a terrible hand”. In the standard Jacoby responses that bid is 4♥, and that’s where West plays it.
This one is our official nomination for “Flattest Board of the Day”, 11 tricks whichever way you slice it.
As West, what would you bid after Partner accepts your transfer to Hearts? Here are two reasonable approaches: - Bid 3♦ (natural and game-forcing), encouraging Partner to play in the 5-3 fit, which is something Partner might choose not to do with a square hand. - Bid 3NT, taking a chance on the Spades. Remember, if Spades actually are the weak link in 3NT, there is still a good chance that South will lead from the Ace or King, allowing the singleton ♠Q to score. Perhaps this is as much a personality test as anything else. In a limited poll we got answers in favor of the plunge into 3NT and the scientific 3♦. So, take your pick.
If West chooses to bid 3♦, his side will end up in the theoretically better contract of 4♥. That makes 10 easy tricks.
If West bashes into 3NT, then South will no doubt lead a low Spade, and that will also be 10 tricks (and a great board!). Of course, if South is an absolute genius she will lay down the ♠K at Trick 1 and that will be down two! Did anyone find that lead?
East has a classic Rule of 20 opener, with 10 HCP and 5-5 distribution. And a decent hand, wouldn’t you say, with all the HCP in the long suits. That propels E-W into a difficult 4♥ contract, and let’s suppose that South leads a Spade, won by North, who shifts to a low Heart. That’s a nasty shift, but Declarer can still prevail by cross-ruffing. Here’s how the play could develop: Spade won by North’s King Heart shift won by ♥A Club to the Ace Spade ruff Cash ♣K Club ruff Spade ruff Club ruff Spade ruff Cash ♥K Cash ♦A South claims the last two tricks with her good trumps, but Declarer has his 10 tricks. It was fortunate that the ♥Q was in the hand with the long Clubs, so that there was no overruff on the 4th round of Clubs. But even if there had been an overruff, Declarer still had the Diamond finesse to fall back on for his 10th trick. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Cross Ruffing”>>
The N-S methods could play a big role in this one. - If N-S are playing DONT: In this case there is no Penalty Double available so North can choose between Pass (feeble), or 2♣ (planning to show a Club-Spade two-suiter), or 2♠ (Spade one-suiter), or Double followed by 2♠ (also a Spade one-suiter, but a stronger hand). Our choice would be to show the strong Spade one-suiter. - If N-S are not playing DONT: In this case N-S probably have a strength-showing Double available. Should North use it? We bet that most would Double here, and perhaps they are right. But we have a sneaking suspicion that 2♠ might be the winning bid more often than not. Take your pick.
If North does bid 2♠, she’ll probably play it there, undoubled for down one.
If North doubles, South will run to 2♥, after which it is hard to predict what might happen: - 2♥ will go down three, -300 for N-S, and -800 if doubled. - 2♥ may get doubled, and North might pull to 2♠. West will now feel free to double. -200 for N-S. - West might guess to compete in Diamonds. -130 for N-S.
We’ve seen some optimistic bidding this week and here is another example! East’s 2♦ was New Minor Forcing, after which West admitted to 3-card Spade support. East perhaps should have invited game but instead he showed great faith in his Declarer play by bidding the game.
Against 4♠ South leads the ♦J, and North ducks this. Why not fly with the ♦A? Because if Declarer has ♦Kxx he has just been presented with a second Diamond trick. Anyway, here is how the play might unfold in this optimistic contract: ♦J won by Declarer’s King Diamond won by North’s Ace Spade ducked to South’s Ten Club to Dummy’s Ace Spade finesse ♠A is cashed At this point Declarer has lost two tricks and must also lose the ♥A. How does Declarer avoid losing a second Heart? There are various ways, if you look at all 4 hands, but we want you to find the best way, looking at just two hands. Please see the Play Problem
Although the North hand passes the Rule of 20 our own choice would be to open 2♦ anyway. Those dangling side-suit quacks aren’t pulling their weight for one thing, added to which the hand has very little defensive strength. Looks like a preempt to us.
As East, there is no need to let our meager 8-count deter us from bidding. “Six-five, come alive” as the old saying goes, so East cheerfully bids 2♠. This is a hand with a lot of playing strength (only 6 losers) and E-W have the vulnerability in their favor, so West is prepared to introduce Clubs later, if necessary.
On to the South hand. Anyone for 3NT? That might seem tempting with Spades doubly stopped, but a little thought should bring us to the conclusion that 3NT is highly unlikely to make. Partner will need Clubs to be stopped, of course, and the ♦A, but even that won’t be enough. Just about the only hand-types that will work for 3NT will be: (a) ♦A, plus a major-suit Ace, plus Qxx in Clubs, or (b) ♦A and QT9x in Clubs. In the circumstances, we would be thinking about inviting 5♦ (that just requires two Aces). But how to do that? Our suggestion is to bid 3♠, and then (if we get a chance) to bid 4♦, hoping that Partner will figure out to bid 5♦ with the right hand. That’s not much a plan, we grant you, but we cannot think of anything better.
After 3♠, West is not good enough to bid 4♠, but he can double the cue-bid. Now East’s hand gets even better and he takes a shot at game. We suppose that most players in the South seat would double this but that turns out to be a disaster!
In 4♠ doubled, as Declarer (East) how do you play the Spade suit? If the suit is 2-2 it doesn’t matter, there will be one loser regardless. And if the suit is 3-1? Then there will be two losers except in these cases: South has singleton King (♠A is cashed, then a Club towards the Jack) South has singleton Queen (same line of play) North has singleton Ten (Declarer must lead the Spade Jack from his hand) The superficial conclusion is “Two chances are better than one” leading Declarer to lay down the ♠A. But the bidding suggests that the third case is more likely, so we would play South for KQ6. This is the winner, bringing in the trump suit for one loser and scoring a surprising 11 tricks! >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Remembering the Auction”>> >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Suit Combinations”>>
For the second straight board South doubles the opponents and once more she is likely to regret it! North leads a Spade won by Declarer’s Ace. Next Declarer plays the ♦Q and, if North wins the Ace and returns a Club, Declarer can make an overtrick by ruffing out South’s ♦K. So, North ducks, and South wins her ♦K. The ♠K is cashed, after which Declarer can continue Spades in one of two ways: - If South plays a high Spade (setting up Dummy’s Jack) then Declarer ruffs low. Now Declarer cannot return a Heart without setting up a trick in Dummy, and cannot return the ♦A without setting up two Diamond tricks for Declarer. So he tries a surprising low Diamond exit but even that is not good enough: Declarer’s Jack wins that trick, then a Diamond ruff, the ♠J is cashed (pitching the last Diamond), followed by the Club finesse. 10 tricks! - If South plays a low Spade (after winning the second round of Spades) then Declarer pitches a Diamond and North ruffs. Now Declarer can ruff his two Diamond losers on the board and still have a trump left with which to take the finesse against South’s King.
How do you like East’s original Pass? The hand is certainly good enough for a Weak Two, and no doubt some Easts will bid just that. Our own feeling is that we would prefer not to preempt with (a) such a rotten suit, (b) when there is also so much outside stuff. It’s not a matter of right or wrong so much as it is a matter of personal style. What’s your style? And are you and your Partner in sync? While we are on the subject, how about an opening bid of 1♦? A tad light, but we rather like it!
Over to North’s hand. She might have been tempted to preempt the first time around. True, she has 12 HCP, but the hand is all about Spades, and Partner is a passed hand. Anyway, let’s say that North declines to preempt and makes a simple overcall instead. Partner raises to 2♠ and it’s back to North. There is no chance of game here, and the two questions are “Will the opponents let us play in 2♠?” and “If they don’t, will we want to bid on to 3♠?” We suggest to you that the answers to these two questions are “No” and “Yes” respectively, and if that is the case then North should bid 3♠ immediately, making it harder for East to compete effectively. Could 3♠ be construed as a game try? It shouldn’t, if North has a strong overcall with game interest she can bid anything but 3♠.
Who makes what? 3♠ is down one, there’s nothing of interest to the play in that contract. As for E-W they can make a whopping 11 tricks in either minor! Not that they really want to be in game, both contracts require friendly breaks and the ♦J to be found.
As a general rule, we avoid making a Takeout Double with two cards (or less) in an unbid major. The exception to this is when we have a really strong hand. Opinions differ as to what “really strong” means, some would say as low as 16 HCP. But the modern trend is to have a higher upper limit for our overcalls, let’s say 18 or so. Here, the West hand actually is good enough to double with only two Hearts, and his general plan is to follow up with a No Trump bid, showing a hand which was too good to make a 15-18 1NT overcall, something in the 19-20 range, in other words.
Against 1NT North will probably lead a Club, which South should duck. Declarer would love to get to the board and finesse against the ♠J, so he leads the ♦K which South sensibly ducks. Realizing that he must play Spades from his hand, he leads the ♠K and now it is North’s turn to withhold her Ace, giving Declarer a guess. Let’s say that he guesses correctly, playing the ♠Q, forcing the Ace out and squashing South’s Jack. Another Club to South’s Ace, and a third round clears the suit. Declarer cashes his Spades and gives up a Diamond, scoring 8 tricks, via 3 Spades, the ♥A, 2 Diamonds and 2 Clubs.
North has a typical Rule of 20 opener, one of those 11-counts with 5-4 shape … South goes to game with minimum values … there’s no fit, no source of tricks … and that’s how N-S get to a truly ugly 3NT contract. Down two in all probability.
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