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Hand Analyses 3rd June, 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 brings home 13 tricks with the help of a squeeze. Adjacent to the text for that hand you will see the link >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Basic Squeeze Technique”>> which will transport you to the collection of hands with the same theme.
What a long auction! And what does it all mean? - 2NT: The Unusual No Trump, showing the two lower unbid suits, so the minors in this case. - 3♦: That 2NT bid gave South two cue-bids, namely 3♣ and 3♦. There are various ways to use these cue-bids, our own favorite (purely for its simplicity) is “lower for lower” meaning that the lower (3♣) cue-bid is for the lower-ranking Hearts and the higher (3♦) cue-bid is for the higher-ranking Spades. This applies regardless of whether the opening bid was 1♥ or 1♠, and both cue-bids show at least game-invitational values. - 3♥: North has a rather nice hand, one that is perhaps too good to jump to game, so she cue-bids 3♥. - 4♣ and 4♦: More cue-bidding. - 4NT: Roman Key Card Blackwood - 5♦: Using 1430 responses, this shows 0 or 3 Key Cards - 5NT: Not only does this ask for Kings but it also tells Partner that there are no missing Key Cards. - 6♠: Playing “specific Kings” this denies a side-suit King.
No doubt South, with that huge hand, was tempted to try 7♠ anyway. As it happens there are 12 top tricks and whether or not there is a 13th will depend upon East’s opening lead. Let’s say that East guesses to lead a Heart. Here’s how the play goes then: Heart opening lead is won somewhere Trumps are drawn in 3 rounds The ♦A is cashed The remaining Hearts and Spades are cashed In the end-game, East is done for! At Trick 10, as Declarer cashes the last winner, East will have ♦K ♣Q86, and is squeezed … if he pitches a Diamond then Declarer’s ♦Q is good … and if he pitches a Club then Dummy scores a third Club trick.
The opening lead that holds Declarer to just 12 tricks is a Club. This breaks up the communications between Declarer and Dummy and the squeeze no longer operates. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Basic Squeeze Technique”>>
North’s vulnerable 2♦ may seem a bit flimsy to some, but it’s made considerably safer by West’s 1♠ bid. How so? Because (a) With so many Spades in the N-W there’s an increased chance that South has a Diamond fit; and (b) If East and South are both short in Spades, then South is in the over-ruffing position. South’s 3♦ is merely obstructive (with invitational values South would cue-bid).
The aggressive N-S bidding has worked well, keeping E-W out of their Club fit (where they can make 10 tricks). In Diamonds there are 9 tricks provided that Declarer guesses Clubs correctly (which she will).
There’s not much happening on this one. An obvious 1NT-3NT auction, after which North will presumably lead her 4-card major in preference to her 4-card minor. When the Diamonds behave it is 12 tricks for Declarer. It takes a far-from-obvious Heart lead to hold Declarer to 11 tricks.
Playing in 2♥, South leads a Club and the play might start as follows: Club won by Dummy’s Queen Cross to the ♦A Back to the ♣A Diamond ruff Club ruff Diamond ruff Declarer has scrambled the first 6 tricks but things are about to take a turn for the worse if Declarer misguesses the Spade suit. Play might continue: Spade to the Ten and Queen Spade to the Ace Diamond ruffed by North’s Eight (Declarer cannot overruff!) Spade ruff Diamond ruffed with the Ten, overruffed with the King South still has the ♥A so that is down one. To make his contract, Declarer had to guess the Spades correctly, and there were few useful clues to guide him.
West would have done better to take a preference to 2♠. Conventional wisdom says that 4-4 fits are preferable to 5-3, but that thought applies more to high-level contracts. In part-score contracts, where there is more work to be done (with the opponents getting in a few times), having five trumps in one hand will often make it easier to retain control. On this particular deal 8 tricks are easy in 2♠ (9 are possible but unlikely).
There will be no doubt be some howls of protest about that 2♥ bid, interspersed with complaints about the suit quality. But it’s White vs Red and there’s much to be said for getting in there on the slimmest of pretexts. What happens next depends on the E-W methods. 2NT is almost universally played as artificial and forcing, the two most common methods being: - Ogust: This has a few flavors of its own, and the most common is that 3♣ shows “Bad suit, bad hand”, with higher bids showing better hands. Our East would certainly qualify for a 3♣ response, on that we can all agree. - Feature: This asks Partner to show a side-suit Ace or a King. Does that mean that East should bid 3♠ here? No, the usual treatment is that East would only show the feature if he also has a half-decent hand. As he doesn’t he bids 3♥.
When West gets the news about East’s poor hand he gives up on the grand slam and bids 6♥. This is a fine contract, down one only because the Hearts are 4-1. An unjust hand.
1NT scores a rather lucky 7 tricks. South leads the ♦K which Declarer wins. Then ♥A and the ♥Q to South’s King. The Diamonds are cleared and Declarer runs his Hearts, pitching Spades. Then Declarer leads towards Dummy’s now-singleton ♠Q. This is won by North, but eventually South gets in with the ♣A to cash her Diamonds. +90 for E-W.
Of course, N-S may not be so compliant in the auction, all the more so as they are non-vulnerable. Assuming that N-S are playing DONT, South might chime in with a Double (showing a one-suiter) and that is likely to work well as it is unlikely to get doubled and that will be only +50 for E-W. Better yet, East might well compete to 2♥ and now E-W are going minus.
Next, suppose that South passes, and North gets hyper-active with a DONT 2♥, supposedly showing a major two-suiter. Oops! East makes a penalty Double, South runs to 2♠ and that gets doubled by West. That’s down two, we reckon, though the play is complicated. But even down just one will be a good board for E-W.
Anyone for Michaels with the West hand? Not a terrible bid, but not our choice. The Hearts are longer, we’d rather bid them directly and we’ll be quite happy to bid the Clubs later. That’s assuming there actually is a “later”!
North has good playing values, but is not worth a 3♦ bid. And 2NT would show the fine Heart values but is a gross overbid. So, North wistfully passes. East has a rather fine hand, but not in Hearts, so another wistful Pass.
Back to poor South, who gets egg on her face this time. She could have defended 2♥ (which probably makes 8 tricks), but most reasonably balances with 2♠. That allows West to make the value-showing 4♣ bid, getting E-W to their vulnerable game. Rats! Well, at least the good news for South is that E-W did not bid their cold slam!
North’s 2♥ was another Michaels bid, showing Spades and a minor. We would say that East has a perfect 3♠ bid here, a splinter in support of Hearts. South’s Double was lead-directing, and West went straight to 4♥, his hand having deteriorated during the auction.
That lead-directing Double doesn’t help much, it will always be 11 tricks, one way or another.
Did anyone double with the West hand? That’s not generally a good idea when holding five Spades, it’s usually better to overcall the Spades and then make a Takeout Double if the auction gets competitive. Next question: “What’s your upper limit for 1♠, how many HCP do you need before your hand becomes altogether too good for a simple overcall?” That’s a big question, much depends upon shape and playing strength, but don’t be afraid to overcall with 16, 17, even some 18’s, rather than double.
East’s 2♦ showed Spade support with game-invitational values … pretty minimum, we’d say, considering the square shape and the astonishing abundance of losers. East’s optimism gets his side to 4♠ in a hurry, and that is a slightly lucky 10 tricks. All that this contract needs is 3-2 Spades, the onside ♣A (which is highly likely, of course), and nothing uncivilized such as a Heart ruff on the go.
Bidding Afterthought South might well have used the vulnerability to her advantage by bidding 5♦ over 4♠. The sacrifice is not guaranteed to succeed, it could be -800 or 4♠ might actually be going down. Even so, with all those Diamonds, it looks like an odds-on gamble to us, and three good outcomes are possible: - The opponents bid on to 5♠ and go down. - 5♦ doubled goes for -500 (or less) and is a profitable sacrifice. - 5♦ goes for a disastrous -800 but an understanding Partner says “Nice try, Pumpkin!” This is perhaps the least likely of the three good outcomes. As it happens, Pumpkin goes for just -500 and gets a fine board for her side.
Against 3NT, West leads the Q♦. How do you ensure this contract whilst also giving yourself the chance of a valuable overtrick? Please see the Play Problem.
South does not have much of an opening bid, only 11 HCP and a hand which fails the Rule of Twenty test. Nonetheless, opening that lovely Spade suit is hard (some might say impossible) to resist. North’s 2NT was Jacoby, showing at least a game-going hand with 4-card Spade support. Now, after East butts in with 4♥, what are the respective meanings of Pass and 4♠? In these situations many play that Pass is the weakest bid, by which logic 4♠ must show something extra. Actually, this seems back-to-front to us. If you generally adhere to the Principle of Fast Arrival, then surely 4♠ should be the weak bid and Pass should be more encouraging. Anyway, more important than what we say is what your partner says. Are you both on the same page?
How about Double? That is frequently used to show a control in their Heart suit.
The bottom line on the hand is that, over 4♥, South will make the weakest bid available, according to her methods, and N-S will stop at 4♠, making 10 tricks. Yes, E-W have a good sacrifice in 5♥, that’s down two (but only one if South’s opening lead is the ♠A, that allows Dummy to get a ruff).
Red against White, a 1♠ overcall by North would be a bit much, and it turns out that South is the one to overcall 1♠. West makes a Support Double, showing three of Partner’s Hearts, after which how many Spades would you bid as North? With a 10-card fit it’s normal to preempt to the 4-level, but here North is at unfavorable vulnerability, and with no useful distribution. We think that 3♠ is plenty here, which shows how much we know, as 4♠ is the winning bid!
Against a Spade contract, E-W have the ♦AK and the ♥A. They can score a 4th trick via a Diamond ruff, but if they do that they’ll never score their Club trick. So, 9 tricks one way or the other, making 4♠ doubled a surprisingly successful Red vs White sacrifice against 4♥.
How many tricks are there in Hearts? That all depends on Declarer’s guessing skills. He will lose the two black Aces, and must guess the location of the ♣J to avoid a third loser. Is it a complete guess? Pretty much, though South may make Declarer’s job easy by cashing the ♠A at Trick 1 and then fiendishly shifting to a low Club, hoping that Partner has the ♣Q. Not so fiendish this time, it hands Declarer his 11 trick!
What are the options here? - 3♥? No, most play this as preemptive and this hand is too good for that. - 2NT? This is commonly played as Jordan, showing Heart support and game-invitational values. We don’t think that this hand is quite good enough for that. - 2♥? In the absence of other methods this would be our choice. And we would later compete to 3♥ if necessary.
The suggested plan of bidding 2♥, then 3♥ if necessary, is not ideal, which is why someone invented “Constructive Raises in Competition”. There are various ways to play these, here’s one of them: - 3♣ shows 4-card support, constructive values, and a singleton somewhere. - 3♦ shows 4-card support, constructive values, and no singleton. By “constructive values” we mean better than a preempt, not as good as a game-invitation. Just what South has! Follow the link for more on this.
Anyway, it’s easy to see some pairs getting to the bad 4♥ game, but 9 tricks are the limit when two Hearts must be lost, in addition to a Diamond and the ♣A.
There’s not much happening here. 4♠ is the normal contact, losing just the ♣AK and the ♥A. Declarer’s 10 tricks are 5 trump tricks, 4 Diamonds and a Heart. +420 all around the room?
Holding the South hand, what’s your general plan? Clearly you will be opening one of a minor, and if Partner responds 1♠ you will raise to 2♠. So far, so good, but the odds are that you will have to find a rebid after a 1♥ response. Here are the options: - Open 1♦ and rebid 2♣: We are not crazy about this solution to the rebid problem, too often it gets the partnership to the wrong minor suit. - Open 1♣ and rebid 1NT: The down-side here is that Partner will not expect a singleton Heart and may well go back to 2♥ on a (good) 5-card suit. Even so a reasonable plan. - Open 1♣ and rebid 2♣: 6 Clubs are not promised but that’s what we usually have for this sequence. Even so, that’s our preferred plan, at least the suit is good and it does not have the aforementioned defects.
After the 2♣ rebid, how do you play 2♦? Yes, it’s forcing, but many play it as also artificial, a kind of New Minor Forcing bid. This useful treatment allows the partnership to explore a major suit fit more effectively. South denies 3-card Heart support with her 2NT bid, and then her 3NT probably denies even doubleton support.
3NT turns out to be rather a fortunate contract. The bad news is that the Hearts don’t break, but the good news is that the Diamond suit blocks: - If West leads a Spade: Declarer wins that in hand, cashes the top Hearts, gives up a Heart, and is fortunate that the defense cannot rattle off 4 Diamond tricks. So, making 9 tricks via 2 Spades, 5 Hearts and 2 Clubs. - If West leads the ♦K: This might happen if East makes a lead-directing Double of 2♦. The defense takes its 3 top Diamonds and gives up a Diamond to Declarer. Declarer can now count 8 tricks. What’s the best route to 9? Please see the Play Problem.
Bidding Afterthought 1 Perhaps East should have risked a lead-directing Double of North’s artificial 2♦ bid. Well, maybe not that risky, because although E-W could score a complete zero by defending 2♦ redoubled for an ugly -760, this is unlikely to happen in practice.
Bidding Afterthought 2 Perhaps North should have skipped 2♦ altogether and gone straight to 4♥. The suit is virtually self-sufficient, and the hand may well play better in a suit contract. In fact, we’d say that 4♥ is, in theory, a better contract looking at the N-S hands, making whenever Hearts are 3-3 or when the ♣Q is doubleton, and requiring no luck in the Diamond suit. Also, there will be other layouts where 3NT makes 9 tricks (the defense grabbing 4 fast Diamonds) and when 4♥ scores 10 tricks.
South has a rather poor 2♥ overcall (those unsupported Queens don’t do much for the hand) but at least it’s a good lead-director and non-vulnerable. As for North, she can hardly not raise to 3♥ with 4-card support, an Ace, and a ruffing value. In the process, North gives East quite a problem. Should she bid 3NT or support Clubs? We don’t like 3NT much at all, there is only one Heart stopper, and no help in Partner’s Spades. So, our East supports Clubs, and 5♣ becomes the final (and fine) contract.
Against 5♣, North leads a Heart which is ruffed, then trumps are drawn, and the ♠Q is ruffed out (safer than finessing). That line results in 12 tricks and +620. But there’s no justice in this world. 3NT can be held to 9 tricks by the stellar defense of a Diamond opening lead to North’s Ace and a shift to the Heart Ten. But that won’t happen at many tables, and if South attacks Hearts at Trick One then Declarer scores 11 tricks thanks to the lucky Spade position. That’s 11 tricks and +660. Rotten luck for the 5♣ bidders, they deserved a better fate.
Once East responds 1♥, West is good enough to go to game. But it would be lazy just to bid 4♥ here, West should splinter with 4♣, showing shortness in case East has a suitable hand for slam. As it happens, East is certainly interested in slam, being about as good as can be for a hand that passed originally. East also has a suitable holding opposite Club shortness and the Ace in West’s first-bid suit. So East cue-bids 4♦ to show a Diamond control. Could that control be Diamond shortness? We don’t think so, shortness in Partner’s Diamonds would be a negative, not a positive, so West can rely on 4♦ showing the ♦A or ♦K in this situation.
Against 6♥, South has an obvious ♠Q opening lead, won in Dummy. Declarer does not have the entries to hand to try for two ruffs on the board, so he crosses to the ♣A and plays on Hearts. Declarer starts with a low Heart from hand to Dummy’s Jack, protecting against a singleton King in the South hand. North craftily ducks this, but to no avail, Declarer has 12 tricks when the Diamonds break.
Let’s have pity on poor North! She downgrades her 19 HCP to a 15-18 1NT overcall and then goes for a rather large number. It’s -800 if East finds the inspired ♣Q, and probably -500 on other leads. But either way, E-W get a good board.
Playing in 4♠ it might seem that Declarer has a loser in each side-suit but in fact one of them will disappear. - If East leads the ♦A, Dummy’s Diamonds provide pitches for the Clubs. - If East leads a low Club, Declarer takes West’s with his Ace, draws trumps, and leads a low Diamond towards the board. East can take his ♦A, but now Declarer can arrange three pitches for his Hearts. - If East leads the ♥K (somewhat optimistically!) Declarer makes 12 tricks.
North’s hand does not quite pass the Rule of 20 test, but it does contain Ace-King, Ace and a good 5-card suit that we want to get into the auction. Let’s face it, we’d hate to pass this hand and then hear the auction go 1NT-3NT from the opponents!
E-W have a 4-4 Heart fit and over half the HCP, but they do well not to compete to the three-level. If E-W do bid on to 3♥ it will be played by West. North will lay down the ♣A and must shift at Trick 2 to a Diamond. It would be fatal to cash the second Club at Trick 2, that allows a Diamond loser to go away on the third round of Clubs and E-W escape for down one and -100. Playing in 3♣ North makes 9 easy tricks.
There are two species that will object to East’s opening bid of 1NT: - Some are opposed to opening 1NT with a 5-card major. It’s a rapidly disappearing breed, of course, but occasional sightings are still to be made. - Others will object to opening 1NT with a maximum and a 5-card suit, saying that the hand is too strong. Maybe so, but the 5-card suit is weak, the hand has no Tens, and that ♥QJ doubleton is less than awe-inspiring. Looks like 1NT to us.
Those solid citizens who open 1NT will declare 3NT. South will lead a fourth-best Heart and that’s 10 easy tricks. Next, suppose that North happens to be on lead (as she will if East opens 1♠). North will probably lead a Club, and now things are less comfortable for Declarer, at least on a temporary basis. Declarer will hold up his Ace until the third round, just like the books say. And the books turn out to be right! The ♥A turns out to be in the hand without the 13th Club, and that’s 10 tricks once again. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Holdup Plays”>>
North’s 1NT was “forcing”, part of a 2/1 system. Those who play “standard” methods with have an auction such as 1♠ 2♣, 3♠ 4♠. On this board, the Forcing No Trump may work out better for the simple reason that Clubs don’t get mentioned. West is on opening lead and with Clubs unmentioned he might prefer the “safe” Club Nine to the aggressive Heart lead. That saves Declarer the Club guess, and it might further persuade her to guess trumps correctly (as West did not lead a Spade he seems more likely to hold the ♠Q). All this could result in 12 tricks for Declarer.
Now look what happens when North bids 2♣ along the way to the 4♠ contract. Now, a more aggressive low Heart lead is more appealing, in an attempt to set up some defensive tricks before they go away on the Clubs. In this case, Declarer might play Spades the “normal” way, which is low to the King and run the Ten. That loses a trump trick, and Declarer will also lose a Club trick with percentage play. Making only 10 tricks!
West decides that his magnificent 17-count is just too good for a 15-17 1NT, given the 5-card suit, good controls and the Tens. So his plan is to open 1♦ and then rebid 2NT (ostensibly showing 18-19) when Partner responds one-of-a-major. But East passes (1♥ would not be unreasonable either) and South balances with 2♣. West should now abandon his plan to rebid 2NT, his side does not have game, and 2♦ is likely to be the safer E-W contract. Good bid, 2♦ squeaks home for 8 tricks and +90. However, some Souths just don’t know a good -90 when they see one, they’ll back in with 2♥ which will be down one (maybe worse) for -100.
North takes her life in her hands by backing into the auction at the 3-level with her meager 5-count. Should the hitherto silent South, who has by far the best hand at the table, try 3NT? It’s highly tempting as South can count on North for a 6-card suit. How can we be so sure? Well, North cannot have more than one Spade and did not Double, so she won’t have 1=3=4=5 or 1=4=3=5 shape. And if she was 1=5=2=5 or 1=2=5=5 she would balance with 2NT (in this situation this is best used as showing any two-suiter, not just the minors). If North has 6 Clubs, and if the opponents lead Spades, it should be possible to come to 3NT. Anyway, Pass or 3NT, at matchpoints it’s something of a close choice we think, though many will say that not to bid 3NT here is just plain feeble.
Against 3♣, East leads the ♦A and can tell from the spots that Declarer has a second Diamond. So, he continues the suit, gives Partner a ruff and that is down one.
Suppose that South takes the plunge in 3NT. If West leads a Spade, Declarer wins and plays on Clubs, scoring 9 easy tricks! But an opening Heart lead works so better for the defense. Dummy’s ♥K entry to the Clubs will be knocked out before the Clubs are set up, and West will be sure to duck a Club to cut Declarer off from Dummy. The final result will be down 4!
A straightforward auction to the obvious contract. South leads the ♥Q to North’s Ace. North can now end the proceedings by cashing the ♦A, that’s 11 tricks for Declarer. But let’s say that North continues Hearts. Now Declarer can make 12 tricks if he guesses the Clubs correctly, pitching the ♦K on the 4th round of Clubs. But that’s not without risk! If the Club is misguessed Declarer is held to 10 tricks. The safer line is to draw trumps, ending on the board, and lead a low Diamond from the board. Maybe North will be taking a nap and forget to grab the ♦A.
This is one of those hands where there is likely to be a different auction at every table. In the auction above, East was no doubt licking his chops after North’s 1♥ overcall, eagerly awaiting a reopening Double from West and a juicy penalty. But it never came to that, and we suppose that the final contract is likely to be 3♦ by West or 3♣ by North.
Against 3♦, the best defense is to lead the ♣K and, when Declarer holds up, to continue the suit. Now making 3♦ is most difficult, but Declarer can prevail with this sparkling (and maybe double dummy) line of play: ♣K wins the first trick Dummy’s ♣A wins the continuation ♥A is cashed ♥K is led and ruffed (Declarer is hoping the ruff is with a natural trump trick) Now, South shifts to a Spade at which point Declarer’s only hope is that North’s presumed singleton is the King or Queen. So the play continues: Spade shift won by Declarer’s Ace ♦A is cashed Diamond won by South Now South has one Spade to come, but that’s all. 9 tricks for Declarer.
If North buys it in 3♣ she’ll probably make 9 tricks. But there is an unlikely and difficult defense which earns the defense a 9th trick. The defense starts with two rounds of Hearts, Dummy ruffing the second. Then East gets in with the ♣A and leads a third round of Hearts, which West can overruff. Down one!
Post Script You may be wondering what that “?” after the 1♥ bid is all about. Well, we wonder if 2♣ isn’t a better bid in the circumstances. After all, Partner is a passed hand, and it looks as if N-S will be outbid, all the more so as E-W are likely to have a Spade fit (as it happens, they don’t!). So, it seems to us that a lead-directing 2♣ has more going for it than that rather pointless overcall of 1♥.
With that outside King and Queen, West does not exactly have a perfect 3♠ preempt, but it’s certainly not a 1♠ opening and who wants to pass a 7-card Spade suit? If the vulnerability were Red vs White we might consider opening 2♠, but as it’s not we say “Full steam ahead!” After 3♠, North has an obvious 4♦ bid (no doubt praying that 3NT is not the place to be), and N-S land up in 5♦.
Against 5♦, a Heart lead holds Declarer to 11 tricks. But that’s unlikely, East is more likely to plunk down the ♠K in order to take a look at Dummy. The look that he gets is that of Dummy’s Ace winning the trick, trumps being drawn, the ♣K being knocked out, and Declarer’s Heart loser disappearing on the long Club. 12 tricks at most tables.
In this set the Rule of 20 is violated no fewer than three times (see also Boards 20 and 30), but this time East has plenty of excuses: third seat, White vs Red, decent Spade suit, and more than his fair share of Tens and Nines. South doubles (much better than overcalling 2♣), raising a system question for West … is Drury on in this situation? We like to play that Drury is on over the Double, but it’s something of a red herring because this hand is just not good enough for such an adventure. 2♠ is plenty with that poor 9-count.
The final contract is likely to be 3♥ by North and 9 tricks are made with careful use of entries. East leads the ♠Q, won in Dummy. Now the ♥Q is finessed, then a Club to the King, Heart to the Ace and another Club, this time won by East. Now, with Dummy’s Clubs established, Declarer has an abundance of tricks, and the defense must grab their two Diamond winners while they still can. Making 9 tricks. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Entry Management”>>
Back to the bidding. West can reason that both sides probably have 8 trumps, and that if 3♥ is making then (according to the Law of Total Tricks), 3♠ is down two. That makes it a bargain if 3♠ is mercifully undoubled, but surely North will brandish her red card and make E-W pay the price. Watch this nice defense against 3♠ doubled: Heart won by North’s Queen Club shift ducked by Declarer, won by the Queen Low Club to Declarer’s Ace Low Spade to South’s Ace ♣K is ruffed Spade Queen is ducked by North (good play!) Spade won by North’s King ♥A is cashed Now North plays another Heart, and whether Declarer ruffs this in his hand (to take the Diamond finesse), or wins it on the board, the defense has two more tricks coming. Down three doubled! North earned her side a top by (a) doubling 3♠, (b) shifting to a Club at Trick 2, (c) ducking the second round of trumps. Yes, Declarer could have saved a trick by playing on Diamonds earlier, but that would still have been -300 and an E-W zero. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Disrupting Declarer's Entries”>>
Anyone for 3NT with the North hand? Pretty tempting considering the fillers, but there is an alarming absence of Aces in the hand. Anyway, with the ♠Q offside, 3NT turns out not to be a good spot, it’s down two. Life is better in 3♦ which is good for 9 tricks, maybe 10 if the defense do not attack Spades early.
There are a bunch of debatable actions in this auction! - Not every East will open that hand, but it almost passes the Rule of 20, and that void must count for something. - Some Souths might try 2♥, which would not be so terrible (now it will take great restraint from North if N-S are not to get too high). - Should East shrink away from bidding 1♠, on the grounds that he is (sub-) minimum? We don’t think so, better to keep faith with the first bid and show Partner what you have. - How about South’s 2♥? A good bid, we’d say! It’s clear that North has a very good hand. After all, she did Double twice. When you further consider that East appears to have a three-suited minimum and that West has a moderate hand (for his 1NT bid), it’s clear that North’s hand must indeed be rather good. So, nothing awful is likely to happen in 2♥. - Should North go to game in Hearts? Definitely not! South did not preempt 2♥ originally, nor did he bid 2♥ the next time around. In the circumstances, he is unlikely to have much of a Heart suit. Perhaps an invitational 3♥ then? No, even that might be a bit much (South would decline the invitation, of course).
Anyway, 2♥ turns out to be a comfortable spot, making 9 easy tricks.
There are still some Wednesday Gamers who prefer not to open 1NT with that West hand, but the auction shown here is likely to be the most popular. We suppose that North will lead the ♣K, on which South will drop the encouraging Jack. Declarer will hold up his Ace until the third round, by which time things are starting to look grim! Declarer can get to 9 tricks if the ♠K and ♦K are both onside and the Hearts are worth 4 tricks. That’s a lot to ask for and it might be better to set up the Spades. The way to do this, while keeping some other options open is to play the Spade Eight from hand. No doubt South will win this and cash a Club, but now the lucky Spade situation brings home the rest. Making 9 tricks.
What are your methods opposite Partner’s overcall? One approach that is popular nowadays is: - A cue-bid of the opponent’s suit shows support (at least invitational values) - A new suit is non-forcing. But it is constructive and the overcaller will find another bid unless she has a pretty dismal hand (let’s say 10 or less) - Because of that, the way to make a forcing bid in a new suit is to jump shift.
So, in the auction above, South has a fairly obvious 2♠ call, after which N-S will end up in 3NT (played by North) or 4♠.
In 4♠ there are 10 routine tricks. How about 3NT? If the defense attacks Diamonds then Declarer scores 10 tricks, via 2 Spades, 2 Hearts, 2 Diamonds and 4 Clubs. But suppose that West wins the first Diamond and perversely shifts to a Club. Now Declarer can score only one Diamond trick, but she can cleverly get back up to 10 tricks in this exotic fashion: Diamond lead won by West’s King Club shift won in Dummy Low Heart to the King (West must play low) Three Clubs are cashed Heart to West’s Ace Here is the end-position: Declarer ♠ 2 ♥ Q8 ♦ QT7 ♣ West East ♠ Q75 ♠ 98 ♥ ♥ T9 ♦ A98 ♦ 43 ♣ ♣ South ♠ AKJT64 ♥ ♦ ♣ West cannot exit a Spade for obvious reasons, and if he cashes the ♦A and exits a Diamond then Declarer scores two Diamonds after all. So best is for West is to exit the ♦9. Nice try but not good enough! Declarer wins the Diamond and cashes the ♥Q, catching West in a strip-squeeze: - If West pitches a Spade then Dummy is good - If West pitches a Diamond, she gets thrown in with a Diamond and is forced to concede the last three tricks to Dummy’s Spades. Does that mean that North always makes 10 tricks in 3NT? No, the unlikely opening lead of a Spade will put paid to that pretty end-play. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Throw-In Squeezes”>>
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