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Hand Analyses 1st July, 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, South needs to help out Partner in the defense. Adjacent to the text for that hand you will see the link >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Helping Partner”>> which will transport you to the collection of hands with the same theme.
We are always tempted to preempt with those weak 6-4 hands, but North’s hand has no Club intermediates, and the 4-card major is another minus factor, so on this occasion North tamely passes. But South does preempt, and West winds up in 3♠ (or even 4♠ if East gets optimistic).
Against 3♠, North leads her singleton Diamond, giving South the chance to defeat the contract with some spiffing defense. She wins the trick with the Ten, and can tell that, as North led the Two, it is Declarer and not North who has the remaining Diamond. So, South returns the ♦4 at Trick 2, forcing North to ruff! North will wonder why South made her ruff instead of simply cashing a second Diamond, and the inescapable conclusion will be that South wants a Club ruff. So back comes the ♣Q (suit preference) which is duly ruffed, then a Heart to North’s Ace and a second Club ruff. Nicely done for down one! >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Helping Partner”>> >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Suit Preference”>>
North has a pretty miserable collection for her 1♠ bid, few would argue that point. If we assume that N-S are playing Support Doubles then South’s 2♠ guaranteed 4-card support. That being the case, North knew that her side had a 9-card fit, but she correctly declined to compete to the 3-level, she had already done plenty with that loser-ridden hand.
As for East, she would also have done better not competing to the 3-level. 2♠ is down one, and so is 3♦.
You are probably familiar with the Rule of 15. You add your HCP to the number of Spades and if the total is 15 or more then the hand is suitable for a 4th seat opening. By that reckoning East should pass this deal out, but that hardly makes sense with such good playing strength.
What is your choice, as South, having passed initially and then heard 1♥ on your right? It seems that South needs to do something, all the more so as her side is White vs Red: - 2♣? The suit is certainly good enough but it seems that South should be offering a choice to Partner. - Double? This is definitely a possibility and might be the choice of many. But three small Spades is not very appetizing, the danger is that North will over-compete in Spades with a moderate 4-card holding. - 2NT? This would show the minors but a more distributional hand, and perhaps a weaker one. - 1NT? That would be our choice, also showing the minors (as a passed hand). That’s where all the values are, and that’s what we want led if West ends up declaring some number of No Trump.
After South’s 1NT, West could just blast into 4♥, but that’s a bid that would usually be made with a weaker hand. But, if West doubles to announce a good hand, planning to bid lots of Hearts later, things might work out badly if North leaps to 5♣ or 5♦, as West will be reluctant to double the opponents (especially at this vulnerability) without showing that Heart support. What is really needed is a way to show a good hand with Heart support. Some partnerships play Unusual vs Unusual but they may not have discussed whether it applies in this particular auction. So in the absence of clear-cut agreements, we suggest a 4♥ bid, followed by a Double if the opponents push on to 5♣ or 5♦. Not perfect, merely practical.
4♥ is the place to be, of course, 10 tricks whichever way you slice it. North could have been a hero by bidding 5♦, but that’s not entirely obvious, particularly considering the defensive values in Spades. If North does make the winning 5♦ bid, and ends up playing it there doubled, she’ll probably escape for down two, but down three if the defense manages to negotiate its Club ruff (unlikely, we’d say). Either way, it’s a good save against the vulnerable game.
This is a tough hand for N-S, so to make their life a little easier we are allowing them to play a 2/1 system rather than the more “standard” approach. In this case, 2/1 has the benefit of making things only difficult rather than very difficult.
3♦ was forcing, 3♠ showed 3-card support, 4♣ was a cue-bid (presumably Spades are agreed, but North might have had other plans). At this point South had nothing more to say and so she bid 4♠. North pressed on with Roman Key Card and the dubious slam was reached.
Playing in 6♠, Declarer must avoid two Heart losers. East might save Declarer the guess by plunking down the ♥A on opening lead. That’s a tempting lead at matchpoints, sometimes if you don’t grab it at Trick 1 you don’t get it. Those Norths who don’t get a Heart lead will need to have their guessing shoes on.
Is the West hand good enough for a slam try opposite a 20-21 2NT opening? Not quite, it’s a point or two shy. The next question is “Should West try for a 4-4 Spade fit?” to which the answer is a resounding “No!” Here’s why: - E-W have more points than they need to make game, there’s an excellent chance they can make loads of tricks without the need for a ruff. - West’s doubleton is the ♥Q, which reduces the likelihood that there is a useful ruff in that hand. - The Spades are awful, and there is a good chance that No Trump will actually play better than Spades, particularly if East’s Spades are not too hot, and/or the missing trumps are 4-1. - Bidding 3NT directly gives the opening leader no useful information.
So, 3NT it is! As South, on lead against 3NT, with the aforementioned lack of useful information, if you know what to lead then we offer you our heartiest congratulations! We suppose that we would lead a Spade, but it really doesn’t matter too much. The Clubs are worth 4 tricks, the Spades are fortuitously worth three (with or without the Spade lead), and the Diamonds are even 3-3 (though not actually needed to reach 12). All in all, it’s a very lucky hand, and if you bid the rotten slam you should be thoroughly embarrassed by your top board. But you probably won’t be.
South’s Double was Responsive, showing the unbid suits, allowing North to play in 2♠. No doubt the defense will lead Diamonds. There is no practical chance to set up the Hearts and enjoy them, the trump situation is altogether too tenuous. So Declarer reverts to scrambling mode: Win Diamond lead with the Ace Ruff a Diamond Cash ♥A and ♥K Ruff a Heart (with the Seven in case there is an overruff coming) Ruff a Diamond Cross to the ♣A Ruff a Diamond Declarer now has 8 tricks in the bag. She now plays a Heart winner (forcing the defense to ruff) and will eventually come to another trump trick. +140.
Please try not to get too excited about this board. East leads a Spade and Declarer will probably corral about 8 tricks.
East’s Negative Double was certainly adventurous. Only 6 HCP, he did have a lot of offensive potential in the minors, and there was even a doubleton Spade and a Heart ruffing value if it turned out that West had a Spade one-suiter. After the Negative Double, it is hard to imagine West not bidding slam. Which slam? West might have tried 5NT here (played by some in this situation as “pick-a-slam”), but in the absence of that method he simply took a shot at 6♦.
6♦ is not cold but it should make. Suppose that the defense cashes a Heart and shifts to a trump. When trumps are drawn, Declarer will need 4 tricks from the Spade suit. There are various ways to play this suit, but with North have shown up with 9 red cards, compared with South’s 5 red cards, it seems to us that a first-round finesse is required, against South’s hoped-for ♠Q. That looks like the best way to create the 4 Spade tricks needed to fulfill the contract. As it happens the Spades were 3-3 all the time, and all roads lead to 12 tricks. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Weighing the Evidence”>>
Here’s a hand where the auction could go in numerous directions. West’s 2♣ was “inverted”, showing at least game-invitational values and denying a 5-card major. N-S will do well to get in the auction, either with South preempting in Diamonds (not ideal with that ratty suit!), or with North overcalling Spades. At the end of the day we’d expect all the E-W pairs to get to 5♣, over which N-S have a good sacrifice in 5♦ or 5♠.
5♣ is an easy 11 tricks (12 if N-S forget to cash the ♦A at Trick 1 or 2). 5♦ and 5♠ are both down two.
4♥ was something of a guess, no doubt this West expected Partner to have a decent suit for his vulnerable 3-level preempt. 4♥ turns out to be a reasonable enough contract, thanks to East’s lovely Club fillers. Nonetheless, good defense will prevail. South leads the ♣K, won by Dummy’s Ace. A Heart is led from the board, North ducks that one, and wins the second Heart. Now she must underlead her ♦A to reach South’s hand. That is followed by a Diamond ruff and down one.
South reasonably decides to rebid 1NT rather than show his 5-4 distribution. After N-S have crawled up to 3NT, West has no reason not to lead a Club. East’s ♣J will force Dummy’s Ace, and the ♦AK are unblocked. At this point, Declarer has 7 top tricks, and must develop something in the majors. As she doesn’t have the entries to lead Hearts twice from the board, she might try leading a low Heart from hand, hoping that the ♥Q is with West. It’s not, but something even better happens when the Ace pops out of the West hand (Dummy alertly unblocking the Jack). West shifts to a Spade, low from Dummy, won by East. Now East is likely to revert back to Clubs, won on the board. At this point, assuming that the Heart finesse is working, Declarer can count 9 tricks. But interesting things happen on the run of the Diamonds. Here is the position with one Diamond still left: North ♠ KT3 ♥ 4 ♦ 5 ♣ West East ♠ 876 ♠ AQ ♥ ♥ Q87 ♦ ♦ ♣ Q7 ♣ South ♠ 9 ♥ KT9 ♦ ♣ T When that last Diamond is played, East has no good choice: - If he pitches a Spade, then Declarer takes the Heart finesse, and exits a Spade, end-playing East in Hearts. - If he pitches a Heart, then Declarer scores an extra Heart trick. That’s 10 tricks (and probably a top board) on a hand where we expect many Declarers to go down (by playing on Spades). >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “Throw-In Squeeze”>>
West has a hand which many would pass, but White versus Red, with 6-4 distribution and precious little defense, it often pays to get in there.
Over to South. If East is known to be a tricky fellow, you might wonder about his 3NT bid. 3NT down nine has been known to happen before at this vulnerability, and it would be extremely galling for N-S to write down +450 on their score-cards when they are cold for a vulnerable game. So we would have a lot of sympathy for a 4♥ bid here, unless East is known to be the straightest of straight arrows. Alas for South, even tricky Easts sometimes have their bid, and 4♥ (doubled, of course) turns out to be a disaster. East leads his singleton Diamond and scores two ruffs. The bottom line is 1100.
Opposite an overcall a 1NT bid shows something in the 8-11 range or thereabouts, and you might want to throw in the occasional bad 12. So, when South invites game with 3NT, West’s 9-count is perhaps not quite good enough. But North does have a lovely collection of Nines and Tens and perhaps we prejudiced here by knowing that 2NT is the limit of the hand.
Against 2NT (or 3NT), East leads a Heart which is won by Dummy’s Queen. Declarer will play East for the ♦Q, but, when the Spades don’t break, 8 tricks are the limit of the hand.
This is a hand which might be played in Diamonds by E-W (10 easy tricks) or in Clubs by N-S (also 10 tricks when Declarer is able to get rid of the Spade loser on a Heart). Our ambitious N-S pair got to the optimistic Spade game. It’s not a completely terrible contract, needing some luck in the trump suit. But that doesn’t happen and 4♠ winds up down two.
No doubt South would have preferred a slightly better Diamond suit for her 2♦ opening. And she might have preferred a little less stuff outside the Diamond suit, and also not to be vulnerable. Other than that South’s 2♦ opening was straight out of the text-book. Admit it, you’d open 2♦ also.
After the 2♦ opening, what are your methods? Many play a new suit (such as the 2♠ bid here) as forcing, but an increasingly popular method nowadays is for a new suit (at the two-level) to be “constructive”. Opener is allowed to pass with a rotten hand, and may go back to 3♦ with shortness in Partner’s suit. Otherwise, she’ll bid again, and with a decent hand and 3-card support she’ll have no qualms about jumping to game.
South’s follow-up becomes moot when East leaps to 5♣. South passes, of course, and now North must make a guess. Does he double? Or take a shot at 5♠? We like to think that we would bid 5♠ here because that happens to be the winner.
The play in 5♠ might go as follows: ♣A is cashed Club ruff Heart to the Ace ♦Q is finessed Heart to the King Heart ruff Losing Spade finesse. That’s the last trick for the defense, so 11 tricks for Declarer.
Some will open the West hand 1♣ (planning to rebid 1NT if Partner bids 1♠), others will open 1♦ planning to rebid 2♣. Neither is perfect, take your pick. But it probably won’t matter much on this deal, it looks like East is destined to play in 2♠, and some aggressive Norths will double that. Down one is the best that East can hope for.
We wonder if anyone at any table will actually manage to make a contract on this deal. North will open 1NT, and South has three ways to go: - Transfer to Spades: This ensures that at least a 5-2 fit will be reached, but runs the risk of missing a more profitable 4-4 Heart fit. - Garbage Stayman: Here, South bids 2♣ and, when she hears 2♦ from Partner, she bids 2♥, which says “pick-a-major”. This approach gets N-S to their 4-4 fit when they have one, but risks the occasional 4-2 fit when, as here, Opener is 2-2 in the majors. The good news, on this particular hand, is that North will choose Spades, getting to the 5-2 fit after all. - Modified Garbage Stayman: Some play a version of Garbage Stayman whereby the Hearts are always at least as long as the Spades, which reduces the chances on ending up in the 4-2 fit. Anyway, there are pros and cons in each of the above, but on this deal all roads lead to 2♠ played from the North side. This won’t be much fun, and escaping for down one will be a job well done.
With 7 Spades, South might normally be expected to jump in with a 3♠ preempt, but at this unfavorable vulnerability perhaps 2♠ is enough. West’s Negative Double was reasonable enough, and North must have been hoping for a decent penalty when he doubled 3♥. But down one is the best that N-S can manage, scoring a paltry +100.
How many tricks are possible for N-S, playing in Spades? Only 8 in theory, because West can lead a Diamond and give East a ruff later in the play. But, more likely, West will lead a Heart and that will result in 9 tricks.
The West hand does pass the Rule of 20, but it hardly looks like an opening bid, does it? There is an alarming absence of Tens, and there are also those dubious doubleton Jacks, both of which would be more useful if accompanied by other honors. And, if that is not enough to discourage West from opening, West also has that awkward 4-5 minor hand which can create rebid problems with weak hands. His options would be: - Open 1♣ and rebid 2♣: Surely not, with such a rotten suit. - Open 1♦ and rebid 2♣: Some like this style, but it is mis-descriptive, better to avoid this except with certain 1-3-4-5 hands. - Open 1♣ and rebid 1NT: The only excuse for opening the hand would be the 5-4 shape, and to rebid 1NT with such poor values (rather than showing both suits) would be inconsistent.
Anyway, if West passes, North is likely to wind up in a cozy 2♥ contract, making 9 tricks one way or another.
Adherents to the Rule of 20 will open the North hand for sure, and the optimists will even consider that the possession of those three Tens constitutes substantial extra values. Even so, as we saw with West’s hand on Board 19, there is a potential rebid problem to consider whenever we are 4-5 in the minors. Some like to open these hands 1♦ and rebid 2♣, but it hardly seems right to open a weak 4-card suit when also holding a strong 5-card suit. So, our own suggestion would be to open 1♣, planning to rebid 2♣ if Partner bids 1♥, and to rebid 1NT if Partner bids 1♠.
This plan works rather well when it gets 3NT played from the North side, protecting the AJ from an opening Heart lead. Let’s say that East leads a Heart anyway. Declarer wins the Jack in her hand, and can see communication problems if the defenders duck a couple of rounds of Diamonds. So the best line of play appears to be: Win the ♥J Lead the ♠T to the Jack, Queen, King Win the Heart return Lead the ♦A (cleverly ducked) Lead the ♦K (ducked again) Diamond to East’s Ace Spade shift (!) won on the board Now Declarer cannot cash Dummy’s ♥K and ♠Q for fear of setting up too many tricks for the defense. So she leaves those winners stranded and leads a Club to her King. East’s pesky defense turns out to be in vain and Declarer has 9 tricks, one way or the other. If North chooses to rebid 2♣ then South will wind up in 3NT and that contract is down one when West leads a Heart. Now Declarer has only two Heart stoppers and cannot quite get to 9 tricks before the defense gets to 5.
If you are going to play in 3NT, it usually pays to tell the opponents as little as possible along the way, and it usually also helps to make the strong hand Declarer. North, with two minor suit Kings to protect, opens 1NT rather than 1♠, and is suitably rewarded when East has a blind lead against 3NT.
After this auction, East will lead a Spade, of course, and now it’s an easy matter for Declarer to score 4 Spade tricks. That will be an easy 11 tricks, and 12 if East forgets to grab his ♦A in time. +660 most of the time.
Things work less well if North makes the mistake of opening 1♠. Now one of these bad things will probably happen: - Either, N-S will end up in 4♠, a contract which can make 11 tricks but is more likely to make only 10 tricks when normal play produces two trump losers and the ♦A. That’s only +620. - Or, N-S will avoid the 4♠ trap, but, against 3NT the defense will be warned off a Spade lead. Now Declarer will play on Spades, losing two tricks in the suit. A likely +630.
West’s 3♣ was a Bergen Raise showing a 4-card raise and constructive values (which is to say something between a preemptive raise and a game-invitational raise). Would you bid as North? We certainly recommend it! At this vulnerability there is a good chance that 5♦ will be a profitable sacrifice, and North should suggest this to partner. But not by bidding 3♦, that might sound like a lead-director or a hand with values. A bold 4♦ is called for here, making it quite clear to Partner that this is a preemptive effort and strongly suggesting a sacrifice.
Over to South. After East bids 4♥, should she sacrifice in 5♦? Absolutely! At one point in the auction, South had good defensive prospects, but those prospects plummeted when North preempted in Diamonds. Now those Diamonds values may well be worthless on defense, and 4♥ looks likely to make. An easy 5♦ bid.
Yes, 4♥ makes 10 tricks, but no more, and 5♦ doubled is a profitable sacrifice at down three for -500.
As South, what’s your pleasure over 2♣? The obvious choices are: - Support Spades? It’s usually a good plan to support Partner’s major, but 2♠ doesn’t seem like quite enough, 3♠ would be preemptive, and 3♣ (showing game-invitational values) seems a bit too much. We suppose that if we had to raise Spades we would bid a conservative 2♠, at least when playing matchpoints. - Negative Double? As none of the Spade bids seems ideal, we’d try a Negative Double as a good way of postponing the issue. Hopefully things will be clearer next time around.
As it happens, whatever route South takes will get N-S to the obvious 4♠ contract. The defense has two Aces and a trump trick, but that’s all. It’s possible that the Club loser will go away (on the Hearts) if East fails to cash it early in the play, but if that is the case then the trick will come back to the defense in the form of a second Diamond trick. So, either way, 10 tricks for Declarer.
The play in 3♥ is routine, it’s an automatic down one when the Heart finesse loses. But, even though it turned out to be the losing bid, we wouldn’t be too critical of that 3♥ bid … on a good day finesses work … and West also has a fit in East’s first suit.
But suppose that West chooses to double 3♣ instead, a so-called “action double” giving East the option of defending or bidding on. East will no doubt choose to defend and the question is “Will Declarer go down two for a bad N-S score, or down one for a good score?” Please see the Play Problem.
Some Easts will prefer to double 1♥ rather than overcall, but either way West should end up as Declarer in 4♠. North leads Hearts and Declarer ruffs the third round. Declarer’s initial goal will be to set up the Clubs in order to pitch away his Diamond loser, after which he has a chance to make 11 tricks. So, after ruffing the Heart he finesses the Club, then cashes the ♠A. The 5-0 trump break makes 11 tricks no longer possible, but he can still scrape up 10 tricks. He ruffs a Club, crosses to the ♠Q, and plays a Club. South can ruff or not, either way she scores just one trump trick, and Declarer gets rid of the Diamond loser.
Note that Declarer cannot make the contract if, after ruffing the third round of Hearts, he carelessly plays on trumps. Now he is locked in Dummy and will have to lose a Club or a Diamond at some point.
Both sides have a 10-card major fit and some distribution, and it’s not long before both sides have gone beyond their last making contract. Some bids of note: - West’s 2♥: West was right not to preempt with that hand. True, it’s weak with 4 trumps, but the hand is square and, even worse, it has two defensive tricks against a Spade contract. - North’s 4♥: A splinter. If not a tad under-strength then it is certainly minimum. - East’s 5♥: A reasonable guess. How was East supposed to know that all of Partner’s values were in Spades. Put the ♠KQ in with the Diamonds and 5♥ has a good play.
If South is brilliant enough to lead anything but a Spade then 5♥ is down two. But South might well lead the decidedly unbrilliant ♠A and now N-S are headed towards -850 after this line of play: ♠A is ruffed ♥A is cashed ♦A is cashed Over to Dummy with a Heart ♦KQ are cashed, pitching a Diamond and a Club from hand A Club to South’s Jack Now, South can cash the ♣K, but after that he must concede a ruff and sluff, allowing Declarer’s third Club loser to go away.
E-W have a sensible auction to reach the cold slam (as they were playing a 2/1 style, East was not good enough for a 2♣ response). But no overtrick on this one, the auction telegraphs an opening lead of the ♦A.
Many will open the West hand 2♣, after which the auction might go: 2♣ 3♣ 4♥ 4♠ 4NT 5♣ 6♥ Pass West’s 4♥ says “Minimum hand, Hearts are trumps”. East is too good to pass that, so he shows something in Spades, and that was followed by Roman Key Card (1430).
It’s not everybody’s style to open that hand 1NT, many would prefer to open 1♣ and rebid 3♣. That’s fair enough, and no doubt it is a more accurate description of the North hand, but there’s a tactical advantage to opening 1NT, because (a) it preempts the opponents, (b) it gives away less information, (c) it protects the strong hand from the opening lead. Just as, on Board 21, opening 1NT with a 5-card turned out to be a great success, so opening 1NT with a 6-card minor works like a charm here.
Do you play Texas? If so, South’s hand is a prime candidate. Is Texas on in competition? Yes, the standard treatment is that it is still on provided that the interference is no higher than 3♣. So, after East’s 2♣ (DONT) bid, 4♦ is Texas, right-siding the contract.
On lead against 4♥, East will probably start out with a low Club for want of better. Declarer hastily dumps Dummy’s Spades on the ♣AK, ruffs a Club with the Eight (she has hopes of setting up the suit for a couple of Diamond pitches). When Clubs don’t break, after trumps are drawn, Declarer must rely on 3-3 Diamonds. That suit does oblige and 4♥ squeaks home.
Here’s what might happen if North opens 1♣: West North East South Pass 1♣ Pass 1♥ 1♠ 3♣ 3♠ 4♥ After this start the final contract will be 4♥ (played from the wrong side, so down one on the obvious ♠Q opening lead) or it will be 4♠, which, no doubt to everybody’s surprise, will actually make!
A sensible enough auction, but 3NT is doomed when East leads a Heart. Declarer holds up the Ace, wins the second round, unblocks the Clubs and leads a Spade towards her hand. But, of course, West hops up with the Ace, returns a Heart and it’s down one.
As we saw on Board 13, North’s 1NT opposite an overcall shows something in the 8-11 range or thereabouts. After 1NT, South might have been tempted to bid 4♠ directly with that lovely 6-4 hand, but she satisfied herself with just 3♠ (invitational). North was in the upper half of her HCP range, but the ♥K was badly placed, so she took the conservative route and passed.
That was fine bidding judgment by N-S, as 4♠ is a poor contract. But 10 tricks are possible at least on a double dummy basis: Heart to Jack Diamond shift won in Dummy Finesse the Spade Queen Cash ♠A Cross to Dummy with a Diamond Club to the King Low Club felling East’s Ace East still has a trump trick but Declarer has the rest, making 10 tricks. That was the winning line of play but was it the best line? Declarer might equally well have played East for Axx in Clubs in which case she might plan this unsuccessful line: Heart to Jack Diamond shift won in Dummy Club to the King Cross to Dummy with a Diamond Club won by East Diamond ruffed by Declarer Now Declarer tries to reach Dummy with a Club ruff, but gets overruffed. The defense still has a trump trick to come, so only 9 tricks.
West has 12 HCP and his hand passes the Rule of 20, but even so, when it comes to opening bids this one is definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel (two dangling Queens, no Tens). After West raises Hearts, East was vaguely interested in slam, and also was wondering whether 3NT might not be the best spot. So he tried 2NT, a “MinMax” bid, to which the responses were: 3♣ Three Hearts, minimum hand 3♦ Three Hearts, maximum hand 3♥ Four Hearts, minimum hand 3♠ Four Hearts, maximum hand In the absence of a response which said “Four Hearts, sub-minimum hand”, West made do with 3♥.
In 4♥ South might well find the understandable, but most unfortunate, lead of a low Spade, and that hands Declarer his 11th trick, losing just two trumps. A trump lead would be very dangerous from that holding and it gets what it deserves by blowing a trump trick and again allowing Declarer to make 11 tricks. It may appear as if a minor suit opening lead will hold Declarer to 10 tricks, but there is a route to 11 tricks: Diamond lead won by Dummy’s Queen Club to the King Heart to the Queen Cash ♦AK (pitching a Club) Cash ♣AK and ruff a Club Heart to the King and South’s Ace South can now cash her second Heart winner, but has been stripped of all her red cards. With nothing left but Spades she is end-played.
Against 3NT South leads the ♠Q which hands Declarer a third Spade trick and 11 altogether when the Clubs break and the Heart finesse works. That Spade lead was most unfortunate but it turns out that Declarer can always make 11 tricks. Suppose that South (somewhat improbably) leads a Diamond. Dummy wins that, the ♣A is knocked out, a Diamond return is ducked, then the next Diamond is won by Declarer’s King. The black suits are cashed and this is the position with one Club left: North ♠ ♥ K97 ♦ 9 ♣ Dummy Declarer ♠ T ♠ ♥ T6 ♥ AQ8 ♦ ♦ 7 ♣ 6 ♣ South ♠ QJ9 ♥ J ♦ ♣ At this point, with the aid of the Heart finesse, Declarer has 3 more tricks. But when the last Club is played a squeeze against North produces the extra trick. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “SqueezeTechnique”>>
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