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Hand Analyses 3rd February, 2010
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 6, we show a variation where West has the chance for a brilliant deceptive defensive play. Adjacent to the text for that hand you will see the link >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “DeceptiveDefense”>> which will transport you to the collection of hands with the same theme.
It’s easy to see N-S getting too high on this board: - Many Souths will be unable to resist raising Spades with that singleton in the enemy suit (3♠ in the auction above was preemptive) - Once South has made a peep, many Norths will push on to game, as the bidding marks South with Diamond shortness.
Anyway, there is not much to the play of the hand. N-S have 9 tricks in Spades, and E-W have 9 tricks in Diamonds.
This is the kind of deal which might result in a different auction at every table. In the auction given we’ll just say that South’s 1♠ vulnerable overcall might be a bit much for some, and that West’s Double was a Support Double.
The bottom line is that West makes 3♣ easily enough. He ruffs the second Spade, crosses to board with a Diamond, loses the Club finesse, ruffs the Spade continuation, and loses another Club. At this point North is out of Spades, and it’s 9 easy tricks.
Some comments on the bidding: - Some Souths will be tempted to open 2♠ with that awful suit, and we admit that we might, too, but only because to the favorable vulnerability. - West is good value for a 3♣ rebid, his hand is somewhat improved by the bidding (Spades have been bid on his right and there’s that lovely singleton in North’s Diamonds). As West was in the business of upgrading his hand, he might have considered reversing with 2♥ instead of rebidding 3♣, but that would be a tad optimistic, considering that East was unable to bid over 1♦. Also, going straight to 3♣ makes it harder for North to support Spades.
Against 3♦, East leads a Club to West’s Ace, Declarer’s ♣K wins the second trick, and a Club is ruffed on the board (it doesn’t help East to ruff with the Queen). Now, the Diamond finesse loses, and East must promptly shift to a Heart (if he fails to do so, West is destined to be end-played). Fortunately for E-W, that Heart shift is rather obvious, so it’s 9 tricks for Declarer.
East’s 4♥ is generally played as preemptive and with 9 HCP some might say that the hand is too strong. But look again! East has very little (if any) defense against a N-S contract and surely does best to go straight to game. North did well to try 4♠, following the general rule that bidding 4♠ over 4♥ is so often a profitable venture. On the actual layout, bidding 4♠ works just fine, -200 (if doubled, and West might not) instead of -620.
After a 1NT overcall, most partnerships play “systems on”, so East’s 2♦ is a transfer to Hearts. The play is fairly straightforward, with Declarer scoring 8 tricks at most tables. There is a possibility for a ninth trick if South is asleep at the switch and fails to shift to Spades when in with the ♥K.
North’s 3♦ was a natural game try, just bidding what she’d got, but South was happy to accept the game try whatever it meant, she did have a rather good 2♥ raise.
Against 4♥ East leads a Club and you ruff. It would be nice if you could get to Dummy twice and take both the red suit finesses, but that may not be possible, as the ♠K is likely to be with West. You run the ♠J at Trick 2, hoping that East unexpectedly has the King or else that West will make the mistake of winning his King on the first round. But West cleverly ducks, and you repeat the finesse, this time losing to the King. Back comes a Spade to the Ace and finally you are on the board.
You lead a Heart next, and the King pops up from East. Now there’s another Dummy entry! You take your Ace and lead a low Heart towards the Tx. Sooner or later, that gets you to the board for a chance to run the ♦T. When that finesse works, and when the suit is 3-3, you have 11 tricks. That was sensibly played. Firstly, you gave East a chance to go wrong by running the ♠J. Secondly, you realized there was a trump entry when East’s ♥K appeared.
Defensive Fantasy: Imagine you are West, holding basically the same hand, but with ♥KJ doubleton. If that is the case then it looks as if Declarer can score no fewer than 12 tricks. The play goes the same as before, and when a Heart is led from the board you play the King! Great false-card! Declarer will be hoodwinked into leading towards Dummy’s ♥T and your Jack wins. You have now swindled Declarer out of a trump trick and held him to 11 tricks. And, if Declarer has carelessly played both his tiny trumps (one for the Club ruff, the other when leading to the Heart Ten) then there’s no entry for the Diamond finesse and there are only 10 tricks! >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “DeceptiveDefense”>>
We don’t think that the West hand is nearly good enough for a vulnerable two-level overcall, but whether or not West takes action, N-S should surely end up in 4♠, one way or another (the auction above was 2/1 style).
Playing in Spades, South has 12 black winners, so it will be essential for E-W to cash their three red tricks on the go. That danger should be quite clear to West, assuming that he was paying attention to the auction, so we’d suggest that he gets a red suit Ace on the table at the speed of light. After that, with the ♦K appearing in Dummy, E-W will have no trouble getting their three tricks in time.
What would you open with the West hand? Two schools of thought: - Pretend the hand is 5-5 by opening 1♥, planning to rebid Diamonds - Pretend the hand is reverse strength by opening 1♦, planning to rebid Hearts (twice if the auction permits) Actually, pretending that the hand is worth a reverse is not much of a stretch at all. True, it’s only 12 HCP, but they are all working splendidly. Using the Losing Trick Count, the hand has only 4 losers, and that is very much in the reverse range. Consider this hand: ♠ A3, ♥ AQ87, ♦ KQJT7, ♣ K9 This one is 19 HCP, and is a reverse in anyone’s book. It also has 4 losers (one in each suit), so offensively it is similar in strength to West’s actual 12-count. But, of course, the second hand has considerably more defense.
Anyway, our own preference here is to open 1♦ and reverse into Hearts, but going the other way and opening 1♥ is not at all unreasonable.
East would no doubt have liked to double North’s 3♠ for penalty, but it was just as well that E-W were playing that Double as Negative, because 3♠ makes! So, East passes and awaits developments.
Should South have bid 4♠? No doubt she was encouraged by her Diamond length, which suggested that North was likely to be short in Diamond (correct!) so therefore also likely to have two or three Clubs (unfortunately for N-S, incorrect!). So, 4♠ seems reasonable enough to us.
Now East does get a chance to double for penalty, and is probably disappointed when it goes down only one.
East could certainly have been excused from opening that ugly 12-count, those Queens and Jacks do not exactly get the blood racing, do they?
“Law of Total Tricks” purists may strenuously object, but over 1♣, we suggest that South overcalls 1♥ (and we would also suggest a 1♥ opening if East had passed). Hearts are the suit that South wants led in the quite likely event that North ends up on opening lead, and the favorable vulnerability should further encourage South to get in there and compete for the part-score. Passing would be quite feeble, and doubling with that square shape is not attractive (nor would that help North to find an opening Heart lead).
Over 1♠, what would you bid with the North hand? There are numerous choices! - 2♥? Definitely not, that would be feeble in the extreme. - 3♥? Also not a good idea. Most play that bid as preemptive, and this hand is way too good for that. - 3♣? Some play this jump cue-bid as a “mixed raise” or a “constructive raise”, which is to say something a little less than game-invitational with 4-card support. If that is an option in the N-S system then it wouldn’t be a bad choice. - 2♣ or 2♠? Both of these cue-bids would show Heart support and a decent hand, and a common style is for the cheap 2♣ cue-bid to show 3-card support and the more expensive 2♠ cue-bid to show 4-card support. So, if 3♣ is not an option, we suggest 2♠ here.
The 1♥ overcall and the 2♠ Heart raise work well, pushing N-S up to 3♠. This contract is down one or two, depending upon whether West can guess the Spade situation.
This set has started with a whole bunch of rather messy deals and here is another one. We can envisage a number of different possible contracts: - 1NT by South will probably scramble 7 tricks - It’s not impossible that optimistic N-S pairs might stumble into 3NT (in the auction above, North no doubt gave 3NT some serious thought after the 3♣ bid from South) - In Clubs, N-S can make 9 tricks easily enough, but can they make 10 tricks on a Diamond lead? The play goes: ♦A wins opening lead; Spade to the Jack; ♦K is cashed; Diamond ruff; Spade to the King and East’s Ace; trump shift won by the Ace; ♥A; Heart pitched on a Spade; Heart ruff. Now another Diamond is led and West must ruff low. This way the defense scores its three remaining trumps separately, providing compensation for never getting their Heart trick. So, just 9 tricks. - How about a Heart contract? Probably 9 tricks, though the play is extremely complicated.
Another nondescript deal, but the good news is that we see voids, distributional hands and slams in your not-too-distant future. In the meantime, on this deal, North can scrape up 7 tricks in 1NT for +90, and if West boldly balances with 2♥ then he will be down one, and the success of his venture will depend upon whether South has the courage to double 2♥ (we say “Yes!”, but then again we can see all four hands and the diagnosis of Deep Finesse).
After North opens 1♦, what is your choice as East? Would you double? The hand certainly has the general characteristics of a Takeout Double, namely (a) shortness in the enemy suit; (b) adequate values; (c) support for the unbid suits. Having said that, it is rarely right to double when holding five Spades unless you also have a really good hand (say 18+, a hand too strong for an overcall). With a hand such as East’s it is better to overcall 1♠, planning to bid Hearts later if possible and appropriate.
Next question: suppose that East’s major holdings were reversed, now would you double or overcall 1♥? This one is less clear-cut … if you overcall 1♥, it’s unlikely that you will get a chance to show the Spades (if you bid 2♠ later you will show a better hand) … and if you double then you run the risk of missing out on a 5-3 Heart fit. So, make your own guess on the 4-5 hands, perhaps being guided by relative suit strengths … and on occasion, consider a Michales Cue-Bid. With the actual hand (but with the majors switched) of ♠ KT72, ♥ KQT62, ♦ 3, ♣ QJ5, we suppose that we would overcall 1♥, being influenced by the relative strength of the Heart suit.
Over to the South hand. Even in a 2/1 framework, that 2♥ is not forcing (but it does show a decent hand and is forcing for one round). After North rebids 2NT, South could just give up on slam and bid 3NT, but that hand is a little bit too good, don’t you think? So South bids 3♠, in the full awareness that she and North have never discussed the meaning of this bid in this situation. The only obvious message is that South is unsure about 3NT because either she thinks a suit contract might be better, or she has slam aspirations.
After 3♠, North is end-played into bidding 3NT and South gives up, no doubt feeling highly guilty that she never got around to showing Diamond support and a good hand. Well, she sort of did, that was the most likely message of her 3♠ bid. If you are unimpressed by this auction then so are we.
Playing in 3NT, East leads the ♠K, won by Declarer (no point in ducking). Declarer will play one round of Diamonds (just to make sure that the suit is not 4-0), and then fire back a Spade! Nice play! When the Eight pops out of West’s hand, Declarer has 11 tricks, thanks to a second Spade winner and the winning Heart finesse. If East refrains from an opening Spade lead (unlikely) then it is only 10 tricks.
If N-S do get to the Diamond slam then they’ll get lucky. When the Heart finesse works and the suit is 4-3 there are 12 tricks.
Some Norths might bump the bidding up to 3♥ over West’s Double. We are not sure that we would, considering the vulnerability, but either way we’d expect East to end up declaring 4♠.
Against 4♠, a Heart lead from South would be quite tragic (one good reason for North not to raise to 3♥ on three small), and a Diamond lead would also make Declarer’s life easier. So, let us assume that South finds the highly sensible opening lead of the ♣J. Dummy wins that, trumps are drawn, and the ♦J is unsuccessfully finessed. North cashes a Club, followed by a Heart to the Queen, King and Ace. Declarer has 10 sure tricks and this is one of those hands where he must decide whether to settle for just 10 or risk the contract by finessing against the ♦T, thereby scoring a third Diamond, getting a Heart pitch, and scoring an overtrick.
Well, we have looked at the Hand Record and our advice is to go for the overtrick! But, even without the Hand Record, the odds favor taking that Diamond finesse. South is known to have 8 cards in the majors, and North has only 5. The odds are that North has 4 Diamonds and that the Diamond finesse is likely to succeed. It’s your classic matchpoint situation, risking the contract for an overtrick, and praying that Partner will be understanding if it does not work. Those with irascible partners are advised to play the Diamonds from the top, that may also provide an overtrick (if the suit is 3-3), and does not risk the contract. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “MatchpointDecisions”>>
West has transferred to Hearts, what are your methods? Many pairs play some form of “super-accept”, in which Opener declines to bid just 2♥ when he has four cards in Partner’s major. There are various super-accept methods, here is our favorite: 1NT 2♦ 3♥ Any medium hand with 4 Hearts.
1NT 2♦ 2NT Any maximum hand with 4 Hearts.
1NT 2♦ 2♥ Could be bid with 4 Hearts but a rotten hand (typically quacky and square)
There are other methods out there. For example, some play that 1NT 2♥, 3♦ shows, in addition to the 4 Spades, a doubleton Diamond … this is all very scientific, but why should Declarer want to tip his hand to the defenders like that? Most of the time, Responder will not care one jot about that doubleton Diamond, he will already know where the hand is headed without that useless piece of information. Better to use a method which keeps Declarer’s hand a mystery to the defenders.
So, playing the suggested methods, we’d say that East has a medium super-accept of 3♥, which will be enough for West to zip into the game. Without the super-accept West might well have settled for 2♥.
There appears to be nothing to the play. 10 tricks.
South has an awkward hand, wouldn’t you say? Even though it passes the Rule of 20, opening 1♣ seems a bit much … and preempting 3♣ doesn’t seem quite right … and Pass seems a bit feeble, too! There’s no right or wrong here, merely unsatisfactory options. Let’s suppose that South decides to pass initially, and that the bidding then develops as shown above. What next? The choices are: - 3♥? No, that doesn’t seem like quite enough, added to which it’s counter-intuitive to bid a 4-card suit (even if it is a major) and ignore a 7-card suit (even if it is a minor). - 4♥? That is closer on values but it still distorts the distribution. - 3♣? No, not nearly enough. But it would work out rather well if West then competed to 3♠, allowing South to chirp in with 4♥. That would show an unusual hand, with 4 Hearts and long Clubs. - 4♣ or 5♣? Both are reasonable. - 3♠? That’s our choice! If Partner bids 3NT now, we’ll bid 4♥, which is a subtle (hopefully not too much so) way of showing a good hand, 4 Hearts and a long suit somewhere else. It may sound like famous last words, but (by a passed hand) what else could it mean?
Now, let’s roll forward the auction: South West North East Pass? 1♠ Dbl 2♠ 3♠ 4♠ Pass Pass ?? At this point South has to give up on Hearts and show his true colors, with 5♣. The question is “Does North have any reason to bid 6♣?” And the reluctant answer is “Not really!” South needs the perfect hand (Heart values and Diamond shortness) and we all know that Partner never has the perfect hand … except, as here, when we play her not to have the perfect hand!
The bottom line is that 6♥ and 6♣ are both cold, but if North bids 6♣ something unfortunate may happen on the way to N-S collecting their top. Yes, West may sacrifice with 6♠, down three doubled for -500, a good save against the slam, and also against the N-S vulnerable game!
Opening 2♠ with that West hand would be a bit much (minimum, rotten suit, Red vs White), and after West’s Pass, North finds herself in a similar situation to West back on Board 8. Again it is 5-6 distribution with 12 HCP, again it is a four-loser hand, and again the choice is either to show reverse values (by opening the 6-card suit), or to treat the hand as a 5-5. Our own choice is to open 1♣, others will prefer 1♦. Having opened 1♣, and seen South show some values with 2♥, what is your choice over West’s 4♠? - 5♦? Not a good idea, South will no doubt interpret this as a slam-try in support of Hearts. - Double? The vulnerability certainly suggests collecting a penalty, but E-W presumably have noticed the vulnerability too, and obviously have a huge fit and some distribution. Doubling with such an offensive hand would be somewhat bizarre. - Pass? Is this a Forcing Pass situation? Opinions may vary, but according to our own rules it is not. Nonetheless, there is something to be said for passing here and letting Partner decide the next move. - 5♣? This would be our choice. Unless Partner has some surprise wastage in the Spade suit, 5♣ is likely to make, and additionally bidding 5♣ may allow N-S to reach a good slam.
It turns out that South does have a slam-suitable hand and will try 6♣. The slam is cold, but there is a right way to play this contract and also a wrong way. Both ways succeed, so, for the purposes of a Play Problem, we will doctor the E-W hands to reward good play.
What’s your choice here: - 2♣? The plan here would be to support Hearts later, of course, but if West preempts violently that may have to be at the five-level. Better, we think, to support Partner immediately. - 4♥? No, that bid is generally played as preemptive. - 2♠? Quite reasonable. - 4♦? South has a very good hand … in addition to opening values, there is that 5th trump, Diamond shortness and a serviceable 5-card Club suit. So, some might argue that it is too good for a 4♦ splinter. We beg to differ, almost half of South’s points are in the enemy suit, and 4♦ would be our choice.
After 4♦, West will bid 4♠, now what should North do? Her 6-5 distribution says “Bid 5♥”, but her Diamond holding (opposite South’s shortness) say “Defend!”. We suppose that we would bid 5♥, which would be unfortunate for us as that contract is down one (as is 4♠ doubled). It’s a difficult hand, we wonder how many N-S pairs will manage to go plus on this one.
A Spade lead would spell instant defeat to 4♥, but suppose that East leads a Diamond. West wins his Ace, but now he has no good options: - If West tries to give Partner a trump promotion by returning a Diamond then Declarer ruffs high, cashes the ♥K, crosses to Dummy’s ♥Q, cashes three Diamonds (pitching two Spades and a Club). Now Declarer can guess the Club correctly for 11 tricks. - If West shifts to anything else, Declarer plays along similar lines, again for 11 tricks
Should West resign himself to -650 and then blame East for finding a rotten lead? No! That would be poor manners and, anyway, West can still beat the contract … he must duck the opening Diamond lead! This surprising play sacrifices the defense’s Diamond trick, but kills off Dummy’s Diamonds. Down one!
West correctly passes with that horrible 12-count, no doubt noticing the square shape and the appalling absence of Tens.
East has the right ingredients for a 4-card overcall (good suit and length in Opener’s suit) and this works out well, getting N-S to the safe resting place of 2♥ (making 8 tricks). Now let’s look at how the auction might go if East neglects to make that 4-card overcall: South West North East Pass Pass 1♦ Pass 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass Pass Pass N-S can scrape up 7 tricks in 1♠ and that will not be a good result for E-W, appropriate punishment for not making the overcall!
East’s 2♠ was Michaels (showing Hearts and a minor), and was a pretty bold effort we would say, committing E-W to play in a vulnerable three-level contract. Now, what would you do as South? You’ll notice that the choices are somewhat similar to those confronting South back on Board 17. - 4♠? No, that’s generally played as preemptive. - 3♣? This might work, but you would surely be feeling that you had not done enough if West next bid 4♥, and you then bid 4♠. - 4♥? A splinter, showing Spades and Heart shortness. Back on Board 17, after Partner opened 1♥ and RHO overcalled 1♠, we wondered whether or not ♠KQ, ♥JT873, ♦T, ♣AQ975 was too good for a splinter. We thought the splinter was OK (some will disagree), but South’s hand on this Board 20 surely is too good for a splinter. That 6th Club looks useful, the hand has great controls, and there are no wasted values. - 3♥? A simple cue-bid might elicit some useful information from Partner. - 4NT? Yes, good old Roman Key Card would be our choice! Slam doesn’t need much from Partner, good trumps alone could be enough.
The play in 6♠ is quite fascinating! Please see the Play Problem.
In last month’s Wednesday Game we had a similar situation … someone opens 2NT and Responder has a slammish minor-oriented hand. What we suggested then was to play 3♠ here as a relay to 3NT, after which Responder will describe the nature of his slam try as follows: - 4♣: One-suited slam try in Clubs - 4♦: One-suited slam try in Diamonds (some players switch the meanings of 4♣ and 4♦ in order to get the strong hand as Declarer) - 4♥: Heart shortness with both minors - 4♠: Spade shortness with both minors - 4NT: Both minors, no major shortness Using these methods, would you show a Diamond one-suiter … or a minor two-suiter? With a discrepancy of two cards in the suit lengths (to say nothing of their relative high-card strength), we’d treat this as a Diamond one-suiter. North will be happy to cooperate, as it happens, and in a matter of moments 6♦ will be reached. 6♣ and 6♦ are both cold for 12 tricks.
West is too good to double and then rebid 1NT (showing something like a good 18 to 20), so he jumps to 2NT at his second turn. The defense leads Diamonds, Declarer plays on Clubs and eventually South will be end-played in the majors, handing Declarer his 7th and 8th tricks. +120 for E-W.
South has a complete minimum for her 20-21 2NT opening … only 20 HCP, square, no Tens. So it would not be unreasonable for South to open 1♣ and rebid 2NT.
Anyway, after South opens 2NT and North transfers to Hearts, would you super-accept with the South hand. We suggest not, as we said before this hand is a complete minimum, with no ruffing value in sight.
It looks like a flat board with 11 tricks for all.
In 3rd seat it would be almost criminal not to mention those Diamonds, the only question is whether to open a light 1♦ or a 5-card Weak Two. Take your pick (we like the latter), just don’t pass!
Let’s say that East opens 2♦, as most probably would. Now South has a choice between a slightly heavy 2NT and a Double. Both are reasonable and both will propel N-S to 3NT played by South.
Against 3NT, West leads a Diamond and East inserts the Ten. At this point a careless Declarer (assuming that West has a singleton Diamond) might grab her King. But that would be a big mistake, guaranteeing the defeat of the contract. The winning play is to duck the first Diamond, after which it is possible for Declarer to build tricks in the majors without letting East back in. Nine tricks with correct play. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “HoldupPlays”>>
Perhaps that 4♥ is a slight overbid, considering those dubious minor suit values, but even if South reins it in with a 3♥ rebid, the end-result will be the same.
East doesn’t have an especially attractive lead and might well try a trump as his opening gambit. That’s a good lead, but not quite good enough. Declarer can still manage 11 tricks by getting two Diamond ruffs in her own hand: Heart won by Declarer’s Queen Lose a Diamond Trump return won in Dummy Diamond ruff Spade to Dummy Diamond ruff Spade to Dummy Now the last trump is drawn and the black suit winners are cashed. Losing just a Club and a Diamond.
North might have supported Hearts immediately but tried 1♠ first, just in case there was a 5-4 fit in that suit. As for South, she could have rebid her 6-card Heart suit but as she was not quite good enough to rebid 3♥, her plan was to rebid 2♦, and then if Partner bid 2♥ she would raise to 3♥. But North rendered that delicate sequence unnecessary when she bid 3♥ herself.
Against 4♥, West might try the aggressive opening lead of a Club. This does not work out well for the defense and now Declarer has 11 or 12 tricks: ♣Q wins the first trick Cross to the ♥A Diamond to the Jack and West’s Ace Spade to Dummy’s Ace (Declarer pitches a Club) Club to the Ace Cash ♦K Diamond ruff Now, Declarer might reason that East started with only three Diamonds and that he might have three Hearts. If Declarer follows this tenuous logic and finesses the Heart, he’ll score a whopping 12 tricks.
Suppose next that West makes the dangerous lead of the singleton trump. Declarer should win this on the board! She’ll assume that the ♥Q is with East, and winning the opening lead in Dummy will improve the entry situation. At Trick 2, Declarer finesses in Diamonds, wins the Spade return in Dummy, loses the Club finesse, ruffs the Spade return, cashes ♦K, and ruffs a Diamond. Now, if Declarer can guess to take the trump finesse (she should), it will be 11 tricks, and that will be enough for a good N-S score. >>BRIDGEOPEDIA: “EntryManagement”>>
Against 4♠, West cashes two Hearts and does best to shift to a Diamond. Declarer draws trumps and will notice that West has started with 8 or 9 major suit cards, whereas East has but 4 or 5. This may point him in the direction of the correct Club guess. 10 tricks.
North’s 12-count does not satisfy the Rule of 20, and she does well to pass with that unappetizing collection. South’s 11-count also fails the Rule of 20, but she is in 4th seat, so is more likely to be influenced by the Rule of 15 … that’s the one where you add your HCP to the number of Spades, and if the total comes to 15 or more then you have a 4th seat opening. It’s a sensible rule, giving extra weight to the power of the Spade suit in the part-score battle.
E-W can make 2♥, so the only chance that N-S have for a plus score (and for justification of South’s opening bid) is for South to make her 3♦ contract. That turns out to be impossible. West will lead a Heart or a Spade, both of which lead to down one. So, not a triumph for the Rule of 15!
There is lots to talk about on this auction! For the third time this set, someone has an opening bid decision with a 5-6 distribution (see West’s hand on Board 8 and North’s on Board 16). On the earlier hands, the higher suit had 5 cards and the lower 6-card suit was touching. In both cases we discussed the choices between: - Opening the higher-ranking suit 5-card suit, pretending to be 5-5. - Opening the lower-ranking 6-card suit, planning to reverse into the 5-card suit.
Here, things are slightly different in two ways: - The suits are not touching, so it seems logical to open 1♦, planning to rebid 1♠ if Partner responds 1♥. No need to reverse. - The hand is not suitable for a reverse anyway, it’s just not strong enough. So, in this case, if the distribution were, say, 1=5=6=1 (instead of 5=1=6=1), we would open 1♥ and not 1♦. Of course, some might say that the East hand is not worth an opening bid anyway, but we say “Phooey!” to that, the hand passes the Rule of 20 and there are no wasted value. It’s an opening bid! At least in our opinion.
Well, if East can open a 9-count, then why shouldn’t South overcall with a 4-card suit? We rather like this bid (if only for its lead-directing benefits), especially opposite a passed hand, even though (as we shall see) it may propel N-S to a grisly fate! See also Board 19 for another 4-card overcall.
Over South’s 1♥, West tries 1NT, and North doubles to show some values. Having opened on a 9-count, East can hardly sit for 1NT doubled, so he bails out to 2♦ … of course, 2♠ is also a possibility, but not a sensible one, that would sound like a better distributional hand, one with game aspirations. After East bids 2♦, and when North bids 2♥, West cannot resist doubling of course. We like to think that we would pass with the East hand but we somehow doubt it!
If East does find a heroic Pass of 2♥ doubled, he’ll score a top! The defense might go: Diamond to West’s Queen, ♦A is cashed, Club to West’s Ace, ♣Q covered by the King and ruffed. After this start, the play could be complicated, but the bottom line is +200 or +500 for E-W. But in real life, East won’t pass, he’ll probably bid 2♠, and end up in 3♦. Perhaps down one, perhaps doubled.
If East opens 1♥, he may well play it there, and will scramble 7 tricks when the Spades break and the Diamond finesse works. +80 for E-W.
Another possibility is that North will try a balancing 1NT (this is usually made on lesser values than a direct 1NT overcall). The upshot will be a 3♣ contract by N-S and that has all the makings of down two. +100 for E-W.
One more possibility: East might open 1NT, not such a terrible idea in the circumstances. Now North may well jump in with a 2♥ bid, which will be doubled by East. That is an “over-double” and as such is normally played for penalties … had East made an “under-double” of 2♥ (the suit being on his left, in other words), that would be for take-out. Will West pass the Double? It’s certainly the winning choice, netting +300. But not an obvious choice, West might try to find a home in 2♠, and that also works out rather well, +110 or +140.
If you played in a 15-table Mitchell then you didn’t have to endure this board. Lucky you! 3♣ is down one, no other contract makes more than 7 tricks.
This is another board where nobody can make much of anything. 3♥ is particularly ugly, our guess is down three. But there is a bidding wrinkle on this board. What does 2NT mean opposite South’s Double. You could play it as a Lebensohl-style of bid, in other words a way to show weakness. If so, then 3♥ in the above auction would actually show values. Using 2NT in this way gives North both a weak way and a constructive way to show Hearts.
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