West    North   East     South

            1♥        1♠        2♥

2♠        4♥        4♠        All Pass

-         East might have considered a Michaels bid, but some prefer to use that bid only for weak (or very strong) hands.

-         North’s 4♥ bid was an attempt to jam the auction, but that was to no avail as East had a clear 4♠ bid.

There’s nothing to the play in 4♠, it’s an easy 11 tricks when the A♣ is onside.

North no doubt considered bidding 5♥ as a sacrifice, and the difference between triumph and disaster will be the play of the Club suit.  The defense starts out with Diamonds and Declarer ruffs the second round.  Declarer cashes the A♣, noting the fall of the Ten from East, then plays three rounds of trumps ending on the board.  The bidding suggests that the K♣ is with East (though it’s no certainty), and the play of the T♣ is a further indication for Declarer to run the 9♣ on the second round of the suit (it’s another application of the Principle of Restricted Choice).  It was nice play by Declarer to cash the A♣, rather than take a first round finesse.  A well-earned top for those N-S pairs who escaped for -300!

West    North   East     South

                        1♦        Pass

1♥        Pass    4♥        All Pass

There’s not much to the bidding here, but as North what would you lead against 4♥?

-         A Trump?  Surely not from that holding, it’s too likely to blow a trick.

-         A Diamond?  There’s not much point to this opening lead, it’s unlikely that the defense’s Diamond tricks are going anywhere, so all that this lead is likely to do is to give up a tempo.

-         A Spade?  This looks relatively safe and from North’s point of view it might well set up a Spade trick before Declarer’s Spade loser goes on a Diamond.

-         A Club?  Yes, this is the most dynamic lead, there might well be a second Club trick for the defense on the right layout.

So, it looks to us like a choice between a safe Spade and an aggressive Club, and we are delighted to be able to report that both of these leads hold Declarer to 10 tricks.  If North leads a Diamond then Declarer will win the K♦ in hand and lead a Heart … now North can save the day by jumping up with the A♥ and shooting back a Club, any other defense will allow Declarer to make 11 tricks.  Finally, if North leads a Heart for some strange reason it will be 11 tricks, that Club loser will disappear on the 13^th Diamond.

West    North   East     South

3♦

Dbl      Pass    3NT    All Pass

-         South’s 3♦ is not exactly text-book, but at favorable vulnerability nobody cares much about text-books.

-         West has an obvious Takeout Double of 3♦.

Now, East had to choose between:

-         Pass?  A definite possibility, but if E-W can make game, then the penalty is unlikely to be sufficient at this vulnerability.

-         3♥ or 4♥?  4♥ would be an overbid.  East has only a 9-count, and, playing in Hearts, it seems unlikely that the QJ♦ will play a useful role.  In that case it is a working 6-count and 3♥ is plenty.

-         3NT?  Another overbid, but at least it puts the ♦QJxx to work (they won’t be much use in a Heart contract). and there is the danger that a 4-4 Heart fit will play better.  On the other hand, there is no guarantee that Partner actually has four Hearts, and, even if he does have four, No Trump and Hearts may play the same.

The winning bid is 3♥, which West will raise to game, making 12 tricks.  Only 11 tricks in 3NT.

West    North   East     South

1♣       1♠         2♦        2♥

3♦        3♥        5♦        All Pass

-         West’s 1♣:  This one doesn’t pass the Rule of Twenty, but it’s close enough.  The singleton, the long suit, and the two-and-a-half quick tricks, all indicate action, and with two Aces it’s certainly not a preempt.  So, 1♣ it is!

-         East’s 2♦:  East could have raised Clubs, but the support is not so great, so he bids 2♦.  Yes, it’s only 8 points, but the good shape, and the Club support in reserve, are sufficient compensation.

-        South’s 2♥:  Like East, South had the choice between raising Partner and introducing his own suit.  We are always encouraged to “support with support”, but it’s hard to ignore a 7-card major.

-         West’s 3♦:  First, West opens on what some would say are sub-minimal values, now he freely raises Partner at the 3-level.  And rightly so, he still has the same hand that he originally thought was worth a 1♣ opening, and he has shortness in one of the enemy suits.

-        North’s 3♥:  The K♦ appears badly placed, and the Heart support is not the greatest, but it would surely be wrong not to raise Partner here.

-         East’s 5♦:  It seems clear to take a shot at game, and clear to prefer Diamonds to Clubs, so as to protect the Heart holding from the opening lead.

N-S did well not to double 5♣, but would have done better to take the sacrifice.  But that was far from obvious, this hand being an exception to the old advice “The five-level belongs to the opponents”.

West    North   East     South

            2NT     Pass    3NT

All Pass

As South, after North’s 2NT opening, would you bid 3NT or would you look for a 4-4 Spade fit?  Just because South’s square hand has no ruffing values does not mean that there is not a useful ruff in Opener’s hand.  On the other hand, South does have nothing but Queens and Jacks, and such hands tend to play just as well in No Trump.  Take your pick on this one, but either way 3NT by North will be the final contract.

Against 3NT, East will probably lead a Heart.  Declarer wins and plays on Diamonds, and East plays another low Heart after winning the A♦.  This accurate defense secures four tricks.

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    Pass

1♣       1♠        1NT     2♣

Pass    2♠        All Pass

Anyone for a 3♣ opening bid by South?  True, N-S have the vulnerability in their favor, but on the down-side there are only 6 Clubs, mangy ones at that, and the two Aces provide altogether too much defense for an opening preempt.  So, much as we like to jump in when White vs Red, this is not the right hand..  In fact, if South does try a 3♣ opening she will live to regret it when East balances with a Double (yes, he should with that hand!) and West makes a penalty Pass.  3♣ doubled is down three for a (well-earned) dreadful N-S result.

Assuming that South’s manages to refrain from the preempt, West will open 1♣, after which it seems likely that North will play it in 2♠ (that 2♣ bid by South was not showing Clubs, it was a sound Spade raise).  Here is how the play might go in 2♠:

            East leads a Club to Dummy’s Ace

            Diamond to Declarer’s King and East’s Ace

            Three rounds of Hearts

            Club ruffed by Declarer

At this point, Declarer does best to run the J♠ (surely the Q♠ is with East), in which case the play might continue:

            J♠ covered by the Queen and Ace

            Club ruffed by the Seven, overruffed by the Ten (it doesn’t help not to overruff)

            Spade return won on the board

            Club ruff

Now Dummy’s Clubs are good.  Do you see where East went wrong on the defense?  Yes, he should not cover the J♠ with the Queen, after which Declarer can come to just seven tricks.  Then again, Declarer can make eight tricks if she finesses the T♦ at Trick 2.

West    North   East     South

Pass

Pass    Pass    1♣        1♥

Pass    Pass    Dbl       All Pass

-         When 1♥ was passed around to him, East could be fairly certain that Partner had a good Heart holding, so it was clear for him to balance with a Double rather than with 1♠.

-         North no doubt considered an SOS Redouble, that would have been as reasonable a guess as passing.

Playing in 1♥ doubled will be a miserable experience for South, she’ll end up with no more than 5 or 6 tricks, and  -200 or -500 will not score well on this part-score hand.  If North redoubles, then N-S will end up in 1NT or 2♦ which are no better.

West    North   East     South

2♠        All Pass

We don’t know about you but, as West, we would be unable to resist opening 2♠ with that magnificent 5-card suit.  Whether this works out at the table is a moot point.  Against 2♠ North leads the K♣, after which the hand will develop into a battle for ruffs in Declarer’s hand.  Declarer ducks the opening lead, wins the Club continuation, and leads another Club which South does best to ruff with the Six, Declarer pitching a Diamond.  Now, South cannot shift to a Heart, and it would be a mistake to start cashing Diamonds, that would allow Declarer to score all five of his trumps.  So, best defense (after ruffing the Club) is to play a low trump.  Declarer wins that and exits a Diamond.  The defense wins that and leads another trump.  Now a losing Heart finesse and yet another trump comes back.  Declarer crosses to the A♥ and ruffs a Diamond, but the excellent defense has prevailed, Declarer can score no more than four trump tricks and two side-suit Aces.

West    North   East     South

            Pass    1♠        2♦

2♠        All Pass

Against 2♠, South does not have an attractive lead and might well try a trump.  Declarer does best to win that in hand and lead a Heart at Trick 2.  South jumps up with the A♥ and returns another trump, again won in Declarer’s hand.  Now Declarer plays on Diamonds, and eventually makes 9 tricks via five Spades, two Diamonds, a Heart and a Club.  The alternative (and inferior) line of getting a Club ruff also works for 9 tricks (with the K♥ trick replaced by the Club ruff).

System Note

Do you play Equal Level Conversion (ELC)?  If so, as South, you could double 1♠, planning to bid 2♦ if North bids 2♣.  For the ELC brigade this sequence by South does not show extras, merely a minimum Double without Club support.  How does ELC work on the actual hand?

            West    North   East     South

                        Pass    1♠        Dbl

            2♠        3♣       All Pass

As explained, South was planning to convert 2♣ to 2♦, but when West inconveniently raises Spades and North bids 3♣, South does best to pass and hope (surely North has at least five Clubs on this auction).  3♣ will probably be down two, mercifully undoubled, and that's not a bad N-S result, with E-W making part-scores in Spades.

West    North   East     South

                        1♣       1♥

1♠        2♠        Pass    3♥

4♣       4♥        All Pass

4♥ is the place for N-S to be, making 10 tricks in a canter.  Did any E-W pairs find the profitable save in 5♣?  We’d say that East is the one who should make that decision, but even so 5♣ is far from obvious.  All we can say is “Well done!” if you found the save, perhaps you even got really lucky when N-S took the push to the doomed 5♥.

West    North   East     South

1♣

Pass    1♦        1♥        1♠

Pass    3♠        Pass    4♠

All Pass

Against 4♠, West will lead a Heart, of course, and that will be that.  11 tricks when the Q♠ is doubleton.

Of course, if North plays in 4♠ it will be 12 tricks and that will happen at the tables where N-S are playing Walsh-style.

West    North   East     South

Pass    Pass    1♥        Pass

1♠        Pass    2♣       Pass

2NT     Pass    3♠        Pass

4♠        All Pass

East’s sequence pinpointed the Diamond shortness so West opted for the 4-3 Spade fit in preference to 3NT.  However, 4♠ turns out to be a parlous contract indeed, but with trumps 3-3 and the K♠ onside it will succeed:

            A♦ wins opening lead

            Spade to the Queen

            Spade to the Ace

            Diamond ruff

            Club to the King

            Concede a Spade

Now the defense can take their two Diamonds, but Declarer has the rest, making 10 tricks.

How about 3NT?  That is also a contract that requires some luck.  The K♠ must be onside to provide the 9^th trick, and Declarer must hope that the Diamonds are well-behaved.  North will lead a Diamond, of course, but which one?

-        Some lead second highest from four small, warning Partner not to expect any high cards in the suit.  Of course, informative leads also inform Declarer, and so it is here.  If North leads her second highest Six, and if Declarer is paying attention (a) to the spots, and (b) to the opponents’ lead conventions, then he’ll have no trouble on the hand.  North’s opening lead will be from 86xx or 86xxx or else three to an honor.  There’s no point in holding up the Ace in any of these cases because either the suits blocks or the Diamonds are 4-4.  So Declarer wins the opening lead, plays on Spades and loses just three tricks for a lucky 10 tricks and a good board.

-         If North’s opening lead is the Diamond Three, then Declarer will read this as 4^th best or from honor third and again there is no reason to hold up.  He’ll win the first round, lose a Spade to North, then when South wins the second Diamond, even if South continues with a tricky low Diamond, Declarer will not go wrong.

West    North   East     South

            Pass    1♣       Pass

1♦        Pass    1♠        Pass

3♣       Pass    3NT     All Pass

A difficult hand for N-S to bid, and it’s easy to see how they might end up in game or in a part-score, and in Hearts or Clubs or No Trump.  In the above auction, West might well have rebid 1NT, and East might well have tried 5♣ in preference to 3NT.

If East declares 5♣ he will pick up the Clubs for one loser.  That will be 11 or 12 tricks, depending on the Heart guess.

If West declares 4♥ he will need to guess well, especially if the defense starts out with a Diamond.  Declarer wins the A♠, runs the 9♥, and then plays on Clubs.  The defense gets a Club and a Club ruff, but eventually Declarer gets home with five trump tricks, three Clubs, the A♠ and A♦.  There’s a potential 11^th trick in Spades but Declarer does not have the entries to take the finesse.

If East declares 3NT, South might cleverly leads the K♦, just in case Declarer has the singleton Queen.  Nice try.  Declarer ducks two Diamonds, wins the third round, and runs the J♣, which holds.  Now the ♣A and out a Club.  North cashes the last Diamond, and exits a Spade.  Declarer won’t want to bank everything on the Spade finesse so he wins the Ace and cashes the remaining Clubs.  North will be squeezed in Spades and Hearts, but that won’t be obvious to Declarer and he might still go wrong in the end-game.  So, maybe 9 tricks, maybe less.

West    North   East     South

                        4♦        4♥

All Pass

It goes without saying that South does not have the values to commit single-handedly to game.  Nonetheless, 4♥ is exactly what South must bid here, hoping that North has her fair share of the missing points.

It turns out that Partner has good Heart support and a few bits and pieces, enough to make game (with the help of a Club guess).  Was South lucky?  Not especially so, as S-W could also have made 4♥!

E-W have a good sacrifice in 5♦, but it’s hard to fault West for passing, with good defense against 4♥ and the seeming possibility of giving Partner a Spade ruff. 

West    North   East     South

1NT

All Pass

If the E-W methods provide for a penalty double of 1NT, then that would be West’s obvious choice.  If that happens then there’s no good reason for North to run to a suit contract, and on an opening Heart lead the defense will score 8 tricks for a juicy +500.  Alas for our featured E-W pair, they appear to be playing DONT and so will miss out on the fun, scoring the same number of tricks but getting only +200 for their efforts.  DONT is a good method for getting into the auction over their 1NT, but once in a while, as here, the chance for a useful penalty will be missed.

West    North   East     South

Pass    Pass     Pass    1♥

2♣       2♥        3♣       Pass

Pass    3♥        All Pass

Most tables will no doubt play this one in a Heart part-score, which brings in 9 easy tricks (or 10 if West forgets to lead a Club initially).

If E-W somehow steal it in 3♣ they can also make 9 tricks, but only by guessing the Diamonds correctly:

            Win the opening Heart lead

            Lose a Spade, won by North’s Queen

            The K♥ is cashed

            Club to South’s Ace

            Club won in Dummy

            Spade won by South

            Spade ruffed by Declarer

            Cross to Dummy with a Club (yes, Declarer was unblocking earlier!)

            Ruff the last Spade

Now the moment of truth has arrived, it’s time for the Diamond guess!  Declarer has gone out of his way to collect clues, and can place South with 4=5=2=2 distribution and 11 HCP so far, whereas North has shown up with 9 HCP’s.  Based on the bidding (South opening, and North selling out to 3♣) it looks like South has the Q♦.  It pays to remember the auction.

West    North   East     South

            Pass    2♦        ??

What does 3♦ mean here?  Here are two reasonable interpretations, what’s yours? 

-         3♦ asks for a Diamond stopper:  In this case South will presumably bid 3♦ and 3NT by North will be the final contract.  That will be 10 tricks for Declarer (or a whopping 12 if East makes the unfortunate opening lead of a low Diamond).

-         3♦ is for the Majors:  Now South has the choice between a heavy 3♣ and an off-shape Takeout Double.  Neither is perfect, take your pick.  As it happens Double is the winner, collecting a large penalty when North passes.

Just how large is that penalty?  Here’s a top-notch defense which inflicts the maximum pain on Declarer:

            A♣ is cashed

            Q♠ covered by the King and Ace

            Q♥ to South’s Ace

            J♠ is cashed

            J♥ covered by the King and ruffed

            Spade ruff

            T♥ is cashed

At this point Declarer has lost all seven tricks and is down to nothing but trumps.  However he plays Diamonds he’ll lose three more tricks.  Down 5 for -1100!

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    Pass

1♥        Pass    2♣       Pass

4♥        All Pass

 East’s 2♣ was Drury, showing game-invitational values and Heart support.  This common treatment applies only to passed hands opposite an opening bid of 1♥ or 1♠ and is intended to cater for the possibility of a light 3^rd (or occasionally 4^th) seat opening from Partner.  As the convention is usually played, Opener will retreat to two of the major with sub-opening values (technically, this is Reverse Drury).

4♥ turns out to depend on the location of the A♣ and will therefore be down one against correct defense.  But it’s easy to see how 4♥ might make at some tables.  For example, North might lead a Spade (or a Heart), in which case South must be wide awake to beat the contract.  When South gets in with the A♠ she must shift pronto to a Diamond in the hope of a Club shift, before the Spades provide a place for Club losers.  Will South get this right?  If the opening lead is a Heart then surely she should, but if North starts out with a Spade, South might try to give North a Spade ruff at Trick 2 and that would be fatal for the defense.  If that were to happen, we would have more sympathy for South than for North, those doubleton leads never work for us either.

West    North   East     South

Pass 

1♠        Pass    1NT     Pass

2♣       Pass    3♥        Pass

4♥       All Pass

Defending against 4♥, let’s say that South starts out with the T♣, nothing else looks appealing.  Declarer wins the A♣, cashes the K♣, and plays a Diamond which is won by South’s Ace.  It should be obvious enough for South to play two rounds of Hearts now, stopping the ruff in Dummy, holding Declarer to 10 tricks.  Failure to do so will allow Declarer to make an unexpected overtrick when the J♥ comes down doubleton.

West    North   East     South

2♥        All Pass  

South has no good bid in the pass-out seat so reluctantly passes.  But this works out rather well when it turns out that N-S have no game and can collect some vulnerable undertricks on defense.  How many?  Let’s see:

            Diamond to the Ace

            Club finesse losing to the Queen

            Another Diamond (knocking out Dummy’s entry before the Club is set up)

            Heart to the Jack and Queen

            Diamond ruffed by Declarer

            K♥ losing to South’s Ace

            Three Spades are cashed

The defense still has a Heart trick and Club trick to come, so that is down three.  Yes, Declarer could have saved a trick by guessing the Hearts better, but even -200 will be a bad board for E-W.

West    North   East     South

            Pass    Pass    1NT

Pass    2♦        Pass    2♥

Pass    3♦        Pass    4♥

All Pass

-         2♦ was a Jacoby Transfer.

-         3♦ was natural and game-forcing.

-         With a double fit in the red suits, South was not going to play this in 3NT, for fear that one of those black suits would be a fatal weakness.  3♦ was game-forcing, so that gives North two ways to bid Hearts.  Following the standard Fast Arrival principle, 3♥ is forcing and more slam-suitable than a direct 4♥.  Is this 17-pointer slam-suitable?  Not especially, the distribution is square and South is likely to have at least one wasted black King.  So South bids only 4♥.

The play in 4♥ is simple enough.  The Hearts come in for no losers, and later in the play a Club towards Declarer’s hand sets up the 12^th trick.

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    Pass

1♥        Dbl      3♥        3♠

Pass     4♠        All Pass

-         3♥ is preemptive.

-         South’s 3♠ is perhaps a bit of a stretch, but the 5^th Spade looks useful, and there is almost no wastage opposite Partner’s marked Heart shortness.  In other words, South’s modest values are all working.

-         North has plenty of extra stuff, enough to justify bidding game.

Against 4♠, let’s say that West lays down the A♥.  Standard practice in this situation, when there is a singleton in Dummy, is to give suit preference.  If that is part of the E-W repertoire, then East plays the Two, and West dutifully shifts to a Club.  Then West hops up with the A♠ on the first round and gives East his ruff.  Nicely done, that is the only defense that will hold Declarer to 10 tricks.

West    North   East     South

                                    1♦

2♣        Pass    2♦        Pass

2♥        Pass    2NT    Pass

3NT     All Pass

-         West has a pretty good hand, only four losers, and the question is whether to double or to overcall 2♣.  West liked the overcall (perhaps noting an extreme shortness in one of the majors), but others will prefer the Double, and later try to extricate themselves from East’s inevitable Spade response.

-         How about East’s auction?  That 2♦ bid supposedly showed Club support, a good choice in the circumstances, as 2♠ and 2NT would both be serious overbids (as opposed to 2♦ which is merely a mild overbid!).

-         West's 2♥ sounds like it ought to be forcing.

-         East’s 2NT call was pretty sensible, no need to further muddy the waters with 2♠.

Against 3NT, South starts out with the K♠, and the general treatment for this lead is that it asks for “Queen attitude”.  North does not have the Q♠ so will do her best by playing the discouraging Seven.  But will this be obvious to South?  With so many low Spades unaccounted for, South might well place North with something like Q7xx or Q7xxx.  If South gets this one wrong by continuing Spades, then Declarer will score 11 tricks, otherwise it will be just 10.

West    North   East     South

Pass    1♠        2♣       2♥

Pass    2♠        Pass    3NT

All Pass

After 2♥, North had no descriptive bid available … no stopper in the enemy suit, no support for Partner, not good enough for a game-forcing 3♦, and only five Spades.  In the circumstances, 2♠ was the only choice, after which 3NT was easily reached.

There is not much to the play, the defense get their three Aces but that is all.  +430 all around the room?

West    North   East     South

            Pass    2NT     Pass

3♦        Pass    3♥        Pass

3NT     All Pass

Against 3NT, South will presumably lead a minor suit:

-         If South leads a Diamond:  North plays the Jack, covered by the King and the Ace.  Declarer leads back another Diamond, and has 12 tricks when the Hearts break and the 8♦ comes down.

-         If South leads a Club:  Dummy plays low (providing an entry if Hearts do not break) followed by North’s Jack and Declarer’s Ace.  Now, on the third round of Hearts, Declarer has a discarding problem.  He does not yet know that the Hearts are coming in, so he needs to hang on to his Clubs.  If he pitches a Spade that will give up on the Spade finesse, so he will pitch a Diamond.  Now on the last two Hearts, Declarer pitches two more Diamonds and is at the cross-roads.  He can either take the Spade finesse, scoring 10 tricks if the finesse loses, and 12 if it wins.  Or, he can lose a Club, making sure of 11 tricks.

West    North   East     South

                        1♥        Pass

1♠        Pass    2♣       Pass

2♥        All Pass

On this messy part-score hand, nobody can make much of anything, and 2♥ looks likely to be down one.

West    North   East     South

2♣

Pass    2♥        Pass    5NT

Pass    6♣       Pass     6♥ 

All Pass

-         Some pairs have ridiculously quite stringent requirements about what constitutes a positive response to a 2♣ opening.  North has plenty of playing strength, of course, but the suit quality is not up to snuff for some.  Our North said “Phooey!” to that, realizing she’d have an impossible task if she didn’t start bidding suits.  3♣ would not have been a good idea, better to go for the cheap 2♥.

-         South’s majestic leap to 5NT was the Grand Slam Force, asking about North’s trump holding.  This is a convention that rarely comes up nowadays, thanks to the efficiency of Roman Key Card, and the irresistible attraction to some of Exclusion.  But here it’s the perfect bid for the occasion, provided, of course, that N-S have actually agreed their responses.

-         North's 6♣ showed either the Ace or the King of trumps, and the slam was easily reached.

 Making 12 tricks.

West    North   East     South

1♣       Pass    1♠        Pass

2♦        Pass    3♣       Pass

3♠        Pass    5♣       All Pass

-         Is the West hand too good for a 1NT opening?  Maybe, there are 17 HCP’s, prime values and a 5-card suit.  So West opens 1♣.

-         East chooses not to bother with that miserable Diamond suit, and responds 1♠ instead.

-         West chooses to make a phony reverse of 2♦, surely a better choice than rebidding 2NT without a Heart stopper.

-         3♣ is forcing in this sequence.

-         When neither player can bid 3NT, the contract lurches into 5♣.

All in all, that was a reasonable auction to the par spot, but it may not be suitably rewarded in the matchpoint department:

-         If West ends up in 3NT (either by opening 1NT or rebidding 2NT), he will likely receive a low Heart lead from North, and that will be 10 easy tricks and +430;

-         If West ends up in 5♣ it will be 11 tricks and only +400.  No justice!  If you are wondering why Deep Finesse says that 12 tricks can be made in Clubs, it is because the Spade loser can be avoided with a “backward finesse”, that is by running the J♠, and, if that is covered, by then dropping North’s Ten.  Only Deep Finesse would play the suit that way.

West    North   East     South

            1♦        Pass    1♠

Pass    2NT     Pass    3♣

Pass    3♥        Pass    3NT

All Pass

South’s 3♣ was New Minor Forcing, in this case an attempt to find a 5-3 Spade fit.  When that does not materialize the final contract becomes 3NT.

Against 3NT, East does not have an attractive lead, and may well start out with a top-of-nothing Club.  Declarer has three ways to play this hand:

-         Line 1:  Declarer wins the A♣, takes the Spade finesse, cashes the A♠ dropping West’s King, and now (thanks to the onside A♦) crosses to Dummy to enjoy the Spades, racking up an astonishing 11 tricks!  Not a good line of play, though, more likely to go down than to make overtricks.

-         Line 2:  Win the Club lead in hand, cash A♠, then plan to overtake the J♠ with the Queen.  This line makes 10 tricks whenever Spades are 3-3 (36% of the time) or when East has doubleton King (another 8%).  Even if Spades are 4-2, then the contract still has chances given some luck in the red suits.

-         Line 3:  Win the Club lead in hand, cash A♠, then play the J♠ and low from Dummy (the defense should duck this if they can).  Now, if the A♦ is with East, the Spades can be established and enjoyed.  That will be 10 tricks 50% of the time, and there is the additional chance of a doubleton K♠ in either hand which takes the chances for 10 tricks up to 58%.  And there are additional red suit chances if the Spades don’t come in.

Yes, Line 3 looks like the best plan, even if it the anti-percentage Line 1 is the winner on the lie of the cards.

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    1♦

Dbl      2♦        3♥        All Pass

West’s Double was not ideal considering the Club doubleton, but at least he had the majors covered.  East’s 3♥ showed invitational values, and was promptly rebuffed by West.

Looking at all 4 hands it is plain to see that the defense can take 4 tricks against East’s 3♥ contract.  But looking at it just from the South hand it won’t be so obvious, perhaps, and one of those tricks might get away.  South starts out with a high Diamond and then pauses to take stock.  There’s a danger that Dummy’s Q♦ will provide a pitch for a black suit loser, and, instead of Declarer’s actual hand, South might visualize something like: ♠ xx, ♥ KJxxx, ♦ xx, ♣ AQxx.  If that is the case, then a Spade shift is urgently required.  Oops!  Now Declarer wins the Spade in his hand, draws trumps, and leads a Diamond towards the board, setting up a pitch for his other Spade.  Making 10 tricks and +170!  South’s defense here was not terrible, just wrong on the actual layout.

West    North   East     South

Pass

1♥        2♥        4♥       4♠

Dbl      All Pass

Here’s another board where we would expect almost as many different auctions as there are tables in play.  4♠ doubled is likely to be a fairly common contract, reached no doubt by various routes, and the question is whether or not the defense can beat this contract.  One route to defensive success is a Club opening lead (getting two ruffs for East).  More likely, West will start out with a trump, thereby eliminating any ruffs in the Declarer’s hand and holding Declarer to 9 tricks.

West    North   East     South

3♥        Pass    4♥        Pass

All Pass

“Standard” preempting procedure is to bid at the two-level with 6 trumps, at the 3-level with 7, and at the 4-level with 8.  Here, East has 8 Hearts, but the suit is weak, and he is vulnerable against not, so we would say that 3♥ is plenty here.  East no doubt considered making a slam move, it’s pretty close, don’t you think?  Anyway, bad luck to those that got to slam (it’s a tad better than 50%), that is down one when the Hearts are poorly placed.