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Monday Post Mortem 6th August, 2012
Analysis by Brian Gunnell Click here for thewednesdaygame@yahoo.com Hand Records
West North East South 1♥ Pass 2NT Pass 4♥ All Pass
- South uses the Jacoby 2NT, showing a game-forcing Spade raise. - Using standard methods Opener shows a singleton, so North might well bid 3♣ on her actual hand. However, when that singleton is an Ace or a King, there is a lot to be said for not showing the shortness. Instead, North leaps to 4♥, showing a bad hand (down-valuing because of that singleton King).
Playing 4♥, it’s easy enough for Declarer to score 10 tricks, but are 11 possible? Sure they are if East leads the K♠ (which is quite possible). So, we’ll make it harder for Declarer, East leads a Club. Trumps will be drawn, the A♦ will be lost and the minor suit winners cashed. Now, with nothing but trumps and Spades left, how should Declarer play the Spade suit for one loser? - One possibility is to cash the Ace, then to play low towards the Jack, hoping that one defender or the other has Qx or Kx or KQ of Spades or that East has the singleton K or Q. But an expert West, holding Qx or Kx (where the low card is not the Ten), will cleverly avoid the endplay by jettisoning his honor! - The second line is to lead the Nine from the board towards Declarer’s Jxx, planning to play low from hand. Now, if East holds the KQ without the Ten, he will be end-played. The probabilities of the two lines are similar, but second line turns out to be the winner. Which one did you choose?
West North East South Pass Pass Pass 1♥ 1♠ Pass 2♠ Dbl Pass 3♥ All Pass
Playing in 3♥ North will be struggling to avoid down two. Let’s say that East leads the Q♠, ducked in Dummy. Spades are continued and the third round is ruffed in Dummy. On the board for the first and last time, should Declarer take the Club finesse, or the Heart finesse? Clearly the Club finesse offers the better odds because the Heart finesse will unnecessary if the Q♥ comes down in two rounds. Good thinking, especially on the actual hand! The Club finesse works, and the Q♥ does come down doubleton. There are two Diamonds to be lost, but that is 9 tricks for Declarer. However, if Declarer had taken that Heart finesse, she would have gone down two!
West North East South Pass Pass 1♦ 1♠ Dbl Pass 2♥ Pass 3♥ All Pass - North does not really have an opening bid, of course, but in 3rd seat she could hardly ignore such a lovely suit, if only for lead-directing purposes. Opening 2♦ is also a possibility. - By the same token, East, with only 4 Spades, does not really have a 1♠ overcall, either. But he couldn’t double holding only two Hearts, and was loath to pass with a good hand and a good suit.
Against 3♥, let’s say that the defense starts out with Clubs and Declarer ruffs the second round. The A♥ and K♥ are cashed, felling the Queen. Now Declarer can draw the last trump, and play on Diamonds, scoring 11 tricks when the J♦ comes down. A lucky hand for N-S, they don’t really belong in game.
West North East South Pass Pass 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 4♠ All Pass
Against 4♠, North cashes the AK♦. A third round of Diamonds is ruffed high on the board, at which point Declarer’s hand is high except for those two Club losers. Declarer does not have the entries or the trump spots to allow him to ruff Clubs on the board, so he’ll play on Hearts for his 10th (and hopefully 11th) trick. Which way would you play the Hearts? Declarer doesn’t have enough trumps to ruff out Kxx or Kxxx, so let’s forget that possibility. Instead, Declarer draws three rounds of trumps (ending in hand) and must now decide who to play for the K♥. Either way, 10 tricks are assured, with 11 if the location of the K♥ is correctly guessed. North has shown up with AK♦, so playing her to have the K♥ is effectively also playing South to have the K♣ (North cannot have passed with an Ace and three Kings). In other words, why play for North to have the K♥ and for South to have the K♣, when you can simply play for South to have the K♥? Using this sound (but obscure) logic, Declarer guesses that the K♥ is with South and he scores 11 tricks.
West North East South Pass Pass 1♠ Pass 2♣ Pass 2♠ All Pass - Some North players will open because they have 12 HCP’s, but this is an ugly collection, so we’ll let common sense prevail and allow our North to pass. - Of course, South with 11 HCP’s and dull distribution does not have a sound opening bid either, but she is in 3rd seat and has five Spades, so 1♠ seems normal enough. - North’s 2♣ is Drury, an artificial Spade raise, popular in third-hand situations. - South’s 2♠ says “Unsound or minimum opening bid”, and the partnership gets to play in a cozy two-level contract.
The hand is well-behaved, and 9 tricks materialize for Declarer. First, the trumps break, then some luck is needed in the red suits (either three Heart tricks or else onside J♦ is required to make 9 tricks).
West North East South 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass 2♠ All Pass
If this were a team game, where there is a high premium on bidding vulnerable games, West might be tempted to try for game with 3♠ over 2♠. But playing matchpoints, where frequency of gain is more important, he passes with that nondescript 10-count.
Playing in Spades, with the A♣ offside, there are three minor suit losers, but the Hearts are fortunately placed, so Declarer escapes with 9 tricks. Actually, 10 tricks are not out of the question if South is having a bad day. For example, South leads the K♥, won in Dummy. Trumps are drawn, and a second Heart is played. If South grabs the Q♥ immediately, the 13th Heart will provide a parking place for the Diamond loser and it will be 10 tricks. How was South to know that she must duck the second round of Hearts? It wasn’t obvious, unless North could be relied upon to give count on the opening Heart lead. However, most ACBL partnerships routinely give attitude on opening lead, and that is not a good method on this deal.
West North East South 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 2♣ Pass 2♥ Pass 2♠ Pass 2NT All Pass
South’s 2♠ showed some extra values and presumably 3=5=1=4 distribution but she did not feel strong enough to raise North’s 2NT to game. It turns out that 3NT is a most fortunate contract, thanks to the 3-3 Hearts and the lucky Spade situation. Here’s how the play might go in No Trump: East leads a Diamond (well it is the unbid suit), won in Dummy Heart to the King K♦ is cashed (pitching a Spade) Heart to the Ace Heart is conceded to West J♠ shift is ducked in Dummy At this point, with only Clubs and Diamonds left, West is end-played. He can cash one Diamond safely, but must then shift to Clubs, setting up Declarer’s 9th trick.
West North East South Pass Pass 2♠ Dbl 3♠ 4♥ All Pass
- East has maximum values for that Weak Two. - West’s 3♠ is merely obstructive or, in other words, furthering the preempt. - Pretty normal bidding by E-W, but it has the undesired effect of propelling N-S to a skinny 4♥ contract. Perhaps West considered sacrificing in 4♠, but with a fair amount of defense he no doubt harbored hopes of beating 4♥.
4♥ is a perilous affair but the card gods are with Declarer. Let’s say that East lays down the A♠ and shifts to the Q♦, won in Dummy. Then the Heart Seven is led and we’ll assume that West ducks and Declarer cleverly overtakes with the Ten. When this holds, she ruffs a Spade, cashes AKJ♣ (pitching two Diamonds), ruffs a Club, ruffs a Spade, and leads a trump from the board. Making 11 tricks! The only way to hold Declarer to 10 tricks is to lead a trump initially, limiting Dummy’s Spade ruffs to just one.
West North East South 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 3♦ Pass 3♠ Pass 4♥ Pass 4NT Pass 5♦ Pass 5♠ Pass 5NT Pass 7NT All Pass
Any pairs who bid the cold 7NT will have done very well indeed, it’s a difficult contract to reach. The auction given is a tricky little test of Roman Key Card agreements: - 1♥: Some might prefer a 2♣ opening, for more on which please see below. - 1♠: Presumably South did not have a strong jump shift available, this would be a good hand for such a bid. - 3♦: Perhaps this looks a bit odd, but North chose this as a stronger route to bidding 4♥ than going directly to 4♥. - 3♠: This one is fairly obvious. Of course, by now South can be sure that they belong in some slam or other. - 4♥: Showing a long suit as well as a good hand. - 4NT: Roman Key Card, with Hearts agreed by implication. - 5♦: 0 or 3 Key Cards (the 1430 flavor) - 5♠: Intended as the Queen Ask (for Hearts), not as a sign-off in Spades. It’s the sort of bid that has shortened the life expectancy many a bridge player as she watches Partner scratching her head and wonders if she will lose her mind and pass. - 5NT: Shows the Q♥ and denies a minor suit King (with, for example, Q♥ and K♣, North would bid 6♣). - 7NT: South can reasonably expect 7 Hearts from Partner, which takes the trick count up to 12. South reasons that if the Diamond suit does not bring home the 13th trick she’ll have to rely on the Spade finesse. As it happens, the 13th trick is the extra Heart.
How would things go if North were to open 2♣? Here’s one route to 7NT: North South 2♣ 2♠ 3♥ 3♠ 4♥ 4NT 5♦ 7NT This auction works out more simply, after the 2♣ opening and the Heart rebids South goes to 7NT on sheer power. If she places North with just six Hearts then she can count up to 11 tricks with just 13 or 14 of North’s HCP’s accounted for. Surely, for a 2♣ opener, North can be expected to have a couple more tricks somewhere.
West North East South Pass 1♠ Dbl 2♠ Pass Pass Dbl Pass 3♥ All Pass
East is not good enough to bid over 2♠, even though that 5th Heart and Diamond void are nice features. We like to upgrade our hands for such plus features, but let’s not get overly exuberant here, it is still only a 2-count. However, it turns out to be the perfect 2-count when 4♥ scrapes home with 10 tricks, Declarer (East) being able to rustle up four natural Heart tricks, plus a Spade ruff, the A♦, and four Club tricks. A somewhat lucky game, though, requiring the Heart finesse, and 3-2 breaks in both Hearts and Clubs.
West North East South 1♥ Pass 2♥ All Pass
No doubt North felt betwixt and between 2♥ and 3♥ here, it’s certainly about as good as a 2♥ bid can possibly be. Bergen players would have no such issues, they would bid 3♣ or 3♦, whichever of those they use as their 4-card “constructive” raise”. Well, no issues in the auction, perhaps, but a Bergen raise here has the unfortunate result of getting N-S perilously high. However, it turns out that 3♥ makes, thanks to the friendly trumps and the onside A♠.
West North East South Pass 1♣ 1♦ Dbl 1NT 2♥ All Pass
- South’s Negative Double shows both majors, at least the way that the convention is generally played nowadays. Of course, if that is the case, then it follows that a bid of 1♥ or 1♠ (over 1♦) can be made with just a 4-card suit. - West’s 1NT showed around 8-11 (opposite an overcall we need a little more to respond 1NT than we do opposite an opening bid). Of course, West does have a 4-card Spade suit, but West bids 1NT anyway, it’s such a descriptive bid for the hand. This gives up on any potential Spade fit, maybe not a great loss as South has shown 4 cards in the suit.
2♥ should make on the nose, but there are some overtrick chances, as in this line of play: Low Heart, won by Dummy’s Ten T♣ is successfully finessed K♥ won by East’s Ace Heart return won by Declarer Spade is lost to West K♦ is won by Dummy’s Ace Q♣ is finessed A♣, pitching a Diamond from Dummy Spade conceded to East Diamond cashed Now, Declarer has the rest. Yes, East was too passive in the defense. The opening trump lead was not fatal, but when in with the A♥ East must shift to a Diamond, after which Declarer and Dummy will run out of trumps before a Spade trick can be established.
West North East South 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass 2♠ Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ All Pass
4♠ is a so-so contract but is likely to make unless East finds an astonishing opening lead (which we’ll get to later). We cannot imagine that East will start out with the disastrous Spade lead, but each of the three side-suit leads result in interesting play.
If East leads a Club, Dummy’s Jack wins the trick. Now, a successful Spade finesse, and, rather than risk crossing to the board on a Club for another Spade finesse, Declarer does better to cash the A♠. When the King does not come down, she cashes the K♣ and exits a Spade, end-playing West. Now, West can do no better than to take his two Aces.
If East leads a Diamond, Dummy plays low and West withholds his Ace to prevent Dummy from getting that vital second entry (for the second Spade finesse). So, Declarer’s J♦ wins the first trick, the K♣ is cashed, then over to the A♣, Spade finesse, and exit a Diamond to West’s Ace, end-playing West.
If East leads a Heart, Declarer plays low from the board and West’s Queen takes the trick. West does best to get out with a Club but Declarer spurns the “free” finesse and wins in hand with the King. Now she exits with a Heart won by West, and another Club comes back won on the board. The K♥ is cashed (pitching a Diamond from hand), the Q♠ is finessed, and Declarer exits with a Diamond to West’s Ace. As before, West is end-played.
In all these lines Declarer makes 10 tricks, but Deep Finesse’s double dummy analysis tells us that the defense can hold Declarer to just 9 tricks. What is the aforementioned “astonishing opening lead” that makes this possible? Don’t try this one without adult supervision, but the winning lead is the Q♦! This forces Dummy’s King to cover, won by West’s Ace. Now West exits with a Diamond and all his end-play worries are over. In the fullness of time West will come to the K♠, A♥, Q♥ and A♦.
West North East South 1NT Dbl 2♥ Pass 2♠ Pass 3NT All Pass
South’s Double was DONT, showing a one-suited hand. What are your methods in this situation? The simple approach is to play “systems on”, so West transfers to Spades and bids game. Yes, West only has 9 HCP’s, it was the Spade fillers that made him do it.
It turns out that 3NT is a miserable contract! South leads a Heart and Declarer must have his guessing shoes on here. He should get it right, presumably South has led her long suit and the DONT bid makes her more likely to have the Ace than the Queen. When the King wins the trick, Declarer is still a couple of finesses away from making the hand. He finesses the Q♣, plays on Spades and gets more good news, and repeats the Club finesse for 9 tricks. Phew!
West North East South Pass Pass Pass 1NT Pass 2♣ Pass 2♥ Pass 3♥ Pass 4♥ All Pass
Do you think that East’s 1NT is a little bit out there? Maybe it is, but it does have some redeeming qualities, not least of which is defining the point range early and protecting that ♦Qx from the opening lead (imagine a No Trump contract where Partner has ♦Axx or ♦Kxx … better to play this from the East side). Anyway, after the (maybe) offbeat 1NT, E-W crawl into 4♥. As can be seen, it is a contract which requires a successful Club finesse. So it’s 10 tricks for Declarer.
Alright, some (most?) of you do not approve of that 1NT opening. So you open 1♥, and Partner bids 2♥. Do you make a game try? Maybe not, in which case you’ll be cursing that successful finesse when 10 tricks roll in.
West North East South Pass 1♣ Pass 1♦ Dbl 1♠ 2♥ 5♦ All Pass
With 10 tricks in No Trump (and 12 if the opening lead is a Heart), it has to be said that South’s leap to 5♦ was not a great success. But reasonable, nonetheless. Sure, South could bid 3♥ over East’s 2♥, angling for 3NT, but even if North could oblige with a Heart stopper there was no guarantee that the Diamonds were running. Anyway, well done if you got to 3NT, and if you got to 6♦ then please send us your auction in a stamped addressed envelope (an email would be fine, too).
West North East South 3♠ Pass 4♠ All Pass
Opposite North’s 3♠ opening bid, South might have been tempted to bid 3NT, but that might have worked out rather badly, especially if North had a worthless Diamond holding. So, South trotted out a mundane 4♠, going with the field.
Against 4♠, East’s obvious lead is the J♣, seemingly both safe and attacking. But, alas, not so safe! That lead gives away the Club suit, allowing Declarer to finesse the 9♣ later in the play. This provides a Diamond pitch on the third round of Clubs and relieves Declarer of the task of guessing the Diamond suit. The bottom line here is 10 tricks, unless East avoids the Club lead, and Declarer misguesses Diamonds.
Yes, it’s true, 3NT turns out to be good for 10 tricks also. But we don’t suppose many pairs will find that, it’s hard to resist a 10-card major fit.
West North East South 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 2♥ Pass 3♥ All Pass
West makes a game try, East declines. When Dummy goes down, Declarer can see that game will indeed make if the Hearts are friendly, and if the Spade finesse works and if the Q♦ is also onside. As it happens, not even one of those good things happens! In fact, with normal play, Declarer could end up losing seven tricks. So much for those thoughts of game!
West North East South 1♥ Dbl 2NT 4♠ Dbl All Pass
North’s 2NT was Jordan, showing at least game-invitational values in Hearts. Yes, 7 HCP’s is less than usual for this bid, but North does have a 5th Heart and that Spade shortness as compensation, we’d say that she is good value for a game invitation.
Anyway, this is a hand which highlights the perils of preempting when Red vs White. East’s 4♠ gets smacked by South, who leads her singleton Club. If Declarer is a devious fellow he will win that in his hand and innocently toss out the Q♠. Will South fall for this ruse, ducking the Ace for fear of crashing Partner King? Hopefully not. Instead, she flies with the Ace and returns a Diamond. But which Diamond? Of course, she returns the Nine, the purpose of this being to discourage a Diamond return. North wins the Ace, gives South her Club ruff, and it’s down two for a really good N-S result.
West North East South 1♦ Pass 1♥ Dbl Rdbl 1♠ 2♥ 3♣ Pass 5♣ All Pass
- As South, would you double 1♥ or would you overcall? 16 HCP’s is well within the overcall range, but this hand has only four losers on the Losing Trick Count, so South doubles first, planning to bid Clubs later. - West’s Support Redouble shows 3-card Heart support. - North has an easy enough 1♠ bid. - South’s 3♣ bid shows a really good hand, of course. - North has a problem on the next round of bidding. 3NT may well be the best spot, but North has no satisfactory way of exploring that. In this situation, with the opponents bidding two suits, the usual treatment is to bid the one that we have stopped, hoping that Partner can bid 3NT with the other one under control. Alas, North has neither of their suits stopped, and has little option but to raise to 5♣. That was an awkward N-S auction, perhaps, but at least it landed them in the right contract. 11 easy tricks.
West North East South Pass 2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass 2♥ Pass 3♥ Pass 4♠ Pass 4NT Pass 6♥ All Pass
- After East’s 2♣ opening, South declined to enter the fray, being no doubt acutely aware of the adverse vulnerability. - West’s 2♦ was a waiting bid, then his 3♥ was stronger than a jump to 4♥, the Principle of Fast Arrival at work once again. - How about that 4♠ bid? Yes, it was that exotic animal, Exclusion Key Card Blackwood, asking for West’s Key Cards excluding the A♠. 4NT said “No such Key Cards” (3014 responses in this case). If you don’t care for Exclusion, then there is no reason not to bid 5NT (Grand Slam Force) here instead.
How good a contract is 6♥? Given two entries to the board, Declarer would finesse trumps twice, giving himself a 76% chance to pick up the suit for one loser. As it is there is only one entry, and that one is dangerous, there could be a Diamond ruff lurking out there. So, the obvious play in trumps is simply to cash the A♥ first. That’s only a 66% chance, but still good odds for the slam.
West North East South Pass 1♣ Pass 1♦ Pass 1♠ Pass 2♥ Pass 3♣ Pass 4♣ Pass 4♥ Pass 4NT Pass 5♦ Pass 5♥ Pass 5NT Pass 7♣ All Pass
- Here is another deal (see also Board 9) where it would have been helpful to have a strong jump shift available. Instead, North simply responds 1♦, then trots out 2♥ (Fourth Suit Forcing) to force to game. - North cannot support Clubs until the 4-level, and some would play North’s 4♣ as Minorwood (not a bad idea). - 4♥ is a cue-bid. - 4NT is Roman Key Card, 5♥ is the Queen Ask, and 5NT showed the Q♣ (and denied a side-suit King.
7♣ is cold, of course, and as it happens there are also 13 tricks in No Trump, but that’s only because of the 3-3 Diamond break.
West North East South Pass Pass 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ Pass 2♠ All Pass
East found the lead-directing 1♥ overcall impossible to resist, after which South found herself declaring 2♠. This is a contract which should go down one when the defense scores three Hearts and three trumps. However, after West dutifully starts out with a Heart opening lead, there is a danger that East might get over-active. He might fear that Declarer has the A♦ and that her Heart losers are about to disappear, in which case he could win the J♥, cash A♥, and give West a Heart ruff, thereby compressing one of the defensive tricks. That will be 8 tricks for Declarer, whereas passive defense will set 2♠ one trick.
West North East South Pass 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 3♦ Pass 3♠ Pass 3NT Pass 4♣ Pass 4NT Pass 7NT All Pass
For the third time in this set there is somebody at the table who wishes that they were playing strong jump shifts. This time it is South, but she has to make do with a simple 1♠ response. Then it is North who makes a jump shift, and it’s off to the races once again. South’s 4♣ was Gerber, and 4NT showed two Aces and a good hand, as part of these fashionable Gerber responses: 4♦: 1 or 4 Aces 4♥: 0 or 3 Aces 4♠: 2 Aces, minimum hand 4NT: 2 Aces, hand with extras That’s right, the responses are identical to Roman Key Card except that the trump Queen has been replaced with “extras”.
In No Trump there are 11 top tricks, and 13 come in if either the Spades or the Hearts or the Diamonds are running. What is the best way of marshalling the chances?
East leads a Club, and Declarer could test each of the three long suits in random order, and that will result in defeat. A better plan is to test Diamonds and then Spades. As it happens, East shows up with length in both these suits, so the odds now strongly favor finessing against West in Hearts. 13 tricks!
West North East South 3♦ Dbl Pass 4NT Pass 6NT All Pass
The slamfest continues! Would you open 3♦ with the North hand? That’s a matter of personal style, many prefer not to preempt with an outside Ace. On the other hand, we all love to preempt at favorable vulnerability, so take your pick. After East’s Double, West’s hand looks distinctly No Trumpish, but it’s just too good for 3NT. So, West bids 4NT, intended as natural and not Ace-asking, after which East can hardly do less than 6NT.
6NT is certainly the right spot! Declarer wins the opening Diamond lead and leads a Spade towards the board. When the Ace pops up, it’s 12 tricks. 6♠ is less fortunate, down one when the Spades are 4-1.
West North East South Pass Pass 1NT 2♣ Dbl Pass 2♥ Pass 4♥ All Pass
A sad hand for E-W! North’s 2♣ was DONT, East’s Double was Stayman, and the obvious 4-4 Heart game is reached. It’s a poor game (look at all that Spade wastage!), made worse when the Hearts are 4-1. Down two!
West North East South 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ All Pass
Opposite the kind of hands that some of our partners open, we wouldn’t rate the North hand as quite good enough for a game-forcing 2/1. So, North tries a Forcing NT instead.
Against 4♠, West will likely lead his singleton Heart, and with no clues from the bidding Declarer will have no reason to assume that this is a singleton, that lead could equally well be from the King. So, she’ll take the losing finesse of the Queen, which is followed by a Heart ruff, holding Declarer to 10 tricks.
Things will be different if East gets his Hearts into the auction. Now, Declarer can be sure that the Heart lead is singleton, so she’ll hop up with the Ace, lose the Spade finesse, finesse the Club return, and take another Spade finesse. 11 tricks! Yes, it often pays to get into the auction, but on this occasion East’s bidding serves only to help Declarer.
West North East South Pass 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass 2♣ Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ All Pass
South’s response was the Forcing NT and the jump to 3♠ showed invitational values and 3-card support.
After this auction East might well lead a Heart. How do you play the Spades? Looking at the Spade suit in isolation, and assuming unlimited entries to the board, one would like to lead a low Spade on the first round, protecting against the singleton King with West. But Declarer does not have the entries to make this safety play, at least not without cutting herself off from the Hearts. So, Declarer wins the opening lead on the board, runs the T♠ to East’s King, whereupon East promptly cashes the A♦ before it is too late. 11 tricks.
West North East South 1♦ Pass 1♠ Pass 2♣ Pass 4♠ All Pass
Despite having only 6 Spades, North’s holding is strong enough for her to insist on the suit as trumps. The next decision was whether North should rebid 3♠ or 4♠. A close decision, take your pick.
Our own South, being an optimistic soul, chooses to bid the game. The bad news is that it’s a marginal (aka rotten) contract, the good news being that it happens to make. West leads the T♥ won by East’s Ace. A Heart comes back, won by Dummy’s King. The Spade finesse works but the Queen does not come down in three rounds. The T♣ is run around, then another Club finesse, and the K♦ is won by East’s Ace. Sad to say (at least for the defense), East has no more Hearts and the game squeaks home.
West North East South Pass Pass 3♦ Dbl Pass 3♥ Pass 4♥ All Pass
West has an in-between kind of hand, and in 1st or 2nd seat might be wondering whether to open this 1♦ or 2♦. But, in 3rd seat, opposite a passed hand, with the hand likely to belong to the opponents, he goes the extra mile and bids 3♦. That doesn’t slow down North though, who single-handedly bids the game.
4♥ is a friendly contract. West leads the K♦, Declarer wins the Ace, and uses that valuable entry to take the successful Spade finesse. Now, three rounds of trumps are drawn, ending in hand, and another Spade is led. Then, with the K♣ onside as well, it’s 11 tricks for Declarer.
West North East South 1♣ 1♦ 1♥ 2♥ Dbl 3♦ 3♥ 4♦ All Pass
In competitive auctions, when we cue-bid the opponents’ suit we are generally showing some values and support for Partner’s suit. Here East has the values and he has the support and he also has two cue-bids available. So, what is the difference here between a 2♣ cue-bid and a 2♥ cue-bid? One popular method is to use the cheaper cue-bid to show three-card support, and the more expensive cue-bid to show four-card support. This treatment makes it easier for Partner to judge the auction from a “total tricks” perspective, and it has the added benefit of getting the auction higher more quickly when there is the bigger fit.
Who makes what? First, let’s look at a West contract of 3♥. Suppose that East starts out with the A♣, then the defense smartly cashes two Diamonds. At this point there is nothing much left to do but shift to Spades, and Declarer will have a play for 10 tricks. She’ll cash both Spades, ruff a Spade low, cross to hand with a Heart, ruff another Spade with the Ace, ruff a Club, and make 10 tricks if it turns out that trumps are 2-2. As it happens they are not, so it’s just 9 tricks.
How about 4♦? The only way for N-S to beat this contract will be for South to get a Spade ruff. Will this happen? Let’s say that North starts out with the K♥, as would just about everybody. Now we have a familiar situation, when Dummy goes down with a singleton in the led suit. This is generally played as a suit preference situation. Should South play her highest spot card, the mighty Six, to indicate the desire for a Spade shift? No, of course not! The signal might not be that clear, and if North misreads it she may decide that the winning defense is to go passive. No worries! South can see the situation clearly enough and she should take charge. So, she overtakes the first trick, cashes the A♠, then a Spade to North’s King, and a ruff. Nicely done, Ms South! But, if she had feebly signaled on the first trick with the Heart Six, and if North had gone wrong at Trick 2, then she would have had nobody to blame but herself!
West North East South 1NT Pass Pass Pass
As usual with a 1NT contract, there are numerous possible lines of play, here’s one that snags eight tricks for Declarer: North leads a Heart to South’s Ten and Declarer’s Queen A♠ is cashed Spade to North’s King K♥ is ducked Heart to Declarer’s Ace Spade to Dummy’s Queen Diamond Nine is run around to North’s Jack The 13th Heart is cashed At this point the defense can do no better than to score one more trick with the A♣. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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