Thursday 12/30/2010

Right-click here for hands.

Board 4: With 2 1/2 quick tricks and a void, West is much too strong for any preempt; this is a 1H opening regardless of style. North doubles for takeout. East shows his strength with a redouble, planning to support hearts later. (With 4 trumps most players would bid 2NT, the Jordan convention, showing the values for a redouble along with a big fit. This convention gives up nothing since a strong balanced hand should redouble.)

South has a high-offense, low-defense hand, ideal for preemptive action; South should not be willing to defend against four of a major and should simply leap to 5D, putting maximum pressure on E/W. (3D would be constructive had East passed but preemptive over the strength-showing redouble; but 3D doesn't so justice to South's hand.)

If South passes or bids any number of diamonds below 5, West should rebid his hearts. This action does not show any extra high cards but simply announces West's extra shape. Over 5D, West should probably still bid given his seven card suit and diamond void. However, pass is plausible at this level. North must not misinterpret South's jump as showing any strength; East cannot justify bidding 5H and the probable result is 5D doubled, down 2 for a disappointing +500. 4H or 5H scores +680 when the club finesse works.

Board 15: West opens 1H or1NT; the concentrated values argue for a suit contract. Over 1H North might overcall 2C but with an extra Ace and Ten and a fair five-card suit the hand can be upgraded to a 1NT overcall. East bids 2H over either bid, and South should make a "responsive double." This gadget applies when your left-hand opponent (LHO) opens a suit, partner overcalls or doubles, and RHO raises opener's suit -- it does not apply when RHO bids another suit. South has a minimal hand but when one side has a fit, the other is a heavy favorite to have one as well, and South can expect to ruff one of his losing hearts in North's hand. West has minmum range (up to 15 hcp) and minimal shape (5332) and so has no reason to bid over the double. If North overcalled in clubs he can assume South has spades and diamonds and so bid 3D; if he overcalled notrump he must bid clubs at this point. Either way the bidding is at the 3 level and neither East nor West has any reason not to defend. West's extra values will be just as useful on defense as declaring. This is the basic "Law of Total Tricks" situation -- push the opponents to the three level, then sell out if you do not have some distributional asset to favor declaring. At matchpoints, West might try a "hair-trigger" double, showing general high card strength rather than any particular trump holding.

N/S can theoretically make 8 tricks at diamonds or 7 at clubs, but in practice I think it will be hard to avoid an extra loser -- . Down 2 doubled or down 3 doubled or not beats 3H making 3.

Board 21: Any number of auctions are possible with this wild collection; North's ahnd qualifies for a strong 2C opening but the shape is difficult to bid out without forcing to game. Assuming 1S, some Easts might preempt with 3C but I recommend a pass. South has another high-offense, zero defense collection and should jump to 4S. West has a good hand for an Unusual 4NT. North doubles this to show his strength; East leaps to 6C; North probably buys the contract at 6S. Playing West (who showed a two-suiter) for possible short spades allows North or South to avoid all but one spade loser. A 7C sacrifice would pay off on this ocassion; that would be more likely if East preempted at his first chance, but both East and West have too much potential defense to guess 7C otherwise.

Board 32: West opens 1C, East replies 1H, and South preempts 3D. West doubles, showing general strength, and North raises to 4D. East should bid 4H almost no matter what the previous auction. 4H should buy the contract but if N/S compete to 5D West can reasonably bid 5H based on the potential source of tricks in clubs.

East ruffs the diamond lead and tries a club toward dummy, hoping to establish the suit. South's Queen is a mixed blessing, but East has plenty of high trumps and proceeds by ruffing a club high, heart to dummy, ruff a second club high, heart to dummy, and since that pulls the last trump, discards three spades, cashes the Ace of spades and gives up a spade trick, making 6. I don't see an obvious way to reach the slam.