Monday 5/2/2011

Right-click here for hands.

Lots of slam today!
Board 4: South opens 1S after three passes; North shows a limit raise by way of Drury 2C, passed-hand 2NT, or a simple jump to 3S. I prefer the jump to be the sort of hand that would raise a first or second seat opener to game, generally 5 trumps, a singleton and about 7-9 hcp; a normal limit raise can use Reverse Fit Drury or the 2NT gadget. This can be played the same way as normal Jacoby except that opener's 3S rebid is a sign-off while 3NT shows 16+.

After the raise, South counts only 3 losers and can reasonably hope responder can cover two of those. Blackwood or RKCB will confirm partner has an Ace, but are there two heart losers? There are two basic approaches here: cue-bid 4C, responder bids 4D, then opener retreats to 4S suggesting no heart control. As responder lacks control also, the bidding dies at the safe 4S game. The other approach is to gamble that either partner controls hearts or the opening leader will not have the Ace; 4NT avoids telling the defense what to lead, although there may be a negative inference from East's failure to double a 5D response. 6 pairs stopped at 4S; 3 reached the unlovely contract of 5S, probably by bidding 4NT and then signing off despite the combined holding of 3 Aces; 4 went down at slam. I'm inclined to cue-bid such hands, and that would clearly be best at a team game, but I had no complaint with partner's gamble at matchpoints.

Board 8: North's type of hand has always been a routine 1H opener for me -- 13 Goren points with 2 quick tricks -- but I'm sure several passed for lack of 12 hcp.  South can start with a strong jump to 2S if the style does not forbid a side suit, but most American authorities decry such bidding without, as far as I can tell, offering any reasons. Anyway most Souths likely respond 1S, North rebids 2C and South can show his game-forcing two-suiter with a 3D jump shift. 2D would commonly be played as artificial, the 4th Suit Forcing convention, and a subsequent diamond rebid risks being passed if the partnership lacks clear agreements on the follow-up bids after 4SF. South can describe his shape with a leap to 4S, suggesting exactly 3 spades (since no raise the previous round), 5 hearts and 4 clubs, hence no more than 1 diamond. The jump would also suggest minimum values since it can be passed. Now South bids 4NT -- no two-loser suit to worry about this time -- and learns of two Aces or, better, 3 Key cards. The RCKB reply allows South to bid 7S with confidence (not 7NT, unless you can ask partner whether he has the Jack of diamonds!) Blackwood bidders must bid 5NT, confirming all the Aces, and North, looking at the King of trumps, may well bid 7 rather than simply show 1 King. It is crucial to realize that the 5NT bid is primarily to inform partner all the Aces or Key cards are held and invite a grand slam, rather than demanding a robotic response.

No pairs reached the grand; one tried 6NT, thinking to outscore 6S, but when all the Aces are held, the major suit actually gives you a better shot at +1010 vs. +990 in notrump. Consider 6NT when you have extra high cards or side suit tricks but are missing one Ace.

Declarer wins the opening heart lead, cashes the Ace and King of trumps (noting the 3-1 split), crosses to the King of clubs, Ace of diamonds and a diamond ruff, then pitch a diamond on the Ace of clubs, finally ruff a heart and pull the last trump. The diamonds are likely to split 4-3 but no reason to bank on that or play too many rounds of a side suit at the risk of West ruffing.

Board 18: East opens either 1C or 1S. The normal method with 6-5 is to open the longer suit and rebid the other twice; this works especially well with clubs and spades unless the opponents preempt in a red suit. A question I ask myself is, if I open 1C, will I be willing to bid the spades for the first time at the four level? I'd say yes on this hand but can't criticize anyone who opened 1S.

South might preempt 3D at any other vulnerability, or 2D over 1C, but the unappealing 2272 pattern argues for a pass over 1S. Assuming 1S-pass, West makes a forcing raise, with Jacoby 2NT being the popular style. North, despite the vulnerability, leaps to 4H; this might net -800 but in that case E/W likely have a slam. At any other vulnerability I'd bid 5H to take away Blackwood, but -1100 is worse than any slam. East bids 4NT and then 6S over partner's one-Ace reply.

What does South lead? Partner's preempt cannot be viewed as primarily lead directing, and at matchpoints there is always an urge to cash an Ace to prevent an overtrick. Sometimes that lead beats the slam (they may have two quick losers in the suit, such as board 4) and sometimes it's the only lead for declarer to make, but I think it's usually the right choice. (Note to Ace from AK leaders -- that agreement should not apply at the five level or higher, but few realize that or have discussed it with partner.) The Blackwood sequence rules out partner having a second Ace, and if partner actually has 8 hearts as the vulnerability suggests the opponents cannot have a heart loser. Cashing the Ace of diamonds saves several mathcpoints but the slam is unbeatable.

If East opens 1C, South jumps to 2D, West bids 2S, North still leaps to 4H and the result should still be 6S making 6. One brave North escaped for -800 at 5H doubled; the risk with such a bid is that partner will have some odd trick that beats slam but does you no good as declarer. Today the gamble pays off, but noting that several pairs did not even reach slam emphasizes the risk.

Board 19: West's hand is a good weak two bid but nowhere near good enough for a 1S opening when you consider the singleton queen and lack of defensive strength. Some players find reasons not to open hands like this with 2S, but it cannot be wining tactics to pass a 6 card major headed by KQJ. North passes his quacky 11 count and East raises to 4S.

The folly of opening 1S can be seen in the three pairs that went down in 6S. Another risk is partner doubling the opponents expecting your opening bid to provide some defense. The age-old rules of subtracting one point from an Aceless hand and for an unguarded honor and having two quick tricks in borderline cases (when considering an opening bid) will keep you out of such disasters. I open plenty of 11 hcp and Rule of 20 hands -- when my points are Aces and Kings, such as Board 8.

At our table West opened 1S, East employed Jacoby 2NT despite only 3 trumps, and West showed a singleton club, then attempted to sign off by jumping to 4S over East's 3D control bid. East was too delighted with the shortness in clubs to be deterred; no tricks are gained by ruffing in the long trump hand but the 3C bid suggests all the honors are combining well. Give West the King of diamonds instead of the Jack and the useless Queen of clubs and slam is cold. I led the Ace of clubs and the slam is doomed as the cards lie; declarer can guess to finesse in hearts but the percentages favor trying for the drop, and a diamond must be lost in any case.