Friday, August 19th 2011

Right-click here for hands.

Board 8: North opens 1D; East chooses between 1H and 2H. I like the mild preempt with the good suit (AJ109xx is better than KQxxxx.) Odds are E/W have a heart fit and no one has a spade fit; if anyone does, it is likely that hearts will play as well as spades for E/W, and of course the suit would be breaking badly for N/S, so hearts can be viewed here as the "Master Suit." Don't try to get cute with a Michaels cue-bid, bid hearts and ignore spades unless partner happens to bid them.

The 2H jump freezes South out of the bidding, though he suspects a good fit in one or both minors. West raises to 3H based on his good support; it is generally correct to raise a 2 bid to 3 with three trumps, especially ones as good as KQx. North doubles for takeout, and South chooses 4C or 5C. The heart bids suggest partner has no more than a singleton, and partner's bidding suggests he can cover some of SOuth's diamond and club losers, so I'd take a stab at 5C. If you choose 4C it should be with the intention of doubling 4H, not changing your mind and bidding 5C the second round.

North has excellent controls but as South made no bid on the first round I would assume 5C may be a stretch, so 5C ends the bidding. Luck in both minors makes for 12 tricks, which would score a top -- no need to bid the slam as few pairs found their way to a club contract. (6D makes double-dummy but is more difficult in practice due to the bad trump split.)

Board 10: East opens 1S, West raises to two. I'd ount Eat's hand as 4 1/2 losers -- the fourth heart may be a problem -- and a simple raise typically delivers 2 or 3 cover cards; with 3 1/2, West would make a limit raise. On point-count West counts 18 hcp + 1 for each doubleton + 1 for the five card suit after the raise; 21 + partner's 6-10 does not add up to slam, so I would expect 4S to end the bidding. What about 3NT? East's hand is full of fast winners and low-card losers; partner may be able to trump a heart, so I would not consider 3NT as East. Although it is true +630 outscores +620, many players overlook the fact that +650 or +680 outscores +630 or + 660; having a trump suit will usually deliver an extra trick.

+680 was, in fact, the top score, and three pairs actually bid slam. How should East play? On the likely King of diamonds lead, East counts 5 spades, 3 hearts, and two minor suit Aces for 10 obvious tricks; the lead suggests a second diamond toward dummy will score the Jack, Either a 3-3 heart or diamond split (or in fact simply dropping the 10 of diamonds) may provide a 12th trick. The AQ of hearts provide easy entries to reach the diamonds, so declarer wins the lead, cashes one high trump, low to the Jack of spades (to avoid blocking the suit if it breaks 4-1), trump back to hand, low diamond toward dummy's Jack. If South pays attention to the spot cards, he'll realize that grabbing the Queen gives declarer two more diamond tricks, since partner's 10 must fall. +680 is a top for E/W, and +650 earns 6/9 matchpoints.

Board 12: West opens 1H and North leaps in spades with his solid eight-card suit -- how high? At our table NOrth chose 4S and I'd do the same -- if partner fails to provide a trick perhaps E/W have a slam. They do, in fact, but not one they're likely to bid. East could stretch a negative double of 3S -- he's well prepared for anything partner bids -- but 4S is passed around to West. With three Aces, I figured partner might provide one trick, or two North has a side void; +500 seemed more likely than -790. Doubling yields the desired +500 as North takes only his 8 trumps. Several Easts apparently pulled to 5D, and one pair bid 6.

Board 13: East has a good 1C opener despite only 11 hcp (including a jack doubleton); the good suit and 2 1/2 quick tricks make for a sound opening. Look at it this way -- the AK K will please partner at any contract (defending or declaring), and the clubs should provide a good source of tricks.

West plans his auction -- many would automatically respond in the major, but West does not want to rebid in notrump with a small doubleton in hearts. 1D is the most flexible response, avoids giving the impression of five cards in spades (which spades-then-diamonds would suggest), aims toward partner playing notrump if he has hearts stopped, and will sometimes result in a good 6D contract. With game-going values, it's usually best to bid your suits in natural order (up-the-line with 4 card suits, down-the-line with five) especially when the natural response is also your best suit. The spades won't go away -- West can easily bid them at any level.

East rebids clubs, West continues with 2S: not necessarily a suit since opener skipped over them, but clearly forcing and essentially asking partner to bid notrump with a heart stopper. East cannot bid notrump and simply repeats the clubs. West takes a shot at 5C, figuring on at most 2 heart losers.

The defense cashes two hearts and switches to a diamond or trump. Declarer counts only 10 winners: 6 trumps and two AK's. There's no finesse or suit that can be established for the needed 11th trick. This has all the earmarks of a squeeze hand -- nothing else to try! Typically, declarer needs a squeeze card (the long trump), an enty to the hand opposite (diamonds or spades), and more than one threat (again, diamonds and spades could provide a trick if a defender fails to keep enough length.) It usually helps if declarer has lost all but one trick (the two hearts took care of that) and can ensure only one defender can guard at least one of the suits. The diamonds must divide 4-3 or worse, so if declarer plays two rounds of diamonds and ruffs a third, only one defender can guard that suit. Now, if that defender happens to be South and also has the QJ of spades, he can't guard both suits. It won't work today, but defenders don't always keep the right cards and two declarers managed 11 tricks at clubs. East should pull trumps, cash AK of diamnds and ruff a diamond, cash the King of spades and play his remaining trumps, watching for the QJ10 of diamonds to fall or be discarded. If the nine doesn't set up, declarer pitches it on the last trump and crosses to dummy with the spade. Sometimes that last card is good, and in any case it's better than no chance at all. On defense, North must keep spades while South keeps diamonds.