Sunday, September 18th 2011

Right-click here for hands.

No slams bid today. Best of the lot was Board 7:
West is too strong for any preempt, and does not have enough high cards or trick to justify 2C. West opens 1S and rebids 4S over practically any bid by anyone -- in this case, partner's 2H. East suspects hearts might play better, but his suit is broken and it won't pay to argue over suits. As it happens, 6H or 6NT makes on the heart finesse while West must lose a trump trick to North, but +650 is the normal result here. Even playing 2/1 Game Force, I don't see a rational way to play in hearts - West has an 8-card major suit fit all by himself. 1S-2H; 2S(!)-3D; 3S-3NT; I can't see West passing 3NT or supporting hearts without bidding the spades one more time. Slam depends not only on avoiding spades but also on a heart finesse and no voids for the defenders, so it's less than 50%.

Board 10: Some might open 2D on South's Jack-high suit, but I expect most Wests opened 1C after two passes. East responds 1H and West rebids either 1S or 1NT. Normally I would recommend looking for the 4-4 fit: if East has 4 spades along with 4 hearts, he must have a doubleton in one of the minors; but on this particular hand West has a double stopper in both red suits and may prefer not to mention 9xxx in spades. Over 1NT, should East raise? I wouldn't -- playing 15-17 notrumps, West's 1NT rebid suggests 12-14 points, and 12 is much more likely than 14. You can't have 26 hcp and 25 is unlikely -- why volunteer for 2NT with such poor prospects for game? Only 1 pair stopped at 1NT, however, and that by a cautious East who must've rebid 1NT over West's 1S.

The double-dummy analyzer says nine tricks can be made, but no pair managed more than eight. Against 1C-1H; 1NT-all pass, North leads a low spade. South wins the Queen and returns a diamond. Declarer has no reason to suspect the stiff King, so West plays low and North wins his King. North may as well continue spades as break a new suit, and declarer ends with 2 tricks in each suit for +120. Nine tricks requires employing the Rabbi's Rule: when the King is singleton, play for it to drop.