Sunday, November 13th 2011

Right-click here for hands.

Board 10: East opens 1C and West has an obvious strong jump to 2S. East raises to 3S and West can either show club support (4C) or cue-bid his diamond control (4D), hoping in either case East has control of hearts. Since West has solid spades and only Qxxx in clubs 4D looks best. East continues with 4NT; if this RKCB West replies 5C (0 or 3 key cards.) Missing one key card, slam will be poor if the Queen of trumps is also missing, so East bids 5D to ask about the Queen. West replies with 5S (second step = yes) or 5NT (yes, but no side King) and East ends the bidding at 6S.

For those playing weak jump responses "not in competition" (be sure to alert) West must begin with 1S, which East raises. Blackwood is not recommended with two small losers in a side suit, but West absolutely must not make a bid partner might pass. Experts would bid 3C, an apparent game invitation but forcing by agreement; but in a casual partnership there's too much risk East may pass. Four clubs would be natural and an obvious slam try; otherwise West might try 3D, which at first appears to be a game try but transforms into an "advance cue-bid" when West continues over East's sign-off or game bid. As a practical matter, 4NT may be the practical bid, hoping East has a heart control or the enemy guesses to lead the wrong suit. At a team game I'd recommend 4C.

North should lead the King of diamonds and slam has no play; on any other lead a heart can be established to pitch the diamond loser. Note that 6C makes easily: win the lead, pull trumps, and pitch a diamond on the long spade. This is a common theme in bridge columns and textbooks, where the 4-4 fit produces an extra trick, but note well the conditions: two solid suits, a side suit with the Ace and a loser which can be pitched on the 5-4 or 5-3 suit. There is rarely any advantage in playing a part-score in a 4-4 rather than 5-4 fit. Here, East's clubs were quite strong but West's support seemed marginal, and the matchpoint scoring suggest playing in the major.

Board 21: West opens 1NT (15-17) after three passes, East checks for a spade fit via Stayman 2C and bids 3NT over West's 2H reply. North's hearts are strong enough to lead despite the known length in West's hand. West counts a minimum of two winners in each suit, with extra chances in spades (3-3 fit or the Ace popping up in front of dummy) and diamonds (3-2 split or stiff Ace with North.) Since West must lose the lead twice, it is correct to hold up at trick one: the hearts will be dangerous only if North has at least 5, so holding up once insures South will not be able to continue the suit later. Winning the second heart, West leads toward the spades first; South wins and switches to clubs. Now West leads toward dummy's diamond honors; North wins sooner or later but neither hearts nor clubs can be established in time for the defense. As it happens an opening club lead would doom 3NT but that would be a shot in the dark. (Yours truly neglected to hold up in hearts -- oops!)

Board 25: East opens 1H. Though strong enough for a jump shift, it's sound practice not to have a side suit for any three-level strong jump, and West can easily develop his hand with a 2D response followed by spades. For those who don't play 2/1 forcing to game, it's a sound principle that when responder makes a 2/1 bid and later bids a major suit he could've bid at the one level, he has game-forcing values. It's also a sound principle to bid your longest suit first with good hands; bidding spades first on this sort of hand will miss many a good slam.

Over 2D, East should not rebid 3C -- a new suit at the three level, known as a "high reverse", should promise extra values (about 15+ hcp) and be forcing to game. Responder cannot bid sensibly if he must guess whether 3C is a shapely 11 count or a powerful 18. Likewise, 3D must be defined in range, and if it does not show extras, how would opener show a good hand with diamond support? Mel Colchamiro talks about "default" rebids in November's Bridge Bulletin; with a minimum, opener must bid something below 2 of his suit (no such bid available after 1H-2D) or have an agreement that 2H or 2NT is the default rebid. I've always played 2H as the default, not promising any extra length. This allows all other rebids to be clear-cut.

So I recommend 1H-2D; 2H-2S; 2NT-? West's 2S rebid establishes a game force, and West thinks slam is likely, but 6NT might be a stretch opposite East's presumed 11-14. West therefore continues with 3D, and East should raise -- if all West wanted were game, he could've raised to 3NT. Now West bids 4NT with confidence; East reveals one ace or key card; which slam? It may be possible to establish East's hearts with one or two ruffs (picture AKxxx, which would be consistent with the bidding), so I'd pick 6D. As it happens diamonds split badly and barring a double-dummy first-round finesse, 6D has no play.

Several pairs landed at 6NT which has excellent chances: the diamonds may come in or the Queen of hearts may be finessable. No luck today.