Friday, February 24th 2012

Right-click here for hands.

Board 2: An intersting competitive hand. After two passes, West opens 1S and North overcalls 2D. North might jump, but his good hand should have him thinking "maybe we have a game" not " I need to jam the bidding." East is too weak for 2H or 2NT; what about a negative double? Styles vary; I prefer to have a realtively balanced hand for the double, including two in partner's suit -- partner must bid something, and there's no assurance he will have a second suit, so I think it's prudent to have a tolerance for his announced suit. I'd pass but would not be overly critical of a double. After South also passes, West should re-open the bidding -- it won't pay to sell out to 2 of a suit you are void in. Never minf only 11 hcp, West's shape demands a bid. The choices include double, 2H, and 2S. I like 2S: partner's failure to double reduces the chance of a heart fit (surely he has some values on this auction), chances are good he has two spades, and the bid suggests limited values. I'd hate to double and have partner guess to pass for penalties. North has good defense against spades but the seven diamonds should be rebid; after that North can consider defending. 3D is passed around to West, who should think "6-4, bid one more", especially with the void; I'd try 3H. North passes and East comes alive with a raise to 4H, which ought to end the bidding. If North or South compete to 5D East should double and collect 500.

With his strong spades, North leads out the Ace of trumps, trying to limit West's ability to ruff out the spades. Of course dummy's 5th trump cancels that plan; what next? West has shown 6-4 shape; a singelton or void in diamonds seems likely. Trying to cash the Ace of diamonds will likely set up a discard for a club, and leading clubs may finesse partner. I'd continue with a low spade -- declarer can ruff out the spades, but North can't prevent that. Declarer finesses in trumps, pulls the last trump, cashes the King of spades, ruffs a spade (noting South shows out) and leads a club honor from dummy -- North has shown long diamonds in the bidding and four spades during the play, so it looks right to play South for the clubs. South covers the Queen or Ten and eventually collects the second and last trick for the defense. If declarer plays the clubs "normally", without clues from the bidding, Ace of clubs and a low club to the Queen will give the defense an extra trick.

Several pairs sacrificed at 5D, which proves too expensive. South's relatively flat hand is not suitable for heroics, and as mentioned North has too much defense in West's spades to bid more than 3D.

Board 9: After two passes, South should open 3C. A good six-card suit is fine for that bid when not vulnerable -- better than passing, and you don't have the alternative of a weak two. West doubles with his powerhouse, planning to bid spades later. East beats him to it; should West simply raiase to 4 or contemplate slam? Counting five losers, it seems unlikely partner can cover four of them on a hand that didn't jump, so I'd settle for 4S after some thought. 4S making six was the normal result, one pair bidding slam -- perhaps East did jump, or South failed to open 3C. If West is allowed to open 1S, some "Law of Total Tricks" fans would leap to 4S with East's hand (10 trumps = 10 trick level); I don't think that's sound without the customary singleton but on today's hand West is inspired by the big fit and may continue to slam by way of Blackwood or RKCB. Five clubs doubled -- trying to sacrifice at the five level with only 8 trumps -- got hammered for 1100.

Board 15: Perhaps most would open 3C with West's hand, not vulnerable vs. vulnerable, but my philosophy is that the enemy will usually brush aside such feeble preempts; I prefer around 5-9 hcp and a fair suit for a three bid in first or second seat.

If West does open 3C, East should reason that he can cover all of partner's side-suit losers, and with his King there should be no more than one trump losers, so a Blackwood or RKCB auction should land the partnership in six clubs, an easy contract. If West passes, East opens 2C; West bids 2D negative (0-7), waiting (0+), or semi-positive (4+, where 2H would show a bust); or 2H "no Ace or King", or "steps" (4-6.) Assuming 2D semi-positive, East bids 2H and West bids 3C, natural. It's hard to come up with something other than 3NT by East. West is likely to pass rather than risk taking out what may be the only makeable game.

After a negative or waiting 2D, 3C by West would be a "second round negative" showing a potentially trickless hand; who knows what partner will think of a club leap? This is a trap hand for most partnerships using such methods. I would say four clubs must be natural if 3C is artificial, but I wouldn't assume partner would take it that way without discussion; he might read it as a splinter raise of hearts. Perhaps a negative 3C followed by four or five clubs would be best.

Over a "steps" 2H, East must bid 3H, or a highly distorted 2NT. That's the downside of "steps" : the 2H and 2S responses often jams the bidding. However, I think precise high card information is something most players can understand and use effectively. On today's hand West must bid clubs at the four level, which leaves East with a nearly insoluble rebid problem; I'd assume the clubs were fairly long and raise to five.

Board 17: After North and East pass, South opens 2C. Only 18 hcp, but plenty of tricks and slam controls. One guideline is "more quick tricks than losers"; South has 4.5 QT's and only 3 losers; another is "game in hand" with at least four quick tricks including two Aces. A typical auction might be 2C-2D; 2S-2NT; 3S-3NT; 4H. South emphasizes the spades before introducing the hearts. With 9 hcp opposite a 2C opener, North should proceed toward slam once the fit is discovered, with 4NT revealing three Aces or four key cards.

Against 6H, West leds the King of clubs, won perforce by South's stiff ace. Making slam requires setting up the spades with no loser. If both majors break 3-2, a single ruff will suffice; can declarer plan for one bad break or the other? A 4-1 trump break can be handled only if the Jack or Ten drops singleton and declarer retains a finessing position over the other honor. That suggests cashing the Ace of hearts and, if either the honor drops, continuing with the Queen or low to the King as appropiate. But you still have to ruff a spade, or resort to the finesse, so it will be hard to cope with four tumps in West's hand.

What about spades 4-1? You'll need two ruffs, which means you can't pull three rounds of trumps, which means there's a risk of dummy being over-ruffed. On today's hand a succesful line would be to cash a high sapde and ruff one before pulling any trumps. The King of trumps in dummy protects against West ruffing with the ten. return to hand with a club ruff, ruff another spade, and then pull trumps. I'm not sure what the best theoretical line is.

Board 23: West opens 1C; if North can bid 3C naturally, this is a good hand for it -- good offense, little defense. East bids 3S, West raise to 4S, East asks for key cards and West shows two with 5H. That leaves only the fifth diamond as a possible loser; 7S should be cold but 7NT looks to be a heavy favorite since AKQJ is likely to pull all the remaining diamonds, or partner may have a side King, or the Ten of diamonds, etc. You want very good odds to bid any grand slam but 7NT looks to be a good bet. Declarer claims 17 tricks on any lead -- OK, they'll only let you score 13.

Playing simple Blackwood, West shows one Ace and then two Kings. East cannot be sure tha includes the King of spades, but West should realize that and raise six spades to seven. That's why you NEVER bid 5NT after 4NT without all the Aces -- 5NT doesn't merely ask for Kings, it confirms all the Aces (or key cards) and invites grand slam.