Sunday, August 19th 2012

Right-click here for hands.

Board 1: After three passes, West opens 1C on Ax x AKxx AK9xxx . If the long suit were a major, a 2C opening would be reasonable, unless perhapp the suit were hearts and you are laying the 2H super-bust method. As is, you are unlikley to miss a game if you open 1C and everyone passes. East, with a flat 10 count, has the shape to respond 1NT, but may prefer 1D with only 10xx in spades. Over 1NT, West bids 2D, a forcing reverse. Why forcing? Anytime opener bids a suit responder skipped over, he must assume responder may be short will have to return to opener's first suit, which makes the 2D bid equivalent in strength to a 3C jump -- at least 17 points in effective value.

So 2D is forcing -- what should East bid? Those familiar with lebensohl may play that any weak hand bids 2NT as a puppet to 3C, while other bids show 8+ hcp and are forcing to game. With that agreement, East can simply raise 2D to 3D, forcing. Many partnerships, however, hoave no clear agrements about bidding over a reverse. In that case 3D sounds weak and must be avoided. A leap to 3NT could be wrong "in spades"; but leaping to 4D or 5D shuts out a notrump game. With a thoughtful partner, 2H is a standout -- once a major suit has been skipped over, it can be used as a "notrump probe", perfect for this hand. Opener feels there may be slam in a minor, but the 2H bid opposite West's singleton suggests wasted values and opener may rebid 2NT, 3C, or 3NT. Over either of the first two responder continues with 3D; now opener must either drive to slam or settle for 3NT. Responder's 1NT followed by 2H makes it unlikely he has either a doubleton club or both minor suit queens along with the promised heart stopper, so I believe I'd settle for 3NT, a contract no one reached today.
At our table it went pass-1C; 1D-3D. THe 3D bid was an underbid, but I felt I needed some extra values from partner to bid slam, and short of that did not want to rule out 3NT. Over 3D, East should probe with 3H (same logic as above, can't be a real suit) and West bids 3NT. Partner actually bid 5D (reasonable if not best) and I was encouraged to try 6D.

Six diamonds looks like an excellent contract -- solid trumps, no fast losers, and easy to set up 12 tricks if trumps break 3-2 or clubs are no worse than 3-1. Not a lucky day, but how should declarer play? On a spade lead, grab the Ace. That sets up a spade loser but there's no rush to get rid of it -- the Ace of hearts may be needed later as an entry. Now check the trumps -- I'd take the Ace and then Queen. When North shows out, put off pullng the trumps while you check out clubs. All will be well if clubs are 2-2, but what if they're 3-1? That will be OK if you can lead up to the club honors and through the short hand, which is more likely to be South anyway given his known extra length in diamonds. So, low club toward dummy. Ouch, South can ruff and cash a spade. You were never making this one, but South just ruffed your club loser and shortened his own trump holding.
With less horrible luck, South follows to the first club. Declarer returns ot the East hand with a heart, pitches the spade loser, and leads another club toward dummy. Whether SOuth ruffs or not the defense collects only one trick. Remember this device of leading up to honors in a long suit which might not break evenly.

Board 2: East picks up AJx AKJ109 9xx Kx as dealer. If this were a team game, there would be little reason to open anything but 1NT, describing your strength and most of your shape in one quick bid. At matchpoints, it's a bit more complicated -- chances are a little better than 50% you have a heart fit, which will likely produce an extra trick; +420 or +140 will outscore +400 or +120. But consider -- if partner raises to 2H, you must surely make a game try, and every now and then 3H will be too high. If,instead, partner responds 1S, you are too strong to rebid 1NT (suggesting 12-14) and not strong enough for 2NT (18-19.) Some might try a 2D rebid but that risks playing a silly 3-3 "fit" and doesn't really solve anything. Likewise, 2S is a clear underbid. How about 3S? A glance at the actual West hand shows the problem -- if partner is weak, the spades may be a horrible trump sui. ***Never jump raise partner without a genuine fit!*** If I put myselft in this position, I'd stretch for 2NT -- the good hearts and good controls may compensate for the missing points.

All in all, when you have exactly 16 hcp and no more than one doubleton, opening 1NT will, in the long run, probably win more matchpoints than it loses. As it happens, West passes 1NT and North may well bid 2S (I would, despite the vulenrrability, rather than suffering the likely heart lead by South.) West should double (for penalties) and any reasonable defense holds declarer to six or seven tricks. (For those who play "stolen bid doubles" such woud clearly not apply when West passed initially over 1NT.)


Board 6: East opens 1D and West has a classic strong jump shift (2H.) Most North American experts would say this denies a second suit, so East rebids 3C to show a slam control (or 2S, showing the cheapest first or second round control.) I prefer a more flexible style, but East still rebids 3C, this time showing a decent suit. Either way, West rebids 3NT, suggest a balanced 17-19 hcp. East has a fair suit and good controls; picturing, say, Axx AQxxx Qx KQx either 6D or 6NT looks good. With less in clubs, it might be possible to set up the hearts with a ruff, so I think 6D is the proper goal. East can pull 3NT to 4D; this should never be taken as "I'm weak, let's play a part score rather than game!"; that would be silly after West's strong bidding. So 4D is clearly a slam try. With three Aces, West drives to slam, probably after 4NT. A complete auction using Roman Key Card Blackwood might be 1D-2H; 3C-3NT; 4D-4NT; 5H-6D. South is likely to lead a spade, giving declarer time to set up hearts and avoid a club loser. On the more dangerous club lead, declarer would have to guess trumps correctly and I can't see any obvious reason to finesse North rather than play for the drop. 6D making scored a clear top.

At our table South threw a spanner in the works with an agressive 2H weak jump. Double, by West, would be negative, showing spades. West can pass and expect East to reopen, hopefully with a double, but vulnerable partners have been known to pass such hands out; I settled for simple jump to 3NT, making 6, for a decent 5 matchpoints out of 7.