Friday, November 30th 2012

Right-click here for hands. These hands were originally generated for a Tuesday game.

Board 1: A wild hand, with each player facing choices. Should North open? 11 hcp and 6-5 shape says "yes", but two singleton honors and less than two quick tricks says "no". If the minors were reversed I'd open a weak two diamonds, planning to freely bid 3C (but no higher) later if given the opportunity. With clubs longer and stronger, I would pass, planning to enter the auction later with a descriptive Unusual 2NT. If North does open, should it be 1C or 1D ? Basically with 6-5 hands you have to decide whether to portray it as 5-5 or 6-4. Bidding both suits shows more of your cards, but with most the points in clubs, I'd probably open and rebid the clubs, burying the diamonds unless partner mentions them.

East has an obvious 1C bid if North passes, or a reasonable upgrade to a 15-17 NT. Aces, tens, nines and five card suits all are worth more than the simple point count allows, perhaps 1/2 each for the good five card suit and second ten. (You expect to have one Ace, one ten and one nine in an average hand.) Three quick tricks should please partner if he insists on a suit contract.

Over a 1D bid, the choice is between 1NT and 2C; the sturdy suit is fine for an overcall, but again 1NT is a reasonable description (and greatly simplifies West's bidding problems as it happens.) If East chooses 2C, is South good enough for a negative double? Only five hcp, but an Ace, good shape and tolerance for diamonds makes the double attractive.

Now it's West's turn, after 1D-2C-pass or dbl. Ordinarily, to show 5-5 shape, you bid "down the line", bidding spades first and planning to bid and rebid hearts later. But is West strong enough for that? Rebidding the hearts would have to be at at least the four level. Pass seems overly timid; an alternate strategy would be to bid 2H, trusting partner to mention spades if he has four. This will miss a 5-3 spade fit, but responding in spades risks never mentioning the hearts at all, or overbidding on a potential misfit.

If North opens 1C, East can pass (usually sound when they open your best suit) or again upgrade his hand to a 1NT overcall. I would expect notrump to play well and favor the overcall. South cannot double 1NT -- that would be strength-showing (10+ hcp); negative doubles apply only over suit bids. Any notrump bid or overcall by East allows West to confidently force to game on his 5-5 ten count. Some pairs play a gadget 3S bid for strong 5-5 hands, but simple transfers work better: transfer to spades and then rebid 3H. As it would be normal to use Stayman on a 5-4 hand, bidding both majors shows 5-5, and a new suit at the three level after a transfer is always game-forcing.

Any time you can give partner a good description of your hand with one bid, you are apt to come out ahead in the bidding. That doesn't justify ignoring your agreed notrump range; I see players claiming 15-17 or 15-18 ranges while routinely including average 14, 18 or 19 counts. Stick to your range, but judgement is allowed on exceptional hands such as this one.

Against 4H, South will likely lead his singleton club, but a diamond is possible if that's what North opened and West has shown his 5-5 pattern -- the idea would be to try and force the long trump hand (dummy) to ruff twice, putting South's trumps in control.

North should take time to plan the defense before winning his Ace of clubs -- it's good practice never to play quickly as third hand to trick one; think! West has 10 hcp, North has 11, East has shown 15-17; that leaves only 2-4 points for South. Also, 4H looks like a normal contract (North is unaware of East's other bidding options.) If North opened 1C the lead appears more likely to be from 3 rather than a singleton. South may have a club honor. North's stiff heart means either East or South has four. Continuing clubs probably allows declarer to pitch something in dummy, but unless South has a high diamnd this doesn't look like it will cost. Leading the stiff Jack of spades hoping for a ruff would be foolish -- a single trump lead eliminates the heart Queen. Better to hope South has something like J9xx in trumps and the Queen will promote a natural trick. I'd continue the clubs, hoping to give nothing away.

East tries the Jack or ten of clubs and South ruffs to prevent a diamond discard; dummy overuffs. The extreme split in clubs suggest South is more likely to have heart length; East would like to lead twice through South and hope to capture the trump Jack or Queen. A diamond to hand, ten of hearts (ducked, covering won't promote anything for South, best is to hope North has a stiff honor as here) to the Queen, another club, but it looks like declarer will score ten tricks easily. On repeated diamond leads declarer has a harder time, probably needing to ruff a spade in hand between the first and second round of trumps.

Several Easts played in clubs; a possible auction might be 1D-2C-dbl-pass; North passes, converting the double to penalties and East has no place to run. I think West would do better to pull the double to 2S or perhaps 2H. On the penalty pass auction, South must lead a trump. No reason for North to grab his Ace; why lead into that dummy? Just cover the seven with the nine. East wins and may be tempted to try for a fast discard on spades, but North's bidding (1D, the passing a negative double) suggests 5-5 in the minors and it's unlikely he has three spades. Instead, East runs the ten of hearts (or makes a brilliant guess with the King, but a stiff Ace on North is just as likely as a stiff Queen.) North exits with the Jack of spades. East wins and tries another heart; South hops up with the Ace and switches to diamonds when North pitches the six. After this North can safely exit with a diamond every time he gets in, which should limit declarer to two or three trump tricks, one spade and three diamonds. Ouch!

Board 2: Twelve high card points is usually too much for an opening preemptive bid, but East is looking at favorable vulnerability, strong hearts, no Ace and fewer than two quick tricks -- I'd gamble that 4H won't miss a slam. After two passes, North has too much to go quietly and double is the obvious choice no matter how partner takes it. (The modern style is described as "takeout", but it's more like "optional" at this level; I still prefer "partner, I've got too much to pass!", usually 16+ but I'd stretch with this quick-trick rich beauty.)

South's choice is pass or 5C; I think I'd pass and lead the stiff spade -- partner rates to be able to give you more than one ruff. North wins and reads the lead as likely from shortness; he returns his lowest spade to signal for a club return. South wins and returns the Jack of clubs; he doesn't want North to duck the Queen. North wins the King and gives South another ruff. Now South cashes the Ace of diamonds (North signals with the 8), and leds to North's King for down 3 (+500 N/S.)

If the defense starts with two rounds of clubs, declarer ruffs, pulls trumps and sets up two spade winners for nine tricks. Five clubs for +600 was a top but +500 would've beat all other scores. Making slam requires guessing to drop the Queen of diamonds rather than taking the obvious finesse (which should be better than 50% in light of East's preempt, but might be plausible if East opens only 1H.)

Board 7: South has just enough for a 1D opening or 1C "could be short" depending on partnership style. Over 1D West's hand is horribly flawed for a takeout double; partner may never quit bidding hearts. I make it a rule never to start with a double on a hand with a singleton or void in an unbid major. Some might choose an off-beat 1NT, but partner may well transfer to a random five card heart suit. One spade on AKxx looks best. North passes and East's 8 hcp are just enough for a 1NT reply; I wouldn't worry too much about stoppers in an enemy minor. West could bid 2D, natural, but that does not sound forward-going; 2NT invites game. East might pass or bid 3C; over 3C, West bids 3D (natural, in effect stopper showing) and East should finish at 3NT.

Double-dummy, 3NT should go down while either 5C or 5D makes; but with no suit unstopped it's almost always right to try 3NT rather than venture the five level. A low heart can beat 3NT but five of six declarers playing notrump made nine or more tricks.

Board 9: East opens 1C, South jumps to 2D, and West bids the obvious 3NT. This ended the bidding at seven tables; one East reached 4H and another 6S, both theoretically makeable but both down one at the table. East can visulaize slam opposite many opening hands, but the likely wasted values in diamonds and East's unappealing 4414 shape (nothing useful to pitch on diamonds) argue against bidding on. If East does make a move, West should support clubs and the soundest slam should be reached. Twelve tricks makes on a finesse (hearts), so this is a slam you should not be sorry to miss.

Board 11: Another double-dummy slam, requiring two finesses. Every pair sensibly played 4S. South opens 1S; West may bid 2NT (Unusual.) However, it is common to play Unusual 2NT and Michaels cue-bids as "weak or strong", excluding hands of around 11-15 hcp. In that case West should overcall in one of his suits; I'd choose clubs for the good lead-direction rather than the anemic diamonds.

North expects 2C ot go down, but the known nine-card major suit fit argues against defending below the four level. North cue-bids 3C, promising at least a limit raise of spades. South has plenty enugh to accept and in fact shold want to leave North some bidding room in case there is a slam. 3D looks right; North assumes this is a game try but allows for the possibility of an advance control cue-bid. 3NT by North suggests his club values and also leaves more room in case South intended 3D as a cue-bid. South is uninspired by the watage in clubs and retreats to 4S.

East had support for clubs -- should he have gotten involved? Not with three small and a balanced, weakish hand -- a sacrifice is apt to be too costly. I suggest a firm agreement that doubling the cue-bid of partner's suit shows the Ace or King -- the opponents have just announced they are planning to play the hand, with partner on lead. It will be a big help to partner to be able to underlead his Ace or King with confidence -- and the failure to double (as here) will also be frequently helpful.

If West bids 2NT rather than a minor, North doubles first (to show strength) and later bids game in spades. This sets up a penalty double if E/W try the five level. Some pairs agree to play "Unusual over Unusual", where 3C (lower of overcaller's suits) shows a good hand with hearts and 3D (upper suit) shows a good hand with spades. 3H and 3S are competitive, say 8-10 points with your own six-card suit or support for partner. Double is thus more definitely for penalties -- if East were to bid 5C on today's hand, for example, North would have to double but would feel more comfortable if he had already shown spade support (via 3D) than if he started by doubling 2NT.

Board 21: East opens 1C; how many hearts does South bid? The poor suit and adverse vulnerability argue against 3H; South may settle for 1H or compromise with 2H. West bids 2S (at least 10+ hcp, 5+ spades and forcing one round; 2/1 game force does not apply over competition.) North "bounces" to 4H -- partner already looked at the vulnerability, so no reason to back off here. In fact, an argument can be made for 5H -- North expects the enemy to bid and make 4S; they may be too high at the five level. Picturing South with, say, xxx AKxxxx xx xx, the fate of both 5H and 5S would depend on the diamond finesse; you don't know whether they should bid or double you and neither do they. If you aren't going to sit for 4S, you should bid 5H now. Bidding 4H then 5H practically insures being doubled; a bold 5H may escape unscathed or with the enemy overbidding. On today's hand, 5H makes and E/W must sacrifice with a combined 24 hcp!