Sunday, February 23rd 2014

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Board 5 North Deals N-S Vul	♠ A K 9 4 ♥ K 10 5 ♦ — ♣ J 10 9 6 4 2
♠ J 6 5 ♥ A J 9 4 ♦ A K Q J 9 ♣ A	N W E S	♠ Q 10 8 2 ♥ 6 ♦ 10 7 6 3 2 ♣ K 8 5
	♠ 7 3 ♥ Q 8 7 3 2 ♦ 8 5 4 ♣ Q 7 3

North opens 1C, passed around to West's powerhouse. West begins with a double. Despite subminimum high cards, North should go ahead and compete with 1S. This suggests at least 4-5 shape; a more balanced hand should certainly pass. East can only count on partner for about 9 hcp and so passes. South must bid 2C -- he has already denied much in the way of high cards and must help partner find the best strain. West doubles again to show additional strength. North might consider 3C but has probably done enough. East picks a red suit (2D.) West counts five or six losers: 3 spades, 2 or 3 hearts. Partner woudl've competed directly over 1S with a fair hand, so West cannot expect too much. A raise to 3D may not fully express West's strength but anything more seems too risky. Five diamonds fails on the A-K of spades and a ruff; South should definitely lean toward a spade lead since North might not have bid again with strong clubs and weak spades. A club lead sinks 3NT despite the double stopper.

Board 6 East Deals E-W Vul	♠ A 7 ♥ A Q 9 6 5 ♦ J 9 4 2 ♣ A 7
♠ 8 4 2 ♥ 10 7 2 ♦ 10 7 6 3 ♣ J 4 2	N W E S	♠ K J 6 3 ♥ K 8 4 ♦ K 5 ♣ 10 8 5 3
	♠ Q 10 9 5 ♥ J 3 ♦ A Q 8 ♣ K Q 9 6

South opens 1C and the N/S auction proceeds 1C-1H; 1S-2D, alerted as artificial (the Fourth Suit Forcing gadget, usually played as forcing to game.) This allows North to set up a game force as well as checking back for three-card heart support. With only four hearts and strength in diamonds, North could simply bid 2NT (about 11 or 12) or 3NT (about 13-16.) Lacking heart support and with strength in diamonds, South bids 2NT -- but if 2D was natural of forcing for only one round, South must leap to 3NT. North raises 2NT to game -- with no fit, slam is unlikely.

West may as well lead a diamond; nothing else looks any better. South wins the Ace and runs the Jack of hearts to East. Counting on South for at elast 12 hcp, East can tell partner is nearly broke; perhaps he has the Queen of diamonds or spades. If West started with his fourth-best diamond, East returns the suit, pickling West's ten. If instead West started with the 7 (some like second high from a poor four-card suit) East tries a spade, finessing himself! On a heart return, declarer cashes a third round of the suit (pitching a spade) and then takes two more diamonds, the two black Aces and finally the last two hearts, squeezing East in the black suits for a fine +490.

Board 8 West Deals None Vul	♠ 10 6 3 ♥ 5 ♦ Q J 10 5 ♣ K Q 10 9 4
♠ A K J 8 5 ♥ 3 ♦ K 7 6 3 2 ♣ 8 6	N W E S	♠ Q 7 2 ♥ A K Q 8 2 ♦ 8 ♣ A J 7 5
	♠ 9 4 ♥ J 10 9 7 6 4 ♦ A 9 4 ♣ 3 2

West opens 1S; East responds 2H. While many would rebid 3D, that ought to show extra values (forcing to game if not playing 2/1 game force; 15+ in a Mike Lawrence-style 2/1 scheme.) Instead, West rebids 2S, normal with any minimum hand not suitalbe for another two level bid. East can now describe his hand well with a 4D delayed splinter -- 0 or 1 diamond, three spades and slam interest. West signs off at 4S and East passes. Lacking that gadget, East bids out his shape with 3C over 2S. West tries 3NT -- little point in trying to show the diamonds -- and East completes his desctiption by pulling to 4S. That must show genuine spade support, a shortage in diamonds, and slam interest: a weaker hand would simply have raised 2S to game. It's important for East to be able to suggest slam without going past 4S; while E/W have many of the requirments for slam, the hands simply don't fit all that well and the lack of a ninth trump limits the playing strength. Meanwhile, North's surprise in hearts can sink even 5S. Five pairs overbid to slam on this one.

Board 11 South Deals None Vul	♠ K Q 10 9 4 ♥ K Q 3 ♦ A J 10 6 ♣ 2
♠ J 5 2 ♥ J 9 8 5 2 ♦ Q 3 ♣ 10 6 4	N W E S	♠ 8 3 ♥ 10 7 ♦ 9 8 ♣ A K Q 9 8 7 5
	♠ A 7 6 ♥ A 6 4 ♦ K 7 5 4 2 ♣ J 3

South opens 1D; North has a good hand for a strong jump to 2S. East has a rare hand worth overcalling 3C despite the strong N/S bidding; he certainly wants a club lead if South declares. South has no particular reason to bid; North rebids 3D. South can now bid 3S, suggesting only three card support from his failure to raise earlier. North appears to have an ideal hand for Blackwood, but the bid carries some risk: there could esily be two missing Aces and a diamond loser. On the other hand simply raising to 4S might leave partner wondering if the clubs are under control. While I generally try to avoid cue-bidding shortages, this hand calls for a 4C control bid. South should like his two Aces and vital King and drive the hand to slam.

Not playing strong jumps, North responds 1S and East preempts with 3C. This is passed around to North. Now 3D would sound merely competitive; North must jump to 4D. South bids 4S and North must guess whether to continue -- there may well be a slam but the five level may be too high. In fact the slam depends on a guess in diamonds so stopping at 4S is prudent.

Board 19 South Deals E-W Vul	♠ A Q J 10 9 7 3 ♥ K ♦ 8 6 ♣ J 10 6
♠ 8 4 ♥ J 9 8 6 5 ♦ K 7 ♣ A K 9 8	N W E S	♠ K 6 5 ♥ A 10 7 4 3 ♦ A 9 4 3 ♣ Q
	♠ 2 ♥ Q 2 ♦ Q J 10 5 2 ♣ 7 5 4 3 2

West has a borderline 1H opening -- the suit is poor but the hand does have two-and-a-half quick tricks. North leaps to 3S or 4S. The stiff King of hearts is a red flag, but with six near-certain trump tricks 4S is reasonable at favorable vulnerability. What you don't want to do is bid 3S and then 4S over 4H -- apply maximum pressure at once, let them take the last guess, then bail out. East expects to defeat 4S but with a ten card fit and a side singleton 5H looks better. A spade lead from AQ is unlikely; declarer wins any other lead, cashes the Ace of hearts and Queen of clubs, crosses to hand and pitches spades on clubs. When the Jack and Ten drop declarer wins all but a high trump.

Board 27 South Deals None Vul	♠ Q 7 5 3 ♥ J 8 7 6 5 4 ♦ 7 5 ♣ 7
♠ A 10 8 6 2 ♥ 9 3 2 ♦ 8 4 2 ♣ 9 2	N W E S	♠ 4 ♥ A Q ♦ A K Q J ♣ A Q 10 6 5 3
	♠ K J 9 ♥ K 10 ♦ 10 9 6 3 ♣ K J 8 4

East opens 2C in fourth seat; West responds 2D negative or waiting or non-bust, or 2H "Steps" (4-6 hcp.) East rebids 3C and West bids 3S. East can settle for 3NT at this point; responder might continue with extra values and/or a club fit. Or East can push toward slam himself.  I'd say East is fairly minimum for 2C, 3C, 3NT; with a more balanced hand East should rebid in notrump immediately.

A hard-luck hand for anything beyond 3NT: three finesses lose.

Sunday, February 9th 2014

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Board 6 East Deals E-W Vul	♠ 7 6 5 4 ♥ Q 9 6 4 ♦ 5 2 ♣ K Q 3
♠ A 9 2 ♥ A J ♦ A J 9 8 ♣ J 10 7 5	N W E S	♠ Q J 3 ♥ 8 3 ♦ Q 7 6 3 ♣ 9 8 4 2
	♠ K 10 8 ♥ K 10 7 5 2 ♦ K 10 4 ♣ A 6

Confusion over the meaning of a double here cost us first place. South opens 1H; West can best describe his hand with a 1NT overcall. (With four spades, some might prefer a double, but 1NT still conveys the strength and shape quickly.) North raises to 2H. If East had four spades, he could make a responsive double -- when they've bid and raised over partner's notrump overcall, it is impossible for fourth hand ("advancer") to hold a trump stack.

Lacking spades, East passes, as does South. Now, we all know it's a bad idea to let the enemy play in a fit at the two level. While West could have length in trumps, it is highly unlikely that he can count on six defensive tricks with no help from partner. So, again, after a bid and raise, double by the notrump overcaller should be for takeout. East can bid either minor and whether N/S pass or compete to 3H, E/W should do better than defending against 2H. N/S can theoretically double for a top but that is quite risky with a nine-card fit.

Unfortunately the double by West does sound like it could be for penalties and East, having suffered a large set at 2H on Friday, passed for -570. "After they bid and raise, double at the two level is NOT for penalties" overrides all other agreements about doubles. But if you aren't sure partner is on the same page, it's always better to pass and discuss it later!

Board 9 North Deals E-W Vul	♠ J 8 6 5 ♥ K 10 6 ♦ J 8 6 ♣ 7 6 3
♠ K Q ♥ Q J 8 7 5 3 ♦ K 7 ♣ Q 5 4	N W E S	♠ A 10 3 2 ♥ A 9 ♦ A Q 9 3 ♣ A J 10
	♠ 9 7 4 ♥ 4 2 ♦ 10 5 4 2 ♣ K 9 8 2

East has a balanced 19, and can add a point for all four Aces; with two tens and two nines, this is certainly worth more than 19. On the other hand the excellent controls improve the chances for suit play and it may be hard to reach 6D if you start with 2NT. East can open 1D and jump-shift to 2S or raise 1NT to game.

West responds 1H and East continues with 2S as planned. This creates a game force (even if West stretched and wished he had passed!) so West does not need to place the contract – he can rebid his 6 card major without fear of getting passed at 3H. Be sure you understand this – some players jump with only 17 or so and then drop the ball. A jump shift by either partner is game-forcing, barring special agreements such as weak jump shift responses.

East raises 3H to game and West, with 13 hcp, should be thinking slam. There should not be three Aces missing or even two plus the King of hearts, so West can proceed with 4NT. East replies 5C (0 or 4 Aces) or 5D (1 or 4 key cards) or 5C (1430 style.) Zero Aces is inconsistent with East’s strong bidding, so West should bid 5NT (confirming, for East’s benefit, that he is looking at all the Aces!) East shows zero Kings. This makes for a likely heart loser; 6NT would be good from East’s side but as it is West must settle for 6H – a club lead would sink 6NT.

If East opens 2NT, West can use a Texas transfer (4D) followed by 4NT as key-card in a gadget-happy partnership. The distinction between Jacoby and Texas, when both are played, is that the Texas bidder always has six trumps and always knows what level he wants to play at: four or six. A hand that wants to invite but not force to slam starts with Jacoby (3D) and either raises to 4H (six trumps, but in-between game and slam) or 4NT (only five trumps, with slam interest; quantitative, not key-card.) If you do not play Texas, it is reasonable to dispense with the invitational sequences since the notrump range is fairly narrow, so 3D followed by 4H would be to play and 3D followed by 4NT would be Blackwood or RKCB.

Three pairs reached slam, one at the top spot of 6NT by East.

Board 13 North Deals Both Vul	♠ J 6 ♥ A 8 7 3 2 ♦ Q 9 4 ♣ A 10 8
♠ Q 5 4 2 ♥ K Q J 10 9 5 ♦ 10 7 ♣ Q	N W E S	♠ 10 7 3 ♥ 6 ♦ A K 8 6 ♣ K 7 5 3 2
	♠ A K 9 8 ♥ 4 ♦ J 5 3 2 ♣ J 9 6 4

After three passes, West can expect to go plus in a heart contract. Best is to open a fourth-seat weak two, rather than let N/S get in a low-level overcall or takeout double. In fourth seat you would pass out a weak hand; I recommend 9-12 hcp in this position. Some players seem to think a two bid is strong in fourth seat but I have found no expert support for that notion – the consensus is that 2H gets your side to the right spot quicky. If you have not discussed this with partner, however, open 1H.

After 2H, North and West will pass but South may try a double – 4144 is perfect for takeout. North, with five hearts and no side suit, passes the double for penalty; East should not rescue – there is no reason to assume anything else will be better than the 6-1 heart fit. North does not particularly want a ruff so a low diamond looks best, hoping to set up something and force declarer to ruff. Declarer stops to consider (always a good idea at trick one.) Five hearts, two diamonds and a club would produce 8 tricks, or perhaps a spade can be set up. But if North has five trumps as expected and returns another diamond, there won’t be an entry to take the club winner. So declarer wins and plays a club to his Queen. North wins; what did partner play at trick one? If partner discouraged with his 2, North should shift to the Jack of spades. South wins the King and Ace and gives North a ruff, South can’t get back in to allow North a second ruff. If South encouraged on the diamond (reading North’s lead as low from the Queen), North leads the Queen of diamonds. However, declarer takes the Ace of diamonds, King of clubs, and then leads dummy’s trump. Either way, West comes to eight winners. Of course N/S would do better on this occasion to play in 3C or 3D, but 4-3 minor fits at the three level are usually not winning contracts. Give South a higher heart and 2H goes down.

If South opens 1H instead, North passes. By the way, asking what 1H (a perfectly normal bid) means is highly imroper and a dead giveaway North has a heart suit. East more or less qualifies for a 2C response (if not playing Drury) but I’d recommend 1NT – slow the bidding down with a misfit. West rebids 2H and South has less incentive to balance – partner is more or less marked with heart length from East’s failure to raise.

Board 22 East Deals E-W Vul	♠ 7 ♥ A 7 5 3 2 ♦ Q 10 8 4 ♣ J 9 7
♠ A K J 3 ♥ J 6 4 ♦ 6 ♣ 10 6 5 4 2	N W E S	♠ Q 10 8 5 ♥ Q 10 ♦ 5 3 ♣ A K Q 8 3
	♠ 9 6 4 2 ♥ K 9 8 ♦ A K J 9 7 2 ♣ —

East opens 1C, South overcalls 1D (this is generally better than a double; you may have a chance to double clubs later for takeout) and West responds 1S. With both majors West would make a negative double but with only one major it is better to bid it immediately, otherwise the fit may be lost if North can raise diamonds. This is the only sequence where a negative double promises both majors. North can in fact raise; experts might use a fit jump (3H) here, otherwise North must choose 2D, 2H, or 3D. I’d try hearts with a better hand and suit; here, the best tactical bid is probably 3D – if you also have a heart fit, they’re going to outbid you in spades anyway.

East has a minimum, semi-balanced hand but the hand looks much better for offense than defense and East should compete with 3S. South’s spade length insures shortness in North’s hand and East leaps to 5D. West would like to bid 5C – drat it, diamonds outrank clubs. The vulnerability argues against any further E/W bidding.

West leads a high spade and the defense eventually collects a heart trick if they’re careful. Against a spade contract North probably leads a diamond. South wins and would like partner to lead a club but there is no magic way to get that message across so the defense may settle for one diamond and two heart tricks.

Board 23 South Deals Both Vul	♠ A Q J ♥ 10 6 ♦ A 9 6 ♣ A J 10 7 2
♠ 8 6 2 ♥ A 9 8 4 ♦ Q 5 2 ♣ 9 4 3	N W E S	♠ 3 ♥ K 7 5 2 ♦ 10 8 7 4 ♣ K 8 6 5
	♠ K 10 9 7 5 4 ♥ Q J 3 ♦ K J 3 ♣ Q

South opens 1S, North responds 2C and South rebids 2S. In the style recommended by Mike Lawrence, myself and others, this does not necessarily show extra length; South could have a minimum with 5 spades and 3 or 4 clubs and not be suitable for a 2NT rebid; a raise to 3C should promise 15 hcp or so.

In a 2/1 game-force style, North can simply raise to 3S, leaving room for South to control-bid. But South has a fairly poor minimum and when he signs off at 4S North should pass.

Not playing 2/1 game force, North has a rebid problem: 3S isn't forcing and 4S may be an underbid. If you haven't redefined a 3C response as Bergen or a weak jump shift (neither recommended in a standard style) North may do better to start with a strong 3C response. South rebids his spades and North raises to game. South has a poor hand in terms of slam controls and no extra playing strength, so 4S ends the bidding.

As a last resort, North may respond 2C and invent a diamond rebid. The auction may proceed 1S-2C; 2S-3D; 3NT-4S. Removing from 3NT to 4S makes it clear North's 3D was an advance cue-bid, inviting slam.

Many North players would simply barge into 4NT at some point; with four key cards plus the Queen of trumps slam was reached by two pairs. But key cards don't equal tricks and that's why North needs to invite slam, not insist on it. Also, of course, the defense can cash the first two heart tricks.

Declarer can make ten tricks if he tries a losing finesse in either minor, or eleven by taking the ruffing finesse in clubs. Since even the five level isn't safe, it's important to suggest slam without getting any higher than 4S on this sort of deal. That's what strong jump shifts and 2/1 game force methods are good at.

Board 24 West Deals None Vul	♠ Q J ♥ J 8 2 ♦ A 9 8 3 2 ♣ 8 5 4
♠ A K 10 6 ♥ A K 6 3 ♦ 4 ♣ A K 9 3	N W E S	♠ 9 7 3 ♥ — ♦ J 10 7 6 ♣ Q J 10 7 6 2
	♠ 8 5 4 2 ♥ Q 10 9 7 5 4 ♦ K Q 5 ♣ —

West’s hand is not suitable for any stronger opening than 1C – the hand lacks playing strength, and has no suitable rebid after a 2C opening. With 25 hcp or so, West should open 2C and rebid in his four-card major.

North has an indifferent hand for a 1D overcall; the suit isn’t much, the QJ doubleton of spades is poor, the shape is minimal and 1D doesn’t take away any bidding room from E/W. Whether North bids or passes, however, East should leap to 5C. The game-raise in a minor is rare but this hand has excellent playing strength and little to offer on defense or at 3NT. As long as East makes a preemptive club raise (3C weak in competition, or 4C, or 5C) West has enough for slam. Over a simple raise, West would not expect so much playing strength and may settle for 5C.

Six clubs looks easy: six trumps, four winners and two diamond ruffs. When South shows out on the first diamond, declarer can switch to diamonds so as to get the ruffs before pulling trumps.