Friday, Nov. 2nd 2012

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Board 3: East holds 22 hcp in fourth seat and likely hears three passes. East should open 2C with the intention of rebidding in notrump, not diamonds. There isn't room to bid out your shape below 3NT if East opens 2C and rebids 3D. A reasonable auction might be 2C-2D (negative, waiting or steps) or 2H (super-bust); 2NT-pass.

South leads the Queen of spades from his sequence. The normal play in diamonds (missing six cards including the Jack) is to play off the Q-K-A; however, a thoughtful declarer may prefer to finesse -- if South wins a diamond, he may continue with another high spade, establishing the nine as a third stopper, or try a desparation switch to a heart or club. The drop is only about a 52% play vs. 50% for the finesse, and if North gets in to lead a spade South will be able to play low on the second round of the suit. Since the finesse happens to succeed East has a sure 8 tricks and South must find three discards on the diamonds (dummy can pitch spades.) There's a good chance a low club will catch South's Ace.

Board 9: All roads lead to slam; should the grand be bid? I don't think so, you have to pick up the Queen of hearts for trick #13. A typical auction might be 1C or 1D, 1S or 2S (strong), raise, 4NT, one ace or key card reply, 5NT, reply showing one King or specifically the King of diamonds. Nothing allows North or South to count 13 tricks. What about 6NT? At matchpoints the suit contract may allow more chances to pick up a 13th trick, so 6S making seven looks normal.

Board 11: Should South open 2H in first seat? I wouldn't; the side four card major, void, and relatively weak suit (QJ-empty) are all flaws. It should be easy to compete later, though it's possible the bidding will come back to you at a high level in clubs. A normal auction would be North opening 1NT, South checking for a spade fit via Stayman, and raising to 4S. West might double 2C for the lead; the suit is borderline for that purpose but West does have a side entry so a club lead would often be the best defense against 3NT. It looks like at least one East then competed in clubs, pushing N/S to 5S. 5C could be doubled for 500 (East is really too balanced to sacrifice) but South is reluctanct to defend with his club void. Both majors break evenly for an easy 11 tricks.

Board 18: East opens 1D; South would like to overcall 2C (good suit, takes up a lot of bidding room) but is likely to pass vulnerable vs. not. West has a classic 3NT response: 16-17 hcp with 4333 shape. However, West may prefer to respond in his major or make a negative double over 2C, so most pairs found the 4-4 heart fit. Two pairs reached slam but that seems over-optimistic with only 29 hcp and two balanced hands. 4H making six scored well; anyone playing 3NT had to strive for at least 11 tricks since it appears hearts will make at least that many tricks. Picking up the hearts looks like a pure guess.