Sunday, September 22nd 2013

Click here for hands and results.

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

South opens 1S or 1NT; with both a 5-card major and a small doubleton, I’d like to bid 1S, but 1NT gets the basic shape and strength across quickly. Over 1NT North bids 2C, Stayman. South replies 2S. This makes NT look playable but there may be a slam; 3D is natural and forcing. South considers rebidding the spades but that risks missing 3NT; with both unbid suits under control 3NT looks right. North, confident of a diamond fit, counts about five losers – the Queen of clubs balances the possible fourth round heart loser. At 3 points a trick, 15 hcp could provide five cover cards, so North should not pass 3NT. Visualizing, partner might have Axxx Qxx Axx AJx; 6D would be a laydown and 6NT makes on a club finesse or non-spade lead. You cannot count on partner to have those specific cards but if you invite slam and he accepts there will usually be a good play for twelve tricks.

What would 4NT by North mean at this point? In many partnerships South would simply assume Blackwood and reply 5D, one Ace. If North passes the matchpoint result will be poor, +400 or +420 rather than +460 at notrump; instead, North should bid 5H asking partner to sign off at 5NT. If the partnership has the clear agreement that notrump over notrump is natural, not Blackwood, South may be tempted to bid 6NT with his good 16 count and five card suit. This ought to fail but may slip though if West leads a club and declarer is careful to win with the Ace rather than the King. When East wins his Ace of diamonds he may return a club rather than a spade. East could hold up twice to watch partner’s discard, but this would be costly if declarer needed only two diamond tricks (add the ten to South’s spades, for example.) Still, the holdup will probably gain more often than it loses; on today’s hand West can pitch a low club, high spade or whatever signal points to spades.

North could instead try 4D over 3NT; this is a clear slam try but it may be hard to land back in notrump. Possible auction: 1NT-2C; 2S-3D; 3NT-4D; 4S (control bid)-4NT (Key Card for diamonds); 5D-5H; 5NT-pass.

 If  South opens 1S, North responds 2D. This covers opener’s weak suit but a notrump rebid at this point would misdescribe opener’s values: 2NT suggests no more than 14 hcp while 3NT suggests 18-19. 3C looks right, promising extra strength; there is little risk partner will insist on playing clubs unless he happens to have five of them.

North has good playing strength but cannot be sure yet of a fit. Since 3C created a game force, North can simply rebid 3D. (Note that there cannot exist a heart fit, as opener would not skip hearts to bid 3C with 5404 shape.) South tries 3NT and North may give up; the singleton in partner’s long suit is not encouraging.

Board 18 East Deals N-S Vul	♠ K 6 ♥ Q 8 6 ♦ K Q 9 8 3 ♣ K 7 5
♠ 10 4 2 ♥ 10 3 ♦ J 7 4 ♣ J 10 4 3 2	N W E S	♠ A 9 8 7 5 ♥ K 5 4 ♦ 6 5 ♣ Q 9 8
	♠ Q J 3 ♥ A J 9 7 2 ♦ A 10 2 ♣ A 6

South opens 1NT; this is almost always best with exactly 16 hcp – with 15 or 17 you may get away with a slight underbid or overbid in notrump the next round, but 16 is too much “in the middle.” North raises to 3NT – even if South ahs a maximum and a diamond fit, North’s honors are too scatterred to make slam a good bet. As it happens, however, both red suits break well and the heart finesse is on. 3NT making six should be routine. Some partnerships use 3C as Puppet Stayman; if North tries that, the operation will succeed but a heart contract scores poorly. Same thing if South opens 1H. When both hands are balanced and you have 28+ hcp notrump often outscores an 8 card major fit.

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

West opens 1D; don’t let the stiff Queen of diamonds spook you, if it’s worthless you still have good shape. Don’t pass a hand with 12 hcp including an Ace. East counts five losers and should make a move toward slam; the two side Aces make it plausible you can pitch a loser or two on partner’s diamonds. A strong jump to 2S followed by a spade rebid is a good approach. If you play weak jumps, East must start with a nebulous 1S and scramble to find forcing bids later.

I’m sure several North players overcalled 1H; this isn’t really an eight count with no Ace, the bid takes up no space, and it is a poor hand to suggest a lead or sacrifice. At this vulnerability partner will be tempted to overbid and you have a terrible playing hand. However, a 1H call likely deprives East of his strong jump – most play weak jump shifts in competition. East settles for 1S. West has a choice of showing his crummy club suit or bidding 1NT with a shaky stopper and off shape hand. I think 2C, showing the shape, is probably best. East is too strong for 3S or 4S; he must cue-bid the enemy suit (2H) to keep the ball rolling. Now West is comfortable bidding 2NT as partner will not expect a truly balanced hand or double heart stop. East can now bid 3S, forcing in light of the prior cue-bid. Having denied support so far, West raises to 4S on his stiff Queen – partner does not appear to be interested in either minor suit or notrump. East can bid 6S or try to explore grand slam; perhaps 4NT-5D (1 key card); 5H (Queen ask)-6D (yes, and I also have the diamond King.) East settles for 6S for lack of an obvous 13^th trick.

4S making seven tied for top; one pair stumbled into the poor club slam. Some 4-3 fits are playable but in any suit slam you must have strong trumps.

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

West opens 1S; East does not like the void in partner's suit, but with eight or nine tricks in his own hand must aim for slam unless there is no control of hearts. Three level jumps should not include a side suit, so East should begin with 2C, West rebids spades and East forces to game with 3D. (This is both a reverse and a new suit at the three level.) West naturally bids 3NT. This suggests values in hearts but East cannot be certain that includes the Ace or King; 4D is natural, slammish, and portrays the 5-6 shape. West has nothing in partner's suits but fairly good controls for his bidding so far; a 4H cue-bid seems justified. (4S would sound natural and discouraging.) The tricky part is that East cannot be sure which suit West fits -- but the clubs are self-sufficient. East can proceed with 4NT (of whatever variety) followed by 6C. Not a great slam since it depends on the diamond finesse. Passing 3NT seems awfully pessimistic but if East can bid 4NT as a natural invitation that's a reasonable landing spot.