| Board 5 North Deals N-S Vul |
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East opens 1H. I rate West's hand as a maximum for a simple raise (6-10), deducting a point for no Ace. East, however, adds one for all four Aces and bids straight to 4H; if East merely invites, West will certainly accept, so almost all roads lead to game. If West overbids his hand with a limit raise, standard 2/1 bid followed by support or forcing notrump-then-raise-to-3 sequence, East may go overboard. Remember that an average hand includes an Ace and the point count assumes you have your share of Aces; it's hard to make game with fewer than two.
South looks at his 4 hcp and, counting 24 or more for the enemy bidding game, expects partner to have up to 12 hcp -- but since partner passed, no more than 10 or 11 seems likely. On the recommended sequence (1H-2H-4H) partner's range is perhaps 7-11. At any rate it's reasonable to hope North has an entry, either the Ace of clubs or a high trump, so the singleton lead looks like the best bet. No luck today; the lead establishes partner's Jack but he may well have taken two tricks if declarer played the suit normally (Ace, then low to the Queen, hoping South has the King.) Singleton leads are risky but sometimes pay off big.
Declarer counts a trump loser and one in each minor. There are various lines to try for an overtrick: low diamond to the Queen (South may duck thinking North has the Ace); try to establish a club; or throw someone in with a trump and hope they are endplayed. As it happens, declarer can cash the two high trumps and three spades, then endplay South with the third trump, but that line depends on South not having four spades.
| Board 9 North Deals E-W Vul |
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North is just a bit light for an opening; 5440 shape often doesn't play well so I would pass, hoping to back in later with a club overcall or takeout double of spades. Don't stretch based on the vulnerability -- partner will be eager to sacrifice or penalize the opponents at these colors, better to have a sound opening. East might open 2C but the playing strength is a bit ragged for my taste -- it is unlikely you will miss game if partner passes 1S. Throw in the Jack of spades or diamonds or upgrade that King of clubs to the Ace and 2C would be clear. South strains to bid his excellent suit; a two level overcall tends to have opening bid values and/or a longer suit but the suit quality and favorable vulnerability justify bidding. East passes and North bounces to 4H! The big fit, spade void, control of all side suits and good source of tricks in clubs make this a standout. North has enough defense to expect to beat 4S. It would be nice to bid clubs along the way for the lead but I'd rather not give the enemy more bidding room.
East may have enough to beat 4H but it seems likely North or South is short in spades. 4S might prove expensive but I think it's worth the risk. South, with a high offense.low defense hand and hoping for shortage in at least one of the black suits from partner takes the push to 5H. East sees too many chances for three or more tricks not to double.
West leads a spade and South pauses to take stock. Ruffing and pulling trumps will leave two spade losers, a diamond and probably a club. Try this: ruff, trump to hand, club to the Queen. East can cash his diamond Ace but now both spades can be pitched on minor suit winners. If East leads a spade or a trump, one more spade can be ruffed, trumps pulled and a spade or diamond pitched on the fifth club. Probably two hands out of three, declarer should pull trumps early, but you must look ahead and see what will happen. Here it is necessary to set up the clubs while dummy still has trumps to ruff spades, but there is a risk West is short in clubs and East returns the suit for a ruff.
If East is allowed to play a spade contract he must be careful to keep a low trump in hand in order to reach dummy twice, with the Jack and seven. This allows two finesses through North.
| Board 13 North Deals Both Vul |
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North-South likely start off with 1C-1D; 1H. At this point South may be stuck using simple, natural methods: 3D would not be forcing and any game bid would be a pure guess. That's why forcing bids are important. At our table South began with 2D, described as game-forcing; a good auction might proceed 1C-2D; 2H-3D. North has excellent slam controls but minimum values; 3NT seems best at this point and I would expect South to pass.
American bridge writers almost universally deplore jump shifts unless South "knows where to play the hand", and many partnerships have adopted weak jump shift responses. The gadget known as "fourth suit forcing" is indispensible in such methods, a fact not generally stated by anyone arguing against flexible, strong jumps. The idea is that the fourth suit is typically one opener has skipped over and a fit there is unlikely, so when responder holds that suit he can bid some level of notrump. Bidding the fourth suit is treated as artificial and forcing. Here, however, a spade fit is still possible. Experts treat 1S as forcing but natural and use the jump to 2S as an artificial game force. Complicated! Anyway, the auction might proceed 1C-1D; 1H-2S (Alert!); 2NT. Either North or South may bid 3NT at some point or they may stumble past the matchpoint "pot of gold"; if so, either 4H or 6D may be a better bet than five of a minor. Slam makes on the club finesse and no bad breaks; the same 12 tricks are available at notrump and +690 tied for top.
Once upon a time bridge players were taught that any jump by responder was forcing to game; this caused some problems on "in-between" hands but getting a little too high or too low on a few of those is better than guessing what to do with a good hand such as today's South holds. Today you are virtually forced to learn the fourth suit gadget, as everyone plays jump rebids in notrump or previously bid suits (such as 1C-1D; 1H-3D on this hand) as invitational but not forcing.
Against North's 3NT, East leads the top of his spade sequence. By the way, a "sequence" must begin with an honor (the ten or higher); "1098" is considered a sequence for lead purposes but "987" is not. Although East has more length in clubs the suit is poor and also North opened in clubs. South considers a hold-up play but notices that the ten should stop the suit if East has KQJ(x)(x) as expected. Also, there are ten fast winners if no one has four diamonds to the Jack and the defenders may have trouble finding discards.
Declarer wins the opening lead and cashes six diamonds and two hearts, ending in hand. With nine tricks in the bag is it better to take the sure tenth trick or try the finesse? Better finesse -- other declarers may have received a club or heart lead, insuring 11 tricks; if the finesse fails you are losing out to those declarers but may outscore anyone in slam. If the finesse wins you at least tie everyone in game.
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