Sunday, April 27th 2014

Click here for hands and results.

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

East opens 1S, West responds 2D, East rebids 2H. Slam seems likely in either hearts or diamonds, whichever suit is stronger. A 2/1 Game Force auction might proceed 1S-2D; 2H-3H; 3S-4D or perhaps 4C-4D (but I recommend cue-bidding Aces and Kings up-the-line rather than Aces first.) Over 4D East may pause at 4H; the singleton in partner's suit is not encouraging. But West should continue with 4S and now East can bid 4NT, Blackwood or RKCB. It could be a mistake for West to bid 4NT with his "empty" heart support; A10xx opposite Qxxx or the like does not make for good slam odds. Today, of course, East has good trumps but change East's hand to Kxxxx Kxxx A Kxx and 6H would have little play while 6D would be excellent.

Not playing 2/1 GF, a sequence like 1S-2D-2H-3H should still be treated as forcing. With 22+ hcp, a 4-4 fit and side suits in each hand there's little point in stopping short of game. However, I doubt many standard bidders would be confident 3H was forcing, so West has little choice but to blast into 4NT himself or give up on slam.

Board 12 West Deals N-S Vul	♠ J 9 4 ♥ K 6 4 3 2 ♦ 10 9 2 ♣ Q 10
♠ A K 6 2 ♥ 8 ♦ K Q 8 6 ♣ K 8 6 5	N W E S	♠ 8 ♥ A J 10 7 5 ♦ J 5 ♣ A 9 7 4 3
	♠ Q 10 7 5 3 ♥ Q 9 ♦ A 7 4 3 ♣ J 2

West opens 1D or 1C; in an up-the-line style 1C might be best if the enemy kept quiet, but competition might force West to bid both minors and 1D allows doing so without reversing. East responds 1H and West rebids 1S, unless South thinks his motley collection is worth a vulnerable "sandwich" overcall (between two enemy bidders.) South has too many losers for that in my estimation. Over 1S East does not have enough for a game-forcing 4th suit bid, so 1NT looks like the best action. If West opened 1C East could stretch for a 3C jump rebid. 1NT by East may well end the auction, or West may bid out his shape with 2C. East could raise to 3 allowing West to try 3NT. Slam is possible in clubs on the lucky 2-2 split but 3NT looks like the practical contract. The fourth diamond sets up for an 11th trick.

Board 14 East Deals None Vul	♠ Q ♥ 10 8 5 4 ♦ 4 3 ♣ A K 10 7 3 2
♠ 8 5 4 3 ♥ Q J 9 7 ♦ 9 6 ♣ Q 9 6	N W E S	♠ J 10 9 7 6 ♥ — ♦ K Q J 10 2 ♣ J 8 5
	♠ A K 2 ♥ A K 6 3 2 ♦ A 8 7 5 ♣ 4

Barring an offbeat 2S or 2D opening by East, South opens 1H. North should raise straight to 4H; this usually suggests five trumps and a singleton but good 4-6 hands qualify if partner understands how to set up dummy's hand rather than ruffing on the board. South expects five trumps, a side singleton and a useful high card or two; slam would be excellent opposite Qxx xxxxx x xxxx, for example. South checks on Aces or key cards and heads for 6S. An RKCB auction would proceed 4NT-5D; 5S (Queen ask)-5NT (no); 6S. South may be a bit surprised at the negative Queen response -- with five-card support, North should answer as if he had the Queen, since it can be expected to drop with ten trumps.

Slam looks excellent -- play the two top trumps, leaving the Queen or Jack out if the suit splits 3-1; unblock the Queen of spades; cash the two top clubs and ruff a club back to hand; pitch a diamond on a spade, and crossruff. When East shows out on the first trump, declarer tries to strip West's side suits for a trump endplay but no such luck on today's layout. Down one should be an average board but as usual not everyone reached slam.

Board 16 West Deals E-W Vul	♠ K Q 9 7 3 2 ♥ K J 5 ♦ Q 9 5 2 ♣ —
♠ 10 8 5 4 ♥ Q 9 8 3 ♦ J 7 ♣ 10 8 4	N W E S	♠ — ♥ A 10 2 ♦ 10 8 6 4 ♣ A J 9 7 3 2
	♠ A J 6 ♥ 7 6 4 ♦ A K 3 ♣ K Q 6 5

North opens 1S; South has no ideal immediate raise. Jacoby 2NT should promise 4 trumps but, with extra values, that may be a practical bid on this hand -- a singleton heart in opener's hand won't add any tricks but would indicate the cards are fitting well. Here, North would show his shortage in clubs and South, warned about the wasted values, can stop at 4S.

A disadvantage of committing to spades is that there may be a slam in clubs, using opener's spades to pitch hearts or diamonds. So the usual response is 2C, or possibly a strong jump to 3C, but I'd like a shapelier hand for that bid. Over 2C opener rebids 2S, planning to show a minimum 6-4 by bidding the diamonds later if possible. South is too strong to simply bid game; playing 2/1 Game Force, South can raise to 3S. Otherwise, South should "invent" a 3D bid (clearly game-forcing) before finally supporting spades. This may sound as though South is short in diamonds but North should not make that assumption as long as South never jumps. Anyway, good bidders should be able to consider slam without getting past 4S on this collection.

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

South opens 1H, West overcalls 2C, North competes with 2H and South has enough for game. Some may reach that conclusion by way of Losing Trick count: five losers, with the raise expected to cover two; or South may count 18 hcp plus one for the Ax in clubs (don't count both the Jack and doubleton in diamonds.) That only totals 19 and 19+6 isn't quite enough for a suit game, but South should upgrade for his excellent controls and good spots in the majors. A more timid evaluation would lead to 2S as a game try, which allows North to raise (3S, never jump raise a game try, it might not be four cards long!) and the superior nine card fit might be reached.

Against 4H East leads the Queen of clubs (passive) or singleton Jack of spades (aggressive.)  Counting on the enemy for about 24 hcp plus a fit, partner can be expected to have 6 hcp or less. I would not expect partner to have an entry and the passive club lead is probably best.

South wins in hand and crosses to the King of clubs to eliminate the suit, then calls for the Jack of hearts. East covers, South covers, and West wins his Ace. He must now exit with a trump or help declarer with a spade or diamond lead or concede a ruff-sluff in clubs. Declarer wins the trump, pulls another round and returns to dummy with the King of diamonds to finesse in spades. Out of dummy entries, the finesse cannot be repeated and declarer eventually concedes a spade. An opening spade lead gives declarer the timing to finesse twice in spades and once in trumps for +480.