Sunday, May 25th 2014

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

North opens 1H. South has a classic hand for a slam invitation: too much to simply bid game (about 17 in value), not enough for slam without something extra from partner, or at least good-fitting cards. In standard method, the simplest approach is a strong jump shift (3C) followed by supporting hearts. It's a good idea not to have a side suit when you make a three-level jump shift; a new suit by opener should be a control bid or notrump probe. North rebids 3NT here and South continues with 4H as planned. North should like his hand: the clubs, bolstered by North's King, should provide discards and North has control of both side suits. North bids 4NT, South's reply shows two Aces or three Key cards and North ends the bidding at 6H.

The auction suggests declarer plans to pull trumps and use the club suit for discards, so East attacks with a low diamond, hoping to catch partner with the Ace or King or at least the Jack. This is a reasonable shot since if partner were broke N/S might have considered grand slam. West wins his Ace and considers the defensive prospects -- partner may well have four hearts, perhaps the Jack of clubs and perhaps the ten of spades. It won't be possible to prevent dummy from ruffing a diamond so a diamond return looks best, hoping bad breaks will sink the contract.

Now declarer counts his tricks: one spade, five hearts, a diamond and three clubs, with loser already in. A diamond ruff along with setting up the fifth club or a successful spade finesse would bring home the slam. However, the only entry to the clubs will be in trumps, and declarer cannot both ruff a diamond and pull three rounds ending in dummy to enjoy the long club. So it looks like the contract will depend on the spade finesse.

Declarer cashes the King of clubs, ruffs a diamond high, cashes the Ace and Queen of clubs (pitching spades), low trump to the Queen and a trump back to dummy for the spade finesse. When that wins declarer pulls the remaining trumps and claims. All in all not a great contract; only one pair bid and made slam. Perhaps North should pass 4H.

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

South opens 1D. West has a poor suit and hand for a vulnerable, two-level overcall but may try 2C anyway (at matchpoints) since it takes up a lot of space and preempts both majors. North may start with a negative double but would hate to catch partner with club length and a hand that looks like it should convert the double to penalties. 2H, planning to support diamonds later, is a reasonable option even though partner will expect a five-card suit. South leaps to 3NT, expecting seven or eight tricks from his own hand. Should North leave that in or try for slam? As I've blogged before, 4D in this sort of auction should be a forcing slam try, not an attempt to convert partner's game bid into a part-score. North has excellent controls, good shape and can expect strong diamonds opposite so 4D looks reasonable. South would like to make sure both majors are under control but with three key cards plus the Queen of trumps he probably has what North wants. 4NT followed by 5NT reveals two Aces and a side King, but neither partner can count a sure 13 tricks (or even 12 at notrump) so 6D should be the final contract. Two club ruffs bring the total up to 12 tricks and West can be squeezed in the majors for an overtrick.

Board 17 North Deals None Vul	♠ Q ♥ Q 7 5 4 ♦ Q 9 8 7 6 ♣ 8 4 2
♠ 5 3 ♥ A 10 9 2 ♦ A J 2 ♣ A K Q 7	N W E S	♠ A K 10 4 ♥ K J 8 ♦ 10 4 3 ♣ 10 9 5
	♠ J 9 8 7 6 2 ♥ 6 3 ♦ K 5 ♣ J 6 3

After two passes, South may open 2S in third seat (not vulnerable) to annoy West. West doubles for takeout; East may bid a natural 2NT (not playing lebensohl), stretch for 3NT, or pass for penalties. That looks attractive with three probable trump tricks and no clear game bid. The defense starts with three rounds of clubs and then hearts, declarer ruffing trick #6. A low diamond to the Queen will probably be ducked by West -- either declarer or partner must have the King. Now declarer leads the fourth heart for a ruff, then a low trump to the Queen. The defense ends with nine tricks for +800. Although the recap shows E/W can make slam, they weren't likely to bid it with only 29 hcp. Still, South caught partner with an especially poor hand so if your partner got slaughtered at 2S show some sympathy.

If South passes, West opens 1C, East responds 1S and West shows his values by jumping to 2NT. East counts a combined 29-30 hcp with no obvious fit, so a raise to 3NT ends the bidding. West makes 11 or 12 tricks depending on how he plays the heart suit.