| Board 1 North Deals None Vul |
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North opens 1D; South should respond 2C. With game-forcing values, responder should start with his longest suit; bidding a minor does NOT deny a major. If, for whatever reason, responder fails to bid his longest suit first (usually for lack of strength to name the suit at the two level, sometimes for tactical reasons) he must not bid that suit later (other than perhaps to raise if partner bids it.) Bidding hearts followed by clubs promises 5 hearts! Make South's King of diamonds a small card and I would respond 1H, planning later to rebid in notrump, not clubs.
After 1D-2C, North rebids 2D or perhaps 2NT. My recom-mendation for this troublesome sequence is to agree that the 2C bid promises the values for 2NT or three of some suit; opener therefore can bid anything up to 3C without requiring extra values. Here, then, opener rebids the diamonds; this may locate a good 5-3 fit. Responder continues with 2H -- we didn't lose that suit -- and opener's third bid is 2NT. With no fit responder settles for 3NT.
On this (and perhaps most) occasions a 1H response would likely work out OK. Opener rebids 1NT and responder raises to 3NT; East may even lead a club. But you'll miss a fair number of slams that way.
It is difficult for East to find a lead that doesn't help declarer. The auction suggests a spade lead but not from Kx! I might try a low heart (dummy's second and therefore shorter or weaker suit) hoping to catch partner with J10xx, KJxx or the like. No luck today, declarer can duck that to his Jack and lead a low diamond. East might duck this but it looks right to win and shift to a low spade. Declarer can afford to play the nine, East wins the King and that's it for the defense since the diamond suit comes in.
| Board 7 South Deals Both Vul |
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North opens 2C and South responds 2D (waiting or semi-positive) or 2S (natural, slam-positive or steps, 7-9.) While South is strong enough for a positive response I would avoid that bid with such a poor suit if 2D is not played as strictly negative. Over anything but a natural 2S, North rebids 2NT. This classically shows 22-24 balanced but if 2D promises something (i.e., 2H would be a bust) 2NT is unlimited -- that leaves more room for responder to employ Stayman or transfers. Plausible sequences:
2C-2D (waiting or semi-positive); 2NT-3H (transfer); 3S-4C (second suit, slam interest); 4D (control)-4S; 5S-pass. No one controls hearts.
2C-2S (natural); 3S-4C; 4D-4S; pass (no heart control)
2C-2S (artificial, 7-9); 2NT-3H (transfer), etc., only difference is South plays the hand.
A heart lead is practically guaranteed after any of the above sequences or anytime East is on lead, but it also looks like the natural lead from West's hand even if N/S avoid highlighting the heart problem. Two South declarers managed to steal slam but the odds of getting away with that are poor -- 50% of the time the player on lead has the Ace; if not, the danger suit will still be led part of the time anyway.
| Board 12 West Deals N-S Vul |
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West opens 1C. North does not have a sound overcall (vulnerable) but it can be hard to resist bidding spades -- it does have good obstructive value here. East makes a negative double (showing hearts here); South is too weak to compete. If anyone thinks the Law of Total Tricks says you can bid 3S or even 2S with this trash they should review the need to have your share of points before applying the Law. West rebids 2C and 3NT looks right with East's flat 15 count. Should anyone have bid more? West is close to a 3C jump rebid while East's 3 Aces and honor combinations may be worth more than their raw count, but I doubt I would reach slam here. Note that if West makes a habit of jumping to 3C with this sort of hand what would be the rebid with an extra Ace?
| Board 21 North Deals N-S Vul |
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North opens 1S; South should respond 2D. With game-going values but three-card support for partner's major, the proper approach is to bid a new suit before supporting partner. Since the specific sequence 1S-2H is best played as promising five-card length, responder names his longest/best minor. Why not leap straight to 4S? That throws away valuable bidding room that may lead to a good slam, and in standard methods describes a raise based more on distribution than high card strength. (The classic requirements are five trumps, a singleton or void, and about 6-9 hcp.)
Over 2D, opener has more than enough for 3C, a "high reverse". This creates a game force, promising at least 15 or so in standard methods; I treat it about the same playing 2/1 game force. Minimum range hands can rebid 2S or 2NT, whichever the partnerships prefers as a default rebid. South shows his delayed support with 3S; there should be no reason to leap to 4S. North can try for slam with a 4C control-bid, and South cooperates with 4H. (4D is possible but showing control of the unbuid suit is proabably best here.) This is good news but even valuing his hand at about 19, North does not have quite enough for slam opposite a minimum game-force. 4S is the prudent bid and that likely ends the bidding. The recap shows 12 tricks can be made but +680 scores well; no one bid slam.
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