| 19th May |
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. . . and the brilliancy prize for defence goes to . . . * Richard * Don't ask me why (or how) but West ended up as declarer in 3NT on this hand.
Richard led the ♥7, which ran to the ten and queen. West cashed the ♠Q, all following, and stopped to count available tricks. Two in the bag, ♠AK, three top diamonds and a club, eight tricks - not quite enough. However, with eight diamonds between he two hands maybe they will break 3-2! No such luck. So West exited with a 4th ♦. Richard now produced the ♥9. Decision time. The options are: play South to have started with a doubleton Ace which is coming down this round or has Richard lead away from the ace? |
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| Tuesday 12th May |
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West is dealer but should not be tempted to open 3♣ because
a) the hand is just not good enough at this vulnerability and
b) also holds 4 spades. Don't open a weak 2 or 3 with 4-cards in a major as well (unless partner is a passed hand), since this may prevent your side finding a major suit fit - the object of the exercise is to prevent the opposition finding their fit. Playing Standard English, East opens 1♠. West's hand is now comfortably worth a raise to game in spades (no point in mentioning clubs, since you have a known major fit). But rather than just bidding 4♠, he can show his heart shortage by bidding 4♥ - a splinter. Because East also has extra values, he will cue bid his lowest ace with 5♣. This is excellent news to West, who will continue to cue bid - 5♥ comfirms 1st round control (ace or void), and denies a diamond control. East might now just go straight to 6♠. The play is quite simple: Ruff a heart in dummy, take the spade finesse, draw trumps, and then discard all your losers on the long clubs. 13 tricks.
Even if the spade finesse fails, you should still have 12 tricks unless the defence can find an early club ruff, or if the spades split very badly. South might put in cheeky vulnerable overcall of 2♥. But now it's even clearer that 4♥ has the meaning described as above.
Alternately 3♣, a new suit at the 3-level, is unconditionally forcing for 1-round and invites partner to describe his hand futher. The disadvantage is North will probably bid 4♥ and waste more of your bidding space. East can always double and West can ask about aces before bidding 6♠, but it's seldom a good idea to ask for aces when you have a void - how do you know whether one of partner's aces is the ♥A, which will be a waste? |
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| Thursday 7th May |
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Its not often you hear partner open the bidding when you have 16 points all of your own. It's even better when you have 4-card support for his major. 4♣ sets the scene - agreeing spades, a club singleton and suggesting slam. 4♦ and 4♥ show Aces and East's 4♠ denies any further interest in slam. But West is good enough for another try - East should have 12ish points and the ♦A only counts for four of them, leaving 8 points probably in hearts and spades. South should lead a spade (after all you know about the club shortage in West's hand). Declarer wins this trick and plays a club won by North (A♣) who should return a second spade, stopping East from ruffing 3 losing clubs. Can East still make his contract? |
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Yes with careful play. With nine top tricks, you could have made the slam with three club ruffs in dummy, but defenders’ trump leads have reduced dummy’s trumps to two. You therefore still need one more trick – either from hearts or clubs.
You could hope that after ruffing two rounds of clubs, ♣Q might have fallen, promoting your Jack, but this is optimistic. Better odds (50%) is to hope that South holds the ♣Q – now you can make the contract by taking a ‘ruffing finesse’.
Lead your ♣J. If South plays the Queen, ruff and draw the outstanding trump. Your remaining clubs are winners. If South fails to cover the Jack, you have to cross your fingers and discard (a heart) from dummy. When North can’t win this trick, you know you have your contract. Holding the Ten and Nine of clubs, you can repeat the ruffing finesse, or just ruff out your last two clubs anyway.
Ruffing Finesse |
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| 2nd May |
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| How did you bid this hand? East only has 10 HCPs but only five losers so opens 1♥. To respond at the 2-level and change the suit you need 9 plus points. West luckily has 9 so can bid 2♣. If North chooses to overcall 2♠ at this point he cuts down on EW bidding space and makes it harder for them to find their final contract. Of course it’s not without danger for NS as EW are known to hold the balance of the points. East should not be daunted and bid 3♦ showing 10 or 11-cards in the red suits. With 6-6 in ♥ & ♦ he would be more likely to bid 4♦. South with 4-card support and the ♠AK raises the anti with 3♠ putting W in a difficult position. Crossing his fingers that East has 6 hearts he bids 4♥. NS have done their bit and pass. South leads the ♠A and all follow. East will make his contract if South mis-defends now. Which card should South play next? |
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He knows that East only has one spade as North must have five for his bid. East also has five or six hearts and five, possibly four, diamonds and a shortage in clubs. It’s obvious that any diamond losers will quickly disappear on the clubs on the table once trumps are drawn so South must continue the attack with the DA and then a small one to remove the king entry.
If East holds the ♦Q it won’t matter but if North has it, it is important to promote it before East discards them.
East can refuse to rise with the King and hope that South started with the AQ but that is unlikely to work as North is marked with 8 or 10 points. His best chance is to rise with the King and hope that North started with ♦Qx.
If South passively leads ♠A followed ♠K, East simply ruffs the second spade, draws three rounds of trumps and knocks out the ♣A. He returns to dummy with the ♦K to discard 4 diamonds on the established clubs. Result 4♥ tick and happiness.
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