A happy new year to both of my readers and welcome to any new NEBA members tuning in for the first time through Neil Aistons's promptings - the column is intended for keen improvers so I try and discuss hands that are slightly out of the ordinary - remember though I just give my opinion and it does not matter if you agree with me as long as you and your partners are on the same wavelength! Board 2 Dealer East; N/S Vul. East passes and South has a reasonable weak 1NT 11-14 opener non-vul but I think you should pass vulnerable because of the sterile 4333 shape. Assuming South passes, West may opt to open 1H third in hand to suggest a heart lead and to make it more difficult for E/W to assess their combined strength. The downside of this action is that if partner raises the opposition may be in a better position to evaluate their fit - in this instance after North overcalls 1S and East raises South knows that North can ruff one or two of his heart losers and his hand is worth a game try. If East raises to 2H then an unassuming cue-bid of 3H fits the bill here for South whereas if East raises preemtively to 3H then a double should be a game-try not penalties and North is happy to jump to game. If West passes third in hand the bidding should go ( uncontested ) 1S-2D-3D-4S. 4S rather than 3S because with a weakish hand with 5S and 4D North would normally pass ( because you know that partner has not the values to open the bidding ). Hence 3D shows a decent 12-14hcp. After a heart lead and continuation, a trump to K and one back to JA, East continues hearts and N ruffs. North must be careful not to draw the last trump at this point but try the club finesse ( twice if necessary ) as you need to keep a trump in dummy to take care of a fourth heart lead, cross to DK, draw the last trump and cash your minor suit winners.

TIP OF THE WEEK: When the opposition raise hearts to the 3 level and you are bidding spades a double should be a game-try in spades not penalties.

Board 7: South dealer; G/A. After South passes and West has an obvious 1H opener. Or is it! I rarely open one of a suit without 3 controls (A=2,K=1) so I would open 1NT and the ( uncontested sequence ) should go 2H(transfer)-2S-3C(suit)-3S-4D(cue-bid)-4S(sign-off)-Pass(reluctantly). Most of the room played in 3NT so you didn't have to bid the making slam to get a good score! On a diamond lead to DA, cash HA, cross to CK to ditch two diamonds on HKQ, ruff a diamond, cash CA, ruff a club, ruff a diamond, ruff a club and lead SQ to South's K and win last two tricks with A9. If North has SK you have to guess where the 10 is to make twelve tricks.

TIP OF THE WEEK: Discuss with your partner whether a 3 level bid after a transfer to a major is forcing for one round and therefore a try for game or forcing to game in which case it is a try for a slam! More about this topic in a future column.              

The East hand is difficult in Benji Acol as you have to decide whether to open a game-forcing 2D or open 1H or 2C (rebidding 2H over a 2D relay/negative) and hope partner does not pass with game on in spades. The former ensures that you play in a decent major fit if one is available but rather overstates the values, but I think the hand has sufficient game potential to conterbalance the lack of sure tricks. If 2C is Acol, i.e game forcing, I would open 2C and rebid 2H over a 2D relay following with 3S because the hearts are better. If you then rebid 4H you may be 6-4 or 6-5 in H/S but partner might then decide to take out 4H into 4S with say 3 spades and a heart void. However, over a positive response to 2C you would have to bid 3S, following with 4H to ensure you mention both suits. Playing Benji, if you open 2D game-forcing and rebid 3H over the relay/negative of 2H or over a positive you cannot show your spades, i.e with the cheapest bid of 4S, until you have bypassed 4H. So I would distort the bidding of the hand by opening 2D and rebidding 2S over a 2H relay, following with 3H and then 4H leaving partner to give preference at the four level if weak. On the actual hand the bidding might go 2D-3D(positive)-3S-4NT-5C(3Aces)-6S and hearts are never mentioned! With hearts set up with one ruff all you need is the spades 3/2 with the King right - True the slam is not a great one but West cannot tell that the DAK are worthless!    Your plan for the play in 6S should be to win trick 1 in dummy and finesse SQ.  When this holds you cash SA and HAK.   If the HQ has not dropped ruff the hearts good.   If N has a singleton you can lead H10 for a ruffing finesse.   If SQ loses you have to hope N has 3 hearts and SJ.   You play HAK, ruff 3rd H with S9 and finesse S8 if SJ has not appeared.            

TIP OF THE WEEK: If you have a one suited hand with plenty of hcp consider whether to go slowly and just make a simple overcall if this seems to be the best way to describe your values. If you have a two suiter consider bidding the higher ranking one first if this seems to be the most economical way of bidding both suits.  

A play problem this week. East opens 2S ( weak ) and South just about has enough for an overcall of 3H at adverse vulnerability because of the sixth heart. West passes and North thinks I have a bit to spare for 4H which concludes the auction. Unfortunately the contract appears to have four losers if the trump finesse is wrong as it is likely to be with East having the weaker hand. In situations like these where you don't have discards for your losers - the defence is going to switch to a club before you can lose two diamonds to set up the fourth round - you have to decide on a likely distribution of the opposing cards to enable you to succeed. On a spade lead you win SA and run HQ getting the bad news and you win the obvious CQ switch. If the contract were say 3NT then the best way to avoid two losers with this diamond combination - KQ doubleton being against the odds - would be what is known as an INFRA finesse. You lead D9 from hand and play for West to have D10 and shortage ( either singleton, 10x, K10 or Q10 alone ). If West plays a high honour or small you play small and either East or West wins with the Q or K. You then later cross to dummy and lead DJ, running it if East plays low. This hopefully pins the 10 from West setting up the eight ( whether East covers or not - if East covers you play the Ace! ). If West covers the nine with the ten you play the Jack - presumably won by East with Q or K - and later cross to dummy to lead the eight, hoping both the diamond honours ( Q & K ) are both with East and when you win the Ace you take either the K or Q with it. On the actual hand , however, as East has six spades and probably a few clubs this line is unlikely to work as East's shape - after following to two trumps - is likely to be 6-2-2-3. Thus the recommended plan is what is known as an Elimination ( or Strip ) and Throw-in which will work if East has Qx or Kx or KQ alone. After winning CA you draw one more round of trumps and play SK and a ruff, cash DA and exit with a club. It does East no good to throw DQ under the Ace as you still exit with a club and whoever takes the trick can only cash one diamond and then give you a trick with DJ or a ruff and discard, ruffing with dummy's last trump and throwing your last diamond from your hand.

TIP OF THE WEEK : If your contract appears to have too many losers consider how your opponents' cards need to be distributed for you to have a chance! 

A contentious hand to finish with - You may agree with none of my observations here - but try and agree with your partner as its more important than either of you agreeing with me! East has an obvious pass then South has eleven points and two tens and a six card suit and West has eleven points with only one ten and two poorish five card suits. Should either hand open the bidding? Probably no, but I would pass with the first and open 1H with the second despite the vulnerability being adverse because partner should expect slightly less sound openings third in hand and you are likely to be able to rebid 2C if partner bids a likely 1S or 1NT. North has two courses of action - a preempt of 4S to stifle any bids by your opponents - or a take-out double intending to show a very strong hand by bidding spades at the cheapest level on the next round provided no-one has bid spades in the meantime. I would double and trust partner to raise to game with just a couple of good features or pass with a total misfit. East still has an obvious pass and South has to decide whether to bid 3D or 2NT. I would bid 2NT because partner probably has a few spades and is unlikely to have a heart stop and also my hand is short of controls (Aces and Kings ) which you need for high-level suit contracts. West has said it all and North should be happy to bid 3NT and outscore the players in the spade game by ten points. A point to the play. West normally would lead C5 which runs to C10 and South must unblock HA, cross to SJ to enable the untangling of winners.   Then cash 3 hearts throwing a club and 2 diamonds and lead CQ to CA to cash SAKQ.    When they do not break you settle for ten tricks.

TIP OF THE WEEK(2): Don't rule out bidding NT on non-flat hands - what counts is having good holdings in the opposition suits and a lack of Aces and Kings, i.e. lots of QJ10s.

No doubting the hand of the week - grand slams are very rare so make the most of them when they crop up. South usually opens 2NT [ I would actually upgrade the hand to a game-forcing 2C or 2D because of the plethora of Aces and Kings and 5/4 shape] , West passes and North starts with a 3D transfer to 3H. As North may be intending to pass this with say a near yarborough and five hearts, when East passes South should maybe jump to 4H to protect DK against a diamond lead which might be key to success if partner held a different hand. Another way of playing is to cue-bid your cheapest Ace (3S) to show slam interest. Whatever the response North bids 4NT (RKCB) and over 5D, if 1/4 Key cards, bids 5NT to ask for kings and showing the partnership has all five key cards plus the trump Queen. South with a huge hand should not risk partner passing the 6H response (showing two other Kings ) and should jump to 7H.

TIP OF THE WEEK(1): Do not complete a 3D or 3H transfer to 3H or 3S after a 2NT opener with four card support - game is always a fair bet!

Board 13 seemed to create problems for E/W.    North usually passes, East opens 1D and South passes.    West has an opening hand but has no idea what the best game is at this point so bids a quiet 2C, forcing for one round.    North has a marginal 1S overcall, vulnerable, but it is very misleading and dangerous to bid 2S ( a large penalty could ensue playing in 2S doubled if the layout were different) and should pass rather than bid 2S.    East has an obvious bid of 3C, showing four card support without the values for a 2NT rebid (15+hcp).    South passes and West should bid 3H.    This shows game values and not necessarily 4 hearts, merely a good heart holding  for NT purposes.   ( Note if you have four hearts you should raise but then partner signs off in 5C ).    Note it is not a good gamble to bid 3NT instead of 3H as a spade lead will be through partner's holding and may be disastrous in that way let alone as in the actual hand where there is drastic shortage.    With a spade stop East should bid 3NT - with 1/2 stop you can bid 3S asking for partner to bid 3NT with 1/2 stop - but otherwise sign off in 4C or 5C depending on whether you think your hand is maximum or minimum for the bidding so far.   With a singleton spade East should sign off with a jump to 5C.     There is one point to the play in 5C - you are in danger of losing control if you start on the trumps straight away.     Assuming the defence starts with 2 rounds of spades you can afford to lose a club and a spade if the diamond  Q is right, ie under the KJ so you should try that finesse first.    I would cross to HA and finesse DJ.    If it loses and another spade is led,  ruff, play CAK and settle for one off by running the diamonds, throwing a heart on the fourth diamond.     When it wins you should not finesse CJ because you will then be forced in spades again - cash CAK intending to leave CQ outstanding, run diamonds throwing a heart and then ruff a heart in hand.   When CQ drops doubleton you can cash the CJ and make twelve tricks.      

TIP OF THE WEEK:   If you have asked for a stop in the fourth suit bid bidding a stop a cue-bid by partner shows 1/2 stop and asks for 3NT to be tried with 1/2 stop ( Qx or Jxx ) in this suit.  

An exciting hand for E/W this week but you need good bidding judgement to get a good match point return!     West has potentially plenty of playing tricks in the minors but is just short of a Benji 2C opener.    Also with you having such extreme distribution your opponents may have a big fit in one of the majors and bid preemptively so your next bid may have to be at a high level.    So I recommend starting with 1D.    North has a borderline decision but the sixth spade and being Non-Vul makes 1S the best call.    East has an obvious 2H bid, 9+hcp, forcing for one round and South bids 2S or 3S (pre-emptively).    I only bid 2S.    West bids 3C, East 3H, West 4C and East bids 4H, saying to partner "my suit is playable opposite a singleton or void" so West gives in and passes.     If South leads a diamond the contract fails by one trick but I was not inspired and led SK.   Now, the contact is cold - if North overtakes and leads a diamond ( when East rises with DQ to ruff a spade only losing HK and a spade and a diamond ruff - eventually ruffing a diamond as cheap as possible to get back to hand to play HAQ ) or a heart ( when East plays HAQ , drawing trumps after winning DQ or ruffing a third spade just losing HK and two spades ).              

TIP OF THE WEEK :   Try to play in a major suit if at all possible rather than five of a minor as it scores more and may be easier to make as three tricks may be lost instead of two to fulfil the contract.

A difficult hand for East to evaluate.   West opens 1S, North passes and East has a difficult bid despite the paucity of hcp and can either pass,  bid 1NT  or bid 2C ( normally promising 9+ hcp ).    You get away with 1NT as South is bound to bid ( probably a take-out double ).     The winning action is probably 2C as this will probably lead to a final contract of 5C which makes easily.    Congratulations to the pair who managed +600;  I must admit that I would go for the wimpish pass hoping to compete with clubs on the next round of the auction ( and bidding them again if necessary - eight card suits are rare after all!) One point in the play of 5C.  The defence will start with two rounds of diamonds and you lead a club to South's Ace who probably continues diamonds.  Rather than decide whether to finesse spades or hearts you should try and combine your chances by playing a spade to the ace and ruffing a spade high, then a club to the Q and a spade ruff, a heart to the Ace and another ruff sets up a fifth spade for a heart discard with a heart to the King as an entry whenever spades are 4/3.  Although this is unnecessary on the actual layout as both finesses work or two spade ruffs set up the QS, you should not plan to put all your eggs in one basket - there is room in the actual bidding for North to hold either the SK or the HQ.  

TIP OF THE WEEK: When making your plan as declarer to try and fulfill your contract try and combine your chances in more than one suit.

This may look a simple hand but a few N/S pairs got a negative score. After two passes North opens 1S and East should pass as 2H is a gross overbid as well as the suit being terrible! South makes the straightforward bid of 1NT, usually 6-8 hcp ( occasionally 9 with a singleton/void spade ). West has no bid. North has a good hand but should have 17-18 hcp to make the constructive bid of 2NT which may contain five spades ( with a maximum 1NT South should bid 3S,forcing to 3NT or 4S with 3 card support usually 4333 ). There is no reason on this hand to upgrade a sixteen count, in fact there rarely is !. Note that without six spades you should pass 1NT as partner has the option of raising to 2S on 3 card support ( and usually a ruffing value ) rather than 1NT and may even have a singleton/void. You should generally leave 1NT even if 5/4 unless your five card suit is strong and your points are in the two suits. With 5/5 you obviously take out and partner should pass with greater length in the second suit. With six spades you decide whether to try for game with 3S or settle for a part score (2S) with no game interest. The bidding of 1NT over 1C is generally played semi-constructively at 8-10 hcp preferably with good 3 card holding in both majors but with no 4 card major and not five diamonds ( and thus 3+ clubs ) so opener can rebid 2C if unbalanced and not strong enough for 2NT , which now only requires 15-16hcp. Note that a jump in a new suit to the three level is forcing for which you need 19-ish hcp. You may thus have to bid 2NT on 5/4 hands that only have 17-18hcp even if 5/4 shape. In 1NT there is nothing of interest in the play and South makes seven or eight tricks depending on whether you lose to HQ.

TIP OF THE WEEK: When partner responds 1NT to 1D/H/S, 1NT is not a constructive bid and should be passed unless you have 17hcp or have a good reason to suppose that a suit contract is better.

 Board 20 I think is instructive after North pre-empts 3C. I would not double for take-out as your clubs are so strong and would eschew the 4-4 spade fit bidding 3NT instead. The reasons for this are (1) partner almost certainly has no club stop and a likely singleton or void so he may chance bidding game with only four hearts if approaching opening strength (2) With North holding seven or more clubs it is very likely that any trump break is bad or very bad. On this hand even the 4/4 spade fit does not give a normal break. Partner should not disturb 3NT unless a reasonable six card major is held. Against 3NT, South usually leads the CJ and North should duck in the vain hope that partner has J109 and declarer has to lose a trick to develop nine tricks. However, on the actual hand, the only defence to hold declarer to ten tricks is a diamond from North when in with CA. If North continues clubs or HJ, East should win and play SAJ since South figures to have length in spades when North has long clubs. If North withholds CA, East should play on spades (AJ) first as discards from dummy on the clubs are awkward and you don't know what to throw. South will win SK and probably play a heart which East should win and force out the club Ace ( if necessary), win ( or cash ) DA and cash the remaining club winner(s) which squeezes South in the red suits. East simply discards DQ from dummy if South has to kept DK and now the fourth heart is good for +660.

TIP OF THE WEEK: Consider bidding 3NT over a three level pre-empt rather than making a take-out double if you have a good holding in the opponents' suit..

Board 4. West has an awkward hand with a decent but not self-sufficient suit in clubs and a singleton Ace diamonds. Some people would open 2C or 1C but I would open 2NT as 2C rebidding 3C should show a better suit quality. East thinks straight away that there should be a play for 6D as there are seven tricks but should plan to bid 6D rather than 6NT as there is likely to be more options in the play. Starting with 3C Stayman you may get a 3D response ( not showing diamonds) but you can then jump to 6D and have the lead coming up to partner's all round honours. North is likely to lead a 4th highest spade and declarer cashes SAK, DA, ruffs a spade high and draws trumps before leading H9. Against most opposition if South does not play HA you should assume that North has it and play for the extra chance to the club finesse of the HA being doubleton. Unfortunately South puts up the HJ and if you duck South switches to a club and you have to take the losing option of the club finesse even though the HA could have been ruffed out to provide a club discard on HK.

TIP OF THE WEEK(1): If you bid aggressively you may need a bit of luck to fulfil your contract but always look to combine your main chance with another if possible.

Board 12: With E/W passing throughout, North opens 1S and South starts with 2C only to give yourselves the maximum chance of finding a fit as none exists in spades. North has an obvious raise to 3C. South should now bid 4NT to check that two aces are not missing. The diamond holding is protected against immediate attack by East as West is on lead to a club contract and if partner has nothing in diamonds there may be 3 discards on the spades. So after the response (5H playing RKCB) you essay 6C. You win DQ lead in dummy and lead a club to the Queen, West playing the 10, and follow with HAK and a ruff, cash SAK throwing a heart and a diamond then DK and ruff a diamond with CJ, before finessing C9 to end up with all thirteen tricks on the fortunate lie of the cards.

TIP OF THE WEEK(2): When you have at least a nine card fit and plenty of Aces and Kings and distribution you often make a slam on less than the 32hcp normally required:   Bid aggressively with a good fit.

A difficult hand this week to bid, play or defend. West opens 1S, North passes and East bids 1NT. As the points seem to be 20/20 a possible game in hearts is unlikely so South should pass as the hearts are very poor. Also you do not really want partner to lead a heart if you are outbid as you need a strong holding opposite for the lead to be effective. A take-out double is not a good option either as only two diamonds are held and if partner bids 3D in response to your double you have to pass as 3H would show a much stronger hand. If South does bid 2H, West should double. This is usually played as penalties once partner has limited their hand with 1NT ( normally 6-8 hcp or a poor 9 with a singleton in partner's suit). All pass and South would be lucky to concede only 800. If South passes West has a good hand but should not bid more than 2H. East then bids 3C to play and West should trust partner and pass. This will make, losing four trump tricks only, as after CK lead and DQ switch East finesses the H10 at trick 3 to discard 4 diamonds on SAK & HAK. 3NT by West makes on the actual layout playing for South to have a doubleton K10 or Q10 in diamonds and only two spades ( otherwise the defence can set up a spade to go along with two clubs and two diamonds ). In 3NT, after CK lead and SQ continuation, SAK is played followed by DJ. If North plays DK West wins and can make the contract in a number of ways, e.g. by finessing H10, cashing HK before exiting with D9 forcing South to then concede a club or a further heart. If North plays low so does East and DQ wins. South tries to exit with D10 but this is ducked all round and South has to still lead a club or a heart giving nine tricks when East cashes 3 diamonds. 3NT by East is similar but if North leads H7 South should not cover H8 as North is unlikely to hold KJ97.

TIP OF THE WEEK: When you are in a horrible contract that you don't think many people will be in, play for your opponents to have just the precise holdings that you can make use of.

West passes and North opens 1C because there is no solidity in the suit to call it eight playing tricks. East passes and South bids 1H, West usually bids 1S and North rebids 3C - the spade holding is not good enough to bid NT and the club suit is too moth-eaten to rebid 4C. East should pass rather than compete with 3S as holds good defence to a club contact ( probable club trick and a possible heart ruff. If South bids 3H now this should be forcing to game with five hearts offering a choice of games between 4H and 3NT so South should jump to 4H as you have a decent six card suit. This should end the auction and West probably leads S3 although H3 might be led. Noth wins SA and cashes CA dropping West's K. As this is more likely to be a singleton than KQ South should be careful to ruff the C2 with H9. If West overruffs and leads a trump to stop the spade ruffs South merely draws all the trumps, crosses to DK and plays the ruffing finesse in clubs to negate East's Q, i.e. lead CJ and discard a spade if not covered, then lead another ruffing out East's Q and returning to DA to cash 3 winning clubs, making twelve tricks. So a more taxing defence is to discard a diamond, South can counter this by ruffing a spade, cash DAK, ruffs another club with HA, ruffs last spade and ruffs a third club with H8 and thereafter is bound to make at least ten tricks. Some interesting manoevres by both declarer and best defence.

TIP OF THE WEEK: When you have a few trumps try not overruffing - you may end up with declarers weakening their trump holding so you make little trumps.