| In the Hot Seat |
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North opens 1♦ , South bids the higher of two 5-card suits, North rebids 2♦ and South makes a game-forcing rebid of 3♥ (a jump-shift as it changes suit and misses out a level of bidding).
North's 3♠ is better than 4♠ as it shows preference for South's first suit and also gives South the chance to choose between 3NT and 4♠ . South shouldn't stop below game after their 3♥ rebid.
West leads the ♦ 10. It's not going to be easy but you should always Count & Plan so what's your count and what's your plan?
Declarer has two Club losers, no Diamond losers, one or two Heart losers, and one or two Trump losers. You're also short of entries to Dummy.
A reasonable first step is to win the first trick with the ♦ A then dump a Club loser on the ♦ K. When you try that West ruffs and continues with the ♣ A then the ♣ K which you ruff. Where do you go from here?
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| Show Answer |
You've lost two tricks and can afford one more. The good news is the bad guys have used one of their trumps but you don't have that many yourself.
A winning line is a small trump to the ♠ A then take the Heart finesse which wins.
Now play the ♥ A then ruff a third round of Hearts.
Back to hand by ruffing a small Club. You can now afford to lose one more trick and are looking at:
Dummy
♦ 8 6 5 2
Your Hand
♠ K J
♥ 8 4
Play the ♠ K and when East shows out play the ♥ 8, intending to play the ♥ 4 if West doesn't trump. West can make their last trump but that is all.
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| Board 1: Rose-tinted spectacles? |
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The auction shown uses a weak NT and red-suit transfers. 2♥ is a red suit transfer promising five Spades and telling partner to bid 2♠ . 3♠ is promising a sixth Spade and inviting North to bid 4♠ if maximum otherwise Pass.
South is too weak to go directly to game with only 10 HCP and even if playing the Losing Trick Count it's important to remember that you assume a LTC=8 when partner opens a weak NT. With only 13 points and a LTC=8 North is too weak to accept the invitation and should Pass.
If not playing transfers South should bid 2NT invitational over 1NT and convert 3NT to 4♠ if the invitation is accepted (which it shouldn't be).
6 out of 8 pairs played in 4♠ and all should have gone off.
If West is on lead they must lead a Diamond to avoid breaking the rules: never lead a singleton Trump and never lead away from an Ace.
If East is on lead they must avoid leading a Diamond from A Q X X. If they lead a Heart West should win and switch to a Diamond realising East is unlikely to have the ♥ K and seeing the danger of North discarding South's Diamond losers on Hearts.
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