Starting with the bidding, South has a classic weak 2H opener. After West passes how should North continue? Firstly, find out a little more about South’s opening bid. A 2NT enquiry is frequently played to find out more about South’s strength and also suit quality.
- 3C shows poor points and poor quality,
- 3D shows poor points and good quality,
- 3H shows good points but poor quality,
- 3S shows good points and good quality. (Remember P (points) before Q (quality)
South’s weak 2 showed 5-9 pts and 6 hearts, so poor points would be 5 - 7, whilst good would be a good 7-9. Good quality is generally 2 of the top three honours. Here South has a 3S rebid, and North will bid 4H.
What opening lead will West find? If they produce the AS, South’s worries are largely over. Provided the missing club honours are either both with West or are split one each amongst his opponents, he can now see just one loser in S, D, and C. Again, leading unsupported aces can cost dearly – so avoid wherever possible. Clearly a Club is not going to further the defence ambitions, but neither a Diamond nor a Heart will cost.
South should consider his losers. With one in each of S,D, and C, he must avoid a second loser in Spades. A low spade from West would put him to an inconvenient guess, so try to avoid west gaining the lead. On a D lead, duck it to East’s K. On a Heart lead, cash the A and J, then play towards the JD. It will be a clever East who does not rise with the King.If a D is returned, win the Ace cash the AJ of Hearts and ruff a D back to hand, draw two more rounds of trumps, and lead the 9C, ducking to East. East now has no good exit and South makes his 4H contract.
Note that the hand plays much better in 4H than in NT. High cards will frequently win in any contract, but Souths hand is worth just one trick to North in NT
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