TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the June 2016 duplicates
1 Balanced slam try after Stayman
Board 1 Monday 13 June – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
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QJ10x
K10
AKxx
Qxx
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Kx
Qxx
Qxxx
10xxx
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xxx
98xxx
10xx
Jx
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Axxx
AJx
Jx
AK9x
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North
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East
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South
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West
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1NT
2 Spades
4 Hearts
5 Clubs
5 Hearts2
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Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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2 Clubs
4 Diamonds
4NT
5 Diamonds1
6 Spades
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Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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1 Have you got the Queen of Spades
2 Yes and the King of Hearts
Only one pair out of seven managed to bid to the excellent 6 Spade contract on this hand.
After using Stayman and discovering a fit exists how should responder continue? Well a jump to 4NT would be quantitative not Roman Key Card Blackwood. Thus it is recommended that a jump to 4 Clubs should be Roman Key Card Blackwood while a jump to 4 Diamonds shows a balanced slam try (15-17 HCPs) with four card support for opener’s major suit but no shortage.
Over 4 Diamonds although the North hand has only 15 points he does have reasonable trumps so he bids 4 Hearts as a forward going move. This is sufficient encouragement for South to then bid RKCB leading to the excellent slam. Against 6 Spades it is quite likely that East may open with a passive Heart which immediately yields the 12th trick. If instead the opening lead is a Spade then Declarer should aim to ruff two Diamonds in the South hand prior to drawing the last trump making five trump tricks, three Clubs, two Hearts and two Diamonds.
2 How to show a strong raise of opener’s minor after 1 Heart – Pass – 1NT – Pass – 2 Minor – Pass
Board 20 Monday 13 June – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
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x
AKQxx
A10xxx
Ax
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Q109xx
J10x
Qx
xxx
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Jxxx
xxxx
Kx
KQx
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AKx
x
J98x
J10xxx
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North
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East
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South
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West
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1 Heart
2 Diamonds
4NT
6 Diamonds
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Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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1NT
2 Spades
5 Clubs
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Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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None of the seven tables managed to reach the excellent 6 Diamond contract on the above hand which has nearly a 76 per cent chance of making depending on the exact lie of the trump suit.
After 1 Heart – 1NT – two of either minor, a bid of 2 Spades by responder is an artificial bid showing a strong raise of opener’s minor suit and nine or ten points. 2 Spades has to be artificial since responder’s 1NT bid has denied holding four Spades. Therefore in this sequence if responder instead of bidding 2 Spades raises his partner’s minor to the three level this shows a weaker raise with fewer than 9 points.
The 2 Spade bid is music to North’s ears. With only four losers, a powerful 5-5 distribution and seven controls (Ace = 2 controls, King = 1 control) North goes straight to Roman Key Card Blackwood. When South shows one keycard it does not matter which black suit King South has since either way there will be no loser in Clubs. The contract of 6 Diamonds is an excellent one and just needs the trump suit to behave for one loser which is approximately 76 per cent.
Note that the best percentage line in the trump suit is to take two finesses. While it is true that this will lose two tricks if East has KQ bare it is far more likely that West has KQx or KQxx.
3 Six Five shape come alive
Board 1 Thursday 23 June – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
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Jxxx
xx
Axxxx
Qx
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Q9x
KQ
Q9xxx
xxx
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A
J10xxx
J
AKJ10xx
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K10xxx
Axxx
K10
xx
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North
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East
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South
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West
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Pass
3 Spades
Pass
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1 Club
4 Hearts
Pass
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1 Spade
Pass
Pass
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Pass1
5 Clubs
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1 While West does have 9 points his Spade stop is rather poor to bid 1NT, he cannot double because he only has a doubleton Heart so it is probably best to pass although he might bid 2 Clubs.
Only two pairs out of twelve bid to the excellent 5 Club contract on this hand. North raises his partner’s overcall to the three level to show four trumps and fewer than 9 points. East has to decide whether to take any further action. It might seem that it is dangerous for him to bid 4 Hearts. However a 6-5 distribution is very powerful and when one considers that as little as Queen to four Hearts in the West hand makes a 4 Heart contract almost a certainty to make then it is definitely correct for East to show his 6-5 distribution in this way. West corrects to 5 Clubs and the contract simply needs the trump suit to come in for no losers. The probability of this is just over 57 per cent. (2-2 break is 40%, singleton Queen is 12.5% and 4-nil with North having all four Clubs is 5%).
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