TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the July 2016 duplicates
1 1 Heart – Pass – 1 Spade – Pass – 3NT
Board 6 Wednesday 6 July – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
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AQJxxx
10xx
Q
Qxx
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xx
Qx
J108x
KJ10xx
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10x
xx
K9xxxx
xxx
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Kxx
AKJ98x
Ax
Ax
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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 Spade
4 Diamonds
5 Clubs
5 Hearts
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Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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1 Heart
3NT
4NT
5 Diamonds
6 Hearts
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Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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Not a single one of the eight North South pairs managed to reach the excellent 6 Heart contract on this hand. In fact the only reason why it is not 100% is that if East had the King of Clubs then a Club lead might lead to defeat on those occasions when one defender had three Hearts to the Queen and was able to ruff the second or third Spade before declarer could discard his Club loser.
It is generally accepted that after 1 Minor – 1 Major that a jump to 3NT shows a long minor suit and honours in the unbid suits. While less universal I would also strongly recommend that 1 Heart – 1 Spade – 3NT should also show the values for game with a strong six (or seven) card Heart suit.
When North hears South jump to 3NT he ought to realise that the partnership may well be very close to a slam in Hearts as North has three Hearts, a singleton Diamond and very strong Spades. Accordingly he should cue-bid 4 Diamonds which inferentially agrees Hearts since South has shown a strong six or seven card suit. If over 4 Diamonds the South hand had poor controls he would sign off in 4 Hearts. As the South hand is very powerful with eight controls (Ace = 2 controls, King = 1 control) he bids 4NT as RKCB for Hearts. Partner shows one Keycard and now 5 Diamonds asks for the Queen of trumps. North denies this card and the partnership settles for the small slam. As the opening leader has the King of Clubs the contract cannot fail and all thirteen tricks are made when the Queen of trumps falls in two rounds for +1010.
2 Poor competitive judgment by North South
Board 15 Wednesday 6 July – Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
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Ax
Qx
AKJxxx
xxx
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Jxx
AJ8x
xxx
Jxx
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KQ10xxxx
9
x
K10xx
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x
K10xxxx
Qxx
AQx
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North
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East
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South
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West
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2 Diamonds
Double
Pass
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4 Spades
Pass
Pass
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1 Heart
Pass
5 Diamonds
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Pass
Pass
Pass
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Not a single one of the eight North South pairs managed to reach the correct contract of 5 Diamonds on this hand.
South opens 1 Heart and North responds 2 Diamonds. At the Green vulnerability for East West it is certainly correct for East to jump to 4 Spades with his shapely 7=1=1=4 distribution.
South now passes and when the bidding returns to North he doubles. This should not be played as unilaterally for penalties but rather it shows a good hand and asks South to do something sensible. As South has a singleton Spade he is unlikely to get rich defending 4 Spades doubled (it only goes one down) but South does have undisclosed secondary Diamond support opposite the known five or six card suit in the North hand. Accordingly South bids 5 Diamonds which makes in comfort even on the lead of a singleton Heart from East for +600. Note that should East switch to a Club at trick three having taken his Heart ruff that there is no need to risk the Club finesse. The Ace of Clubs wins trick three and a low Heart is ruffed high at trick four. Two rounds of trumps are then played ending in the Dummy at tricks five and six. Although West still has a trump Declarer simply plays winning Hearts at tricks seven and eight. Say West ruffs the fifth Heart at trick eight then Declarer overruffs and then returns to the Dummy by ruffing the second Round of Spades. Declarer’s last Club is then discarded on the final Heart.
3 Fit Jump cruises to slam on combined 26 count
Board 14 Monday 25 July – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
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J
10x
KQJ10xx
AJxx
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AK98xx
AJx
Axx
K
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Q10xx
KQxxx
x
10xx
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xx
xxx
xxx
Q9xxx
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North
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East
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South
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West
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2 Diamonds
Pass
Pass
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Pass
3 Hearts
5 Diamonds
Pass
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Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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1 Spade
4NT
6 Spades
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Not a single pair managed to reach the laydown 6 Spade contract on this hand with a combined 26 count (and even then the King of Clubs is not relevant to the success of this). Unless North starts off with the Ace of Clubs lead then all thirteen tricks are made.
The only explanation for the failure to bid a slam is that the East West pairs appear not to have in their armoury a very important bidding tool called a FIT JUMP. A fit jump is a single jump in a new suit which in one bid shows four card support for partner’s suit and a good five card side suit. It can be made in any of the following circumstances:-
a) After the opposition double the opening bid
b) After the opposition overcall the opening bid
c) In response to partner’s overcall
d) Any jump in a new suit by a passed hand is a fit jump even with no intervention from the opposition thus Pass – Pass – 1 Heart – Pass – 3 Clubs would show five Clubs and four Hearts and a raise to at least 3 Hearts.
Here East by jumping to 3 Hearts over the 2 Diamond overcall is showing four Spades and five Hearts with a good Heart suit. This is all the information which West needs to go slamming. Note that there is no need to ask about the Queen of trumps because West knows that the partnership possess a 10 card fit and the odds of a 2-1 split even if the Queen of trumps should be missing are 78%.
Suppose we change the East hand to:- ♠Q10xx♥Qxxxx♦Kx♣Qx then now East would simply cue-bid 3 Diamonds to show a good raise to at least 3 Spades rather than emphasise the threadbare Hearts.
Please refer also to Tip 3 from the June 2013 Tips titled “Fit Jump by Advancer” which is an example of circumstance c) described above.
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