TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the April 2015 duplicates
1 Game still possible opposite a passed hand
Board 6 Monday 6 April – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
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xx
Jx
J10xxxx
xxx
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AQxx
K9xx
Q
K10xx
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J108xx
Q
K98x
Axx
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Kx
A10xxxx
Ax
QJx
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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
Pass
Pass
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Pass
1 Spade
3 Diamonds
Pass
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1 Heart
Pass
Pass
Pass
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Pass
2 Hearts
4 Spades
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East deals and passes and South opens 1 Heart. West cannot take any action holding a singleton Diamond and East now balances with 1 Spade. All the Wests in the Monday duplicate decided that as East was already a passed hand that there was no possibility of game and simply played in a part-score in Spades. However as West has only a six loser hand and the partnership has a nine card Spade fit he should not give up on game simply because East passed as Dealer. West starts by making an unassuming cue bid of 2 Hearts showing good Spade support and logically an interest in game even opposite a passed hand. East should co-operate by bidding 3 Diamonds showing his 5-4 shape because when he balanced with 1 Spade he might have had as few as 7 or 8 points and so could hardly be stronger in view of his original pass. This is all the encouragement which West needs to jump to game in Spades. With the Spade finesse working eleven tricks roll in for a score of 650 to East West.
For West to have an interest in game it is highly likely that his shape is either 4=4=1=4 or 4=5=1=3 or 4=5=3=1 to explain his interest in game opposite a passed hand. East thus knows that with his singleton Heart that the hands will fit together very well. This is because if West had for instance a 4=4=2=3 or 4=4=3=2 twelve count he would not be inviting game knowing that East has only 7 to 11 points.
2 Delayed signs of life
Board 6 Thursday 9 April – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
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K9xx
Jxxxx
Jx
xx
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x
Qx
xxx
KQJ10xxx
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AQ10xx
K10x
Ax
A9x
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Jxx
Axx
KQ10xxx
x
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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
Pass
Pass
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1 Spade
Double
5 Clubs
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2 Diamonds
Pass
Pass
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Pass
4 Clubs
Pass
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The East hand is too strong for a 15-17 No trump holding 17 points plus two 10’s and a five card major. Accordingly East should open 1 Spade. South overcalls 2 Diamonds. West should not bid 3 Clubs because a new suit at the three level is forcing to game and the last thing West wants to hear is for East to rebid 3 Spades.
Accordingly West should pass and East now reopens with a takeout double. What should West now bid ? If he bids only 3 Clubs this will end the bidding since East can hardly continue over a bid which might be made on say just J10xxx and very few points. West should therefore jump to 4 Clubs which suggests that he has a strong 6 or 7 card suit but was not strong enough to force to game on the previous round. Over 4 Clubs East is delighted to go to game. While it is possible to make twelve tricks in Clubs this would mean taking the Spade finesse into the overcaller and would risk making only 10 tricks if the finesse failed. Thus it would be poor play and eleven tricks are guaranteed on a Diamond lead simply by trumping the third Diamond in the dummy.
3 Vacant Spaces improves the odds of making slam
Board 7 Wednesday 22 April – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
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xx
Kxx
AQJxx
A10x
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KQ9x
xxx
xxx
xxx
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Jx
QJ10xx
xx
Q9xx
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A10xxx
Ax
K10x
KJx
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North
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East
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South
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West
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2NT
4NT2
Pass
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Pass
Pass
Pass
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1NT
3 Diamonds1
6 Diamonds
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Pass
Pass
Pass
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1 Showing a fit for Diamonds.
2 Balanced slam try not keycard
When South opens a 15-17 Notrump North might simply raise to 3NT. However this would be a lazy bid. Although North knows that the partnership does not possess enough points for a Notrump slam there is nevertheless still a chance of there being a slam available in Diamonds as North has a strong 5 card suit with 5 controls (Ace = 2 controls and King = 1 control). Accordingly North transfers into Diamonds by bidding 2NT.
Over a minor suit transfer if opener does not have a fit for the minor suit (a fit is defined as Queen to three or better) then he should bid the next step up ie 3 Clubs over 2NT or 2NT over 2 Spades if responder has shown Clubs. When opener has a fit he bids the minor suit shown directly.
Here South is delighted to show a fit for Diamonds by bidding 3 Diamonds rather than 3 Clubs. North now bids 4NT. This is quantitative showing a balanced slam try with only 5 Diamonds. (If North had an unbalanced hand he would bid a new suit showing shortage in that suit).
When North invites slam by bidding a quantitative 4NT then South’s first inclination might be to pass because he has a minimum 15 points. However in the same way that the North hand was much stronger than 14 points because of having 5 controls the South hand is similarly much strong than 15 points because of having 6 controls. Thus South should jump to slam in Diamonds. Note that a slam has been reached on a combined 29 count with two balanced hands largely because the North and South hands are so rich in controls. (Note that as a generalization you require a minimum of 10 controls to make a suit slam with two balanced hands and on the above hand there are 11 out of the 12 controls present).
The play is interesting. On a Heart lead the best line is to win with the Ace and immediately trump the third round of Hearts with the 10 of Diamonds. Trumps are drawn in three rounds, Declarer discarding a Spade and then Declarer ducks the first round of Spades. Assuming that East wins with the Jack and returns a Spade then Declarer wins the Ace and trumps the third round of Spades in the Dummy discovering that the suit has broken 4-2 as expected.
Declarer should now use the principle of Vacant Spaces to work out which way to take the Club finesse. At this stage Declarer knows that the distribution of the East hand was either 2=5=2=4 or 2=4=2=5. In the former case the odds of the Queen of Clubs being in the East hand are 4 to 3 and in the latter case the odds of the Queen of Clubs being in the East hand are 5 to 2. Thus the Club finesse is through East is not an even money bet but is 57% if East started with four Clubs and 71% if East started with five Clubs.
Refer also to Tip No 3 from September 2014 for another example of reaching a minor suit slam after a transfer with a balanced 5-3-3-2 hand also with good controls.
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