Board 12 from Pairs Championship Round 1 January 11th.

Looking at the E / W hands, both 6C and 6S are good contracts with 6C being slightly safer as it would be possible to still make it if spades are 4-1 with the Q sitting over the J, when clubs break 2-2, as the fourth round of spades can be ruffed to establish the last spade.

Neither of these two slams require any double dummy play to make them. 6NT is a very much lower percentage slam as there are only 11 tricks on a diamond lead unless you are lucky enough to find a doubleton spade Q.

Only one pair bid 6C, one bid the failing 6NT and the rest of the field did not venture past 3NT. Should E / W get to one of the good slams through constructive bidding rather than a punt? The answer is yes if E makes the effort to describle shape and depending on actual sequence explores the availability of a 5-3 spade fit.

The likely opener by W is 1H (anyone who valued the hand good enough for a 2NT opener would find E to be slam hunting immediately). Being in E seat after 1H may fill the mind with mis-fit panic holding void in partner suit and the possibility of having their second suit as diamonds and therefore wanting to bail out at the lowest level. However one should also be open minded and consider that with the right cards, 16 -17 points in the W hand would be good enough for a grand slam.

So after 1H opening, E has two realistic responses. Many may bid 1S wary of a mis-fit and technically not having the high card points to start with the longest suit first and bid spades after. Some may consider the playing strength so high that it is worth starting with 2C to make it easy to show the 6-5 shape.

After 1H - 1S, W would probably now bid 2NT to show a balanced 18-19 point hand according to methods. E should still be interested to look for a possible 5-3 spade fit game. Hence E should now bid 3C expecting opener to bid 3S holding secondary fit. (Note the 3C bid will be forcing and natural but could just be the best minor to keep bidding open to find a 5-3 spade fit. W should not bid 3H as E could have bid 3H over 2NT to show three card support en route to 4H, 3S or 3NT. If E had three hearts and five spades, should bid 3H to find fit in either major). Over 3C, W should duly bid 3S to confirm secondary support. At this point E should be alert to the fact there could be a slam and take the trouble to bid 4C on the way to 4S. On the basis that 3C was some length, the 4C bid can be interpreted as partner has a black two suiter. Some may argue it could be a cue bid, but from W point of view on this hand holding AK clubs it can only be showing length. With the red suit controls covered, W will now be only thinking about a small slam or grand slam. With spades agreed then 4NT will be key card but E will show two key cards without Q spades. So W just has to decide whether the contract is going to be 6C or 6S.

After 1H - 2C response W is now likey to bid 3NT to show the same 18-19 point balanced hand. At this point E knows that W has two or three spades (as did not jump in hearts, or bid 2D / 3D, or make an advanced cue bid agreeing clubs). So things have worked out well and E can with a bit of comfort, bid 4S over the 3NT. W will know now that partner is at least 6-5 in clubs and spades as would not bid a four card major over 3NT. Expecting probably the remaining high cards in the black suits with E and holding the red suit controls there could well be 13 tricks available. The common convention is that 4NT key card Blackwood agrees the last bid natural suit when one of the other suits has not been supported. Again when the two key card response comes back, there is probably a better case to play in clubs as you know there is a 9 card fit at least, whereas only a 8 card spade fit is definite.

Robin Clarke 

Board  2 from Ife Cup January 2nd.

With an expected 1D opener from East which is likely to be followed with 1H by West and a 2C rebid what should West do?

With this 18 count opposite even a minimum 5-4 shape in diamonds and clubs, West would be expecting to make one or two over-tricks in 3NT.  In duplicate pairs one is always nervous about straying past 3NT only to find a couple of key cards missing after Blackwood / cue bids and have to settle for a 5 club contract that is likely to give a poor match point result.

So West needs to work out whether both NT and club slam contract options can be open once the bidding goes past 3NT. East could be as good as two aces + two kings or three aces and one king in which case a club slam would be a good.

West could respond with 2S fourth suit forcing to see if East finds a helpful bid. Another option is 3S by West saying I have a good hand, club fit and control in spades. Then with a likely 4D response what next? 4H will cause a problem if the response is 5C.

4NT Blackwood is probably the best and if three controls are shown it is going to be sufficient to reach 6C. However, if insufficient controls West can bid 5S to ask East to bid 5NT for passing, as 5NT by West would be forward moving.  

In 6C, without considering the lead there are two obvious lines of play to make 12 tricks - either for declarer to ruff two hearts or ruffing the third round of diamonds to set up the suit if no worse than a 4-2 break.  Without any clues most declarers are likely to choose the first option (as a 7-1 heart break is less likely than a 5-1 diamond break) and all defensive trumps cannot be drawn first.

However consideration should be given to what the lead is.  A spade lead would perhaps be expected on the likely bidding as the the other three suits have been bid naturally and likely to be a source of tricks, therefore the need to attack. Possibly a trump lead if the defender thinks it is important to reduce cross ruffs.  If either of these leads were made I would expect all declarers would have gone off in 6C on the actual deal.

If the Heart 7 is led (as was the case for the two pairs who bid 6C) it does give declarer an indication that the defender thinks there is a better chance of beating the contract leading their suit. So time to think would the defender bother to lead from a doubleton or longer heart suit (risking a free finesse) in preference to a spade or trump??

May be hand for the players who prefer some psychology rather than just suit break statistics. So on the heart lead declarer can win with the Ace, cash Q Clubs to check no 5-0 break, then play Q diamonds, cross to the A and ruff a low diamond with 9 clubs. Then draw trumps and run remaining diamonds throwing a spade and two hearts. A spade to KQ is now 12 tricks.

Robin Clarke

Board 10 from Christmas Party duplicate on December 19th.

After an expected 1C opener from East are there bidding sequence options to reach a spade slam and just as importantly find optimal declarer play to make 12 tricks? 

Only a couple of pairs reached 6 spades and less than half the field made 12 tricks with some making less than 11.

Initially if any N/S pairs cannot show a major two-suit hand after an opening bid it is difficult to envisage reaching slam without punting and hoping for the right cards with North.

With South showing the two suit major according to methods, West is likely to pass and North with three card spade support and void heart will bid spades at the lowest available level. With such a strong hand what should South do? In the event, if South does try 4NT luck is in when North shows two aces. On balance it is probably better to maximise options by making a cue bid as it is still possible that partner has Heart K and Ace clubs.

In this case there is merit for South to bid 4D first (assuming partner's spade bid was at 3 or 4 level) as over 4C any 4D response does not help. Over 4D, North is likely to bid 5C with South now bidding 6S.  Reaching 7 Spades would have been possible if North held both HK and CA as should show the secondary control below game level.

After the probable club lead, how should declarer proceed? Some may have been too keen to play a trump to the Ace and rely on a reasonable trump break and hearts no worse than 4-3 or an honour dropping after Ace and two ruffs. Then all is well and only a heart trick is lost. On that line it is now too late on the 4-0 trump break unless there is a fortunate position in the heart suit.

With North holding spade 9 it opens up options for a line of play that gives more chance if there is a bad break in hearts or spades. After a club lead the diamond A can be cashed throwing a heart from dummy then crossing with either a diamond or a club ruff. Cash heart A, then ruff a heart and play another club or diamond to ruff on table. Continue to ruff hearts. On the fourth round, West holding Jxxx of spades is fixed either allowing another ruff with Spade 9 or ruffing with the J. Either way 12 tricks will be made.

The same line of play is going to work with good breaks.

Robin Clarke

Board 9 from Ife Cup 10 on 6th June

After an expected 2C opener by North followed by pass and 2D negative and probable intervention by West is there a logical way to reach at least a small slam? A 7H contract is solid.

None of the North / South pairs ventured past game and in one case doubled the opposition in their contract. This is probably a good hand to show the merits of the take out double in a competitive auction, the theme of this weeks training session.

After 2C - Pass - 2D (negative) West is likely to intervene with possibly a 2S overcall or indeed an unusual two suited NT bid or possibly a cheeky pre-empt in spades. In all cases North's best option is to double to show a strong hand as would have bid a suit with 8 playing tricks.

If East bids to 3S (or possibly 4S depending on what intervention West makes) South can quite easily find a bid in Hearts most likely at the 4 level. In the North position it will not be possible to find out about the Q diamonds but a jump to 6H looks likely to be a good bet.

Robin Clarke

Board 11 from Ife Cup 8 on 4th April

After an expected 4S opener by West followed by three passes is there a logical analysis for North to find the best lead and continuation to defeat the contract?

Most of the field played in 4S after the expected pre-empt. However only one pair defeated the contract by finding a killing lead with three tricks to cash and a trump winner. What should North lead based on the bidding sequence? Some may have just routinely led a heart as it looks safe on face value.

The defender is expecting West to have around 7-8 playing tricks and a suit of corresponding length. Normally in first position you would not expect the hand to have many points outside of the trump suit for fear of missing a slam if partner has a good hand. Always there is a danger that declarer gets lucky and finds a dummy with a few quick tricks to pitch some losers and all is too late.

So going through the options, the lead of SJ may be risky if the trump suit is broken and you are just helping declarer find the missing honours. Also may lose the tempo. A heart is "safe" for not giving anything away but again may lose the tempo. Both a low diamond lead or AC are attacking but perhaps the latter is safer as it keeps North on lead to switch if a continuation does not look wise and also based on the opening bid you are not really expecting West to have Kx of clubs. The lead analysis would be very different on say a one level opening bid and then reaching 4S as declarer will have more points outside of the trump suit and a club or a diamond lead is more likely to give a trick away.

After AC lead dropping the singleton K you can see three tricks on table so it becomes obvious to switch to a diamond. Equally a diamond lead would have made the defence straightforward.

Robin Clarke

Board 1 from the Teams Championship on 28th February

Is there a logical sequence that makes it easier to find a solid 6S contract and indeed quite a good 7S contract as only one pair reached a small slam?

Most in the North position are likely to open 1H and after an expected pass from East, South should probably make a game force with 2S. Some in the West position may pass, others may choose to bid 2NT or even 3NT! to show a minor two suiter to try and disrupt N/S.

What should the rebid of North be in the potential situations? A 4D response conveys a better description (than just supporting spades) showing better than minimum, good spade support and diamond control.

South can now visualise at least a small slam if North holds Diamond Ace and KQ spades and a grand slam if the heart suit is good for five tricks. Should South bid Blackwood or make a 4H cue bid? Over 4H, North is probably going to bid 4S and it is back to Blackwood. After showing 2 of the 5 key cards together with Q of trumps it is easy to bid 6S but may be tempting to bid 7S as North thus far has shown nine points with his response to Blackwood and is therefore likely to hold the missing heart honours.

If West does bid and E/W compete to 5D, South can probably only jump to 6S. However as the contract norm was 4S it suggests most E/W's did not compete.

Robin Clarke