Look both ways

Where's this auction going? East's too strong to overcall 2NT over North's opening weak 2♥ (it would show 16-18 points and she has 19), so she doubles first and her partner shows her diamonds: 3♦. Most Easts will now bid 3NT and that'll be the end of it. 

But what if instead of passing, South raises her partner to 3♥ after the double? She has 3 hearts, after all - count them up! In that case, the bidding may go above 3NT and since 5♦ gets such a weedy score, EW are better to punt the slam just in case it's on.

So two possible contracts: 6♦ by West and 3NT by East. You're in declarer's seat. How do you play each one?
 

6♦ by West

Let's start with the trickier one and give you a nasty lead: North leads the ♠5, down goes dummy and you have a big decision to take at trick one - do you finesse or go up with dummy's ♠A?

Take a look at the points. NS have 13 points between them and 5-9 of them are with North. Three of her points are surely the ♥K - you hold the ♥AQJ, after all - and while she could also have the ♠K, the odds are that it's with South. If she does, and if you play low from dummy, you're going off, as someone somewhere is 100% sure of taking a trick with the ♦A and then they can cash their ♠K as well. Unless ... Unless what?

Unless you can get rid of your losing spade before you let them in with the ♦A. Which you can. By leading a heart from your hand and finessing.

So take trick 1 with dummy's ♠A and get into your hand with the ♣A. Now lead your singleton ♥J and (if North plays low) overtake with dummy's ♥Q - which, God willing, will win the trick. Now cash your ♥A, throwing your ♠J ... and now it's safe to lose the lead to the ♦A. And the rest are yours, as you can ruff your only other loser - a little club - in dummy. 
 

3NT by East

This time it's South's lead, you're sitting East and you get the ♣Q (promising the ♣J and probably the ♣10 as well). What's the plan?

There's no problem about making your contract, is there? You simply win trick 1 and force out the ♦A, guaranteeing yourself at least 10 tricks: two clubs, 6 diamonds and the two major Aces - 11 if you take the marked heart finesse.

But pairs is all about greed and greed means overtricks, so you're always on the lookout for as many as you can get. So keep your eyes on the points. It turns out that South wins trick two with her ♦A ... so you can count 7 points in her hand: the ♦A plus the ♣QJ. Which only leaves 6 points for North, who opened a weak 2. Conclusion: North must hold both the ♥K and the ♠K for her opening bid.

Which means that you can have lots of fun going out to dummy with diamonds and finessing hearts and spades, the two major suit finesses giving you 12 tricks in all.
 

Take a look ...

... at the whole deal, which looks very much as expected. As North does have the ♠K, it turns out that it would have been safe for West in 6♦ to play low on the opening spade lead after all. Most Norths in any case will lead the ♣9, which makes the whole thing easier: now you can clear trumps before you perform your shenanigans with the hearts and spades.
 

On the night

On the posh night, 5 tables played in 3NT and 4 in 6♦. All made 12 tricks except for one of the no-trumpers, who made 11.

In AP, 4 tables were in 3NT, all making 11 or 12 tricks. The others didn't fare so well: one stopped in 4♦ (making 5♦), one was in 5♦ (making 6♦) and one very lucky NS pair got away with 3♥ -2, for the best NS score of the morning.

cj

It's that pecking order again

Here's a nice example of a search for the best contract, conducted along the same lines as our 2026 HOTWs so far:

Search for a major fit.
If there isn't one, look for no trumps
If that's no good, go for a minor fit as a last resort.

How does it go?

• East opens her longest suit: 1♦.
• West ignores the minor fit for the moment because she has a 4-card major: 1♠.
• East now wants to show her hearts - West could have 4 hearts (in which case she must have 5 spades). 2♥ is a reverse - taking the bidding above her other possible rebid (2♦) - but that's fine because with 16 points she's strong enough to do that. So 2♥ it is. (If she had fewer points, she'd just have to lump it and rebid 2♦ instead.)
• What is West to do now? Obviously there isn't a major fit. Partner has at least 16 points, so game's certainly on, and with the clubs firmly stopped, 3NT looks like the place to be.

Note that West has known about the diamond fit since the first bid, but is right to look for the major fit first - as is East on her 2nd bid. Only when that possibility's eliminated does West go for no trumps - no need for the last resort of 5♦, as she has the clubs comfortably stopped. Yes, there's a possibility that you might have something better on - 6NT or 6♦ - but the main point here is (a) not to miss game and (b) to be in NT and not in diamonds.  

As it happens, you've only got 11 tricks on the best defence anyway, whether in diamonds or NT, as you have a spade and a club loser, so it's a good thing you didn't go looking for the slam.

In 3NT you're likely to get a club lead - clubs is the unbid suit - and this sets you up nicely. As soon as they take their ♣A, you have 11 tricks off the top. Lovely. And if they don't lead a club you lead them yourself at the first opportunity to set up your two overtricks.
 

On the night

On the posh night, 6 of the 9 EW pairs were in 3NT, making 11+ tricks. Two ended up in 4♠, making just 10 tricks, and one hapless South was doubled in 2♥ (she'd made a weak jump overcall with ♥Jxxxxx) which cost her 800. 

In AP, 4 tables out of 6 were in 3NT, making 10+ tricks, one was 5♦, scoring less than the no-trumpers, even with an overtrick, and one languished in a diamond part-score.

cj

  A    WHITE    lie  

As soon as your partner opens 1♠ you know you need to be in game - but which one? You don't know yet, but as a rough guide - looking back to the last two HOTWs - if partner has 5+ spades you want to be in 4♠ and if she has only 4 spades you'll prefer 3NT.

Your reply is tricky, though. You don't want to support spades yet because you have only 3 of them. What you'd like to do is bid a suit of your own to see what partner says next, but your only suit is hearts and (just our luck!) over an opening 1♠ you need five hearts to reply 2♥ and you only have four. What to do? 
 

The opening 1♠  bid

Before we decide, what do we know about partner's hand? In Acol, an opening 1♠ is a kinda special bid.

• If opener has five or more spades, she can have pretty much the same as in any other opening suit - maybe a single-suited hand, maybe a two-suiter, maybe a stong balanced hand. 
• But what if she has only four spades? Well, if spades is her longest suit, she must be a balanced hand (4-3-3-3 or 4-4-3-2). * In which case, why isn't she opening 1NT? There's only one answer to that, which is:
  she's too strong to open 1NT. She must have at least 15 points (maybe as many as 19), and has opened 1♠ intending to rebid NT at an appropriate level on her next bid.

So when partner opens 1♠, you know that she's either got 5+ spades or she has at least 15 points. And you need to know which it is. (It could be both, of course.)
 

The rest of the auction

Armed with this knowledge, you need to find a bid that will allow you to find out, Whatever you bid is a lie, but the most useful lie is the one that will tell you about partner's spades. Bid 2♣.

This is a pertectly safe bid, as you're never going to be playing in clubs: in the end you're going to choose either NT or spades (or maybe hearts, if she's 5-4 in spades and hearts). Here's how it might go from here:

• Partner has just 4 spades and (say) 15 points. She'll now rebid 2NT. And you'll raise to 3NT. End of auction.
• Partner has 5+ spades and no 2nd suit: she'll rebid spades and you'll raise to 4♠. End.
• Partner has 5+ spades and a 2nd suit. If she rebids diamonds or hearts or raises your clubs (in any of these cases she must have at least 5 spades) you can go straight to 4♠. **

Think of your 2♣ bid as a question mark: I need to know more about your hand, partner. Partner knows as well as you do that the first priority is a major fit, with no trumps as a close 2nd and the minor as a last resort. She's not going to go charging up to 5♣ without exploring the preferred options first.
 

What happens?

Take a look at the whole deal. As it happens partner has an ordinary opening hand with 5 spades and 4 clubs, so she raises your 2♣ to 3♣. You now know that she has 5+ spades (with only 4 she'd rebid NT instead of raising you), so you've found your spade fit: 4♠. Which makes comfortably: They can take ♣AK and a club ruff, but you take the rest of the tricks. 4♠ bid and made.
 

On the night

On the posh night, 7 of the 9 tables were in 4♠, all making  The other 2 were in 3NT, both making overtricks - they shouldn't, though: on the best defence you only make 9 tricks in NT.

In AP, all but one table were in spades, but somehow two declarers didn't reach game. Nearly all made 10 tricks. The other table was in 3NT, and was allowed to make too many tricks.

cj

* She can't have the dreaded 4-4-4-1 shape, as there aren't any hands with that shape that open 1♠.

** Actually, if she rebids 2♥, I'll prefer 4♥. A 4-4 fit is usually better than a 5-3 fit.

A sense of direction (2)

The first thing a beginner should be taught about bridge is that not all denominations are created equal. Some are very definitely more equal than others. Here's the pecking order:

• If you have a major fit, look no further. That's what you're looking for in any auction. 
• Failing that, is a no trump contract a possibility? Prefer it to a minor suit if you can - it scores more and you don't need as many tricks.
• Last resort: play in a minor.

If you aren't aware of the above, the auction on this board makes no sense - you have, clearly, a wonderful minor fit - so why aren't you in 5♦? Answer below! 
 

The auction

East 1♦ - With an unbalanced 14-count you open your longest suit: 1♦. Never mind the quality; bid the length.

West 1♥ - Sure, you have a diamond fit, but who's interested in diamonds when you have a major? East may have 4 hearts, so show your major suit. 

East 2♣  - You don't have 4 hearts, so show partner your second suit: clubs.

West 2♠ - OK. No major fit, then. Next best thing: no trumps. So still ignoring your minor fit. If you had the spades stopped you'd bid NT yourself, but you haven't. Fortunately, you're familiar with 'fourth suit forcing'. 2♠ - the fourth suit in this auction - is nothing to do with spades, but is simply asking partner to tell you 'more about your hand'.

East 3NT - well, there are two possibilities: either your partner has 5 hearts and is hoping that you might have 3 (you've already denied 4) or she's looking for no trumps. You can't help in hearts, but you've got the spades covered for NT. Partner's 2♠  bid promises decent points, so 3NT it is. *
 

The play

We're not too concerned about the play here - the message is all in the auction - but you should note that if South leads a low heart (which she did at most tables) it's likely that she's leading the 4th highest card in a suit that probably includes the ♥Q ... so play low from dummy and let the trick run round to your singleton ♥J, which duly wins the trick!

The rest is pretty simple: you hit the diamonds straight away and there are 10 tricks for the taking. Note that 3NT+1 is worth 430. More than the 400 you score for making 5♦ (even if you get that high!) and also more than you score for 5♦ +1. A mere ten tricks in NT is worth more than even 12 tricks in a minor. Bear that in mind next time you have a minor fit.

On the night

On the posh night, 5 of the 8 tables were in 3NT (plus one in 1NT!) all making 11 tricks. Just one was in 3♦ and one was in 5♦ - better than 3♦ but still not as good as the no trump declarers. 

In AP, 3 tables out of 6 were in 3NT, one making and the others going 1 off. The other 3 tables languished in 3♦ - with a game-going 26 points.

cj

* What if you didn't have anything in spades? Then you have to revert back to diamonds - 3♦. An uncomfortable choice with such a rubbish suit, but fear not - your partner hasn't left you in the lurch. She has great diamond support - and may even raise you to 5♦. All this bidding of hearts and then the 'fourth suit' is just a way of looking for something better than the last resort of subsiding into a minor suit - and on this hand it works.

A sense of direction

Here's our very first hand of 2026 - it's fairly straightforward in both bidding and declarer play, but well worth a look ...
 

The auction

With a balanced 20-count, West opens 2NT, after 3 passes. What is East to do?

Well, she certainly has enough points for game, but probably not quite enough for a slam. So the task is to raise partner to game, but in passing to tell her about her 5-card major. How to do that? Simple: use a transfer. East bids 3♦, which forces West to complete the transfer with 3♥ ... and East now bids 3NT. 'I've put you into game, partner, but I thought I'd tell you that I have 5 hearts, just in case you'd prefer to be in 4♥.' 

And West? With just 2 hearts, she doesn't want to be in a 7-card fit, so 3NT it is. North leads the ♣2, down goes dummy, and you're declarer in 3NT, sitting West ...
 

The play

The play isn't difficult. Hearts look likely to be your main source of tricks - you'll remember from last year that when you're missing 6 cards in a suit, they'll divide 4-2 or 3-3 more than 80% of the time, so you've very probably got 5 heart tricks. The only thing you have to remember is to cash the ♥AQ in your hand now, to get them out of the way, and then find a way of getting to dummy to cash your three remaining heart tricks. What else?

Well, you're well on the way to making two club tricks, and then once you've knocked out their ♦A, you'll have two diamond tricks too. And then you've got the ♠AK, which adds up to ... 5 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 11 tricks. Just losing the two minor aces. Meaning that you don't have to worry about trying to make extra tricks by trying spade finesses: two spade tricks does the job.

So what to do? Let's say South wins trick 1 with the ♣A and leads a club back.

• Win the trick in hand and cash your ♥AQ (both defenders follow suit, so the hearts are breaking OK).
• Now lead your ♦K and if necessary another diamond to force out the ♦A, and that's it. You have the rest of the tricks.

There are two ways of finishing off the hand:

1. The boring way: go over to dummy with a diamond or a club. Cash your hearts, discarding 3 spades from hand Cash any remaining diamond and club winners and finally cash your ♠AK.
2. The quick way. Put your hand face up on the table and say: 'The rest of the tricks are mine. I can go out to dummy, with a [club], cash dummy's hearts, discarding ...'

When there's nothing left to play for, it's good practice to claim to cut short the tedium. But when you do, remember that you have to explain how you're intending to play the cards!

As we discovered in last year's seminars, the secret is to make a plan before you start playing the cards. Here you can work out in advance that you need to unblock the hearts and create an entry to dummy, and that you don't need the spade finesse. That helps to to do things in the right order, and not just dither about wondering what to do next. First work out where you're going, and then go there!

On the night

On the posh night, 6 of the 8 EW pairs were in 3NT, all making at leats 11 tricks - one made 12. The others were in hearts - not as good.

In AP, just 3 out of 6 were in 3NT, and just one made 11 tricks (well done!). One was in 4♥ and the other two were in 4♠ - all just 7-card fits. With a balanced 20-count, it's better to open 2NT, not 1♠!

cj

* The 'unusual no trump' also comes up as an overcall over an opening 1-level bid of a suit. Some of you will be familiar with the Ghestem convention, which allows you to show a pair of 5-card suits. Over an opp's opening 1♥ or 1♠, an overcall of 2NT tells partner you have both clubs and diamonds and invites her to choose the one she prefers. Just like this hand, but at a lower level. The more traditional Michaels convention works in a similar way.