In this occasional feature, we ask veteran players to analyze a hand and provide tips on getting the most out of your cards. This commentary was provided by Gary Nitzberg.

This was a hand Gary Nitzberg and Steve Merritt played about six months ago. It is a good example of the power of distribution, regardless of point count. As South and dealer, Gary picked up a hand with 9 spades headed by the king and queen, four small clubs and two voids (hearts and diamonds). Although the hand has only 5 high card points, it has the potential to be very powerful. Using the Losing Trick Count system, this is a 4-loser hand. Gary opened 4 spades, a bid that shows weak points and an exceptionally long suit.

The opponents made an overcall bid, and Gary's partner, Steve, raised the spades. In the end, Gary was in 6 spades doubled. West led the Ace of hearts. When the dummy came down, Gary saw that Steve had several helpful assets: 15 points (for a combined 20 points), 3 of Gary's trump (meaning only the ace of trumps was out), and KQ values in both of Gary's void suits.

Gary trumped the Ace of hearts, flushed out the Ace of spades -- and now had the king and queen of hearts to dump losing clubs on. As Gary says, there is a way to set the contract. If the Ace of spades is led first and then a small club, nothing has been developed for Gary to throw losing clubs on. "Having said that," Gary says in ending the lesson, "I would have probably led the Ace of hearts as well!"

The lesson demonstrated: Whenever your hand has abnormal shape, you should consider bidding even if you have fewer points than your partner might expect!

BridgeBee, through Baron Barclay, offers two free online hands per week on Fridays that include analysis. This one is from Marti Ronemus, titled "Switcheroo."

This hand demonstrates how a long, seemingly worthless suit can be established to win the extra trick needed to make game. The bidding is standard but well worth paying attention to. South opens 1 spade, West doubles, North responds a not-very-encouraging 2 spades, and East is silent. South decides to jump to game for several reasons. The spade suit is strong and the hand includes a singleton. On the downside, the opponents' strong points are behind him but at least he knows where they are.

The King of diamonds is led. South sees the dummy and counts tricks. If he trumps three losing hearts in dummy before he draws trumps, he has 4 heart tricks (including the Ace),  5 spade tricks in hand and the Ace of diamonds, for 10 tricks. But will opponents allow him to trump hearts repeatedly? There's a Plan B if they don't. He is sure West has four hearts (he did not overcall because he doesn't have a 5-card suit), which leaves East with 3. If South cannot trump hearts three times, he should be able to make his fifth heart grow up to become the extra trick he needs.

South takes the diamond lead in dummy and crosses to his hand with a first round of hearts, using the Ace (4 hearts gone). He then leads a low heart and trumps in dummy (3 more hearts gone). South now has no choice but to put the opponents in and see what they lead back. He plays a club and opponents win the trick. When they lead a spade to reduce South's ruffing ability, South overtakes dummy's good 9 of spades to end up in hand. South leads another heart and ruffs it with his last trump in dummy (3 more hearts gone). Three hearts are left: two in South's hand and one winning one in West. 

To this point, opponents have only taken one club trick. Now is the time to pull remaining trump (5 were out originally and opponents played trump once, reducing the outstanding number to 3). South plays the Ace and then King of spades, leaving himself with the only trump left. He then exits the lead with a heart, giving West the trick and leaving a good heart, a good trump and one losing diamond in his hand. Opponents can only take one more trick no matter what is led.

Marti calls this strategy "No 5-Card Suit in Dummy Should Ever Be Ignored." The Switcheroo in the title comes from relying on the 5-card, useless looking suit for the win instead of hoping opponents will allow a perpetual cross ruff.

In this occasional feature, we ask veteran players to analyze a hand and provide tips on getting the most out of your cards. This commentary was provided by Gary Nitzberg.

We spend a good deal of time working on our bidding and conventions to try to get to the right contract, but it is also important that when we get there we play the hand properly.  We must listen to the clues that are available.  Here is a hand that has many clues.

The bidding has gone as follows:  West opens 1NT (15-17).  North doubles. East bids 2C. South bids 2S, which is then raised to 4S by North.  Note that N/S have a combined 21 points with no voids.  West leads the JC and East takes North’s QC with the ace.

You are South and are responsible for making this contract. Take a moment to analyze the hand and plan your play.  You have already lost a club trick and will lose a heart and a diamond.  That means you cannot lose any trump tricks. You have important clues in the bidding to make that possible.  

Here is the analysis.  If West opened 1NT, which is 15 to 17 points, and East shows up with the Ace of Clubs (4 points), that’s 19 points accounted for and you have the remaining 21.  Therefore, West must have both the K and J of spades.  Get to your hand and play a low trump. If west plays low, put up the 10.  If West doesn’t play low, cover his card, come back to your hand and play another spade,  intending to finesse again if necessary.

The key to successfully making the contract is to understand what the bidding has told you about where the cards must be.

BridgeBee, through Baron Barclay, offers two free online hands per week on Fridays that include analysis. This one is from Marti Ronemus, entitled "Double Duty." The key point is to Plan the Play even before you take the first trick. In this case, trump is put to work as both transportation and ruffing value.

North jumps to 4S despite South's minimal response and a competing two-level heart auction by opponents. He is not surprised when the QH is led but he takes the time to look at two things. First, how many losers does he have? One heart, probably two clubs (West needs the Ace of Clubs for his overcall points, making South's KC useless), and up to three diamonds. Second, he has to figure out a way trump or dump to reduce the number of losers. Can he trump all three diamond losers without opponents getting in the lead and taking out his available trump? Can he develop the diamond suit to the point where he can dump a loser on a last good diamond?

North concludes that he needs all of his trump PLUS he needs to be able to get to dummy at the end to play a potentially good diamond. Now he's ready to play.

He takes his heart Ace on the first trick and switches to diamonds, playing both the Ace and King without mishap. Now he plays a low diamond and ruffs with the Ace for two reasons: he cannot afford to be over-ruffed, plus he wants to preserve the 3S for transportation to the dummy. He next plays the 3S and takes it with the 8S. He plays the low diamond and ruffs it with the KS, leaving the JS for transportation. 

North needs to pull the rest of trump before he can make use of the good 7D. He plays the JS and overtakes with the QS. He uses both the 10S and 9S to draw the last two trump so he can play the 7D. He's now made his 10 tricks and exits with either a club or heart to give the opponents their only three tricks.

Click here to see the detailed expert analysis of hands played during the ACBL-Wide Charity Game on April 16, 2025: ACBL Hand Analysis 4-16-25