How many tricks can you make in No Trumps. Imagine you are in 6NT played by North on the lead of a low Spade. North wins ♠10 how should you continue? 

West leads ♣3 to your ♣10 East wins ♣Q, plays ♦Q low from dummy. How do you defend?

An interesting problem. South with a balanced 11 should Pass, West should open 2♦, North does not have a bid so should Pass but South having Passed initially can Double for takeout. Now North has two choices bid 3NT or Pass hoping for +500 or +200 and game is not making. I would favour Pass at this vunerability. The analysis says the contract should fail by two tricks but practically the defence will make 6 tricks for +200 and in this case 75% of the matchponts.

It often pays to take the penalty

This hand was interesting no one reached the 25 point game. North should open 1♥, South should respond 1♠, North will rebid 1NT showing a balanced 15-16 points South with 9 points should invite game with 2NT, North will accept showing exactly 3 Spades (in case South has five Spades) with a bid of 3♠ and with only four Spades North will bid 3NT. 

East should lead ♣10 as this is probably from ♣(K)109(xx) North should play low winning ♣Q. Now a low Club intending to play ♣8 East might win ♣K now even if East switches to a Diamond North will come to at least 9 tricks for +600.

Bid game with game values

An interesting hand from Wednesday mornings gentle play session. I was playing with Christine in her first duplicate session and we managed to bid as above. East will open 1♦ South might overcall 2♣ now West can bid a forcing 2♥ showing a five card suit I continued with 2♠ which does not show extra values Christine continued with 3♥ showing a six card suit which I was happy to raise to 4♥.  

After a Club lead West should win ♣A now a cross ruff seems a good idea so ♣K ruff a Club ♠ A, ♠ K ruff a Spade ruff a Club and now the defence can only take two Aces.

Think about the bidding

The bidding should be straightforward. When West opens 2NT East with 35-37 points in the two hands must bid slam. East could try Stayman but when West bids 3♦ must bid 6NT. Note 4NT is not Blackwood but quantitative as no suit has been agreed. 

Now how to play the hand. Most will lead a Club say ♣4 West will win ♣K. What next?

No-one managed to bid this hand correctly at the table. North should open 1NT South should transfer to Spades and then force to game with 3♥, North should bid 4♠ showing a minimum with 3 Spades and South with no slam interest will Pass. At the table players seem to have transferred to Spades the bid 2NT (when North with should bid 3♠ and South with 15 points will raise to 4♠) or used Stayman then bid 2NT. The only time you would want to play in 2NT is if North has 2 Spades, 3 Hearts and only 12 points so you must play with the odds and bid 3♥.

Now the play is also interesting assume East leads ♦5 (second highest from a bad suit) West will win ♦K, then switch to  ♣3 (lead towards weakness in dummy) how should North play? 

Play with the odds

North will open 1NT and South should bid 2♦ a transfer to Hearts. (Otherwise West should Double to show 15 or more points when reaching game is then certain.) West should Double to show Diamonds and North will complete the transfer. East cannot bid not knowing the strength of Wests hand. When South passes West must bid having shown Diamonds 3♣ seems the best bid and East with 10 points will bid 3NT. As North is known to have nearly all of the outstanding points the play is not too difficult.

Bid game with game values

What a strange hand! Not so much what you hold as the bidding. Partner has a balanced hand you have this strange distribution and neither opponent has a bid. So what is your plan?

No North/South succeeded with this hand today. What should you do with this hand after South opens 1♥ and West overcalls 1♠?

I think North has too many HCP in the black suits and might settle for 3NT hoping to make the same number of tricks as those in Hearts. However two intrepid pairs reached the reasonable slam this is certainly better than 50%. West makes the helpful lead of ♣A and plays a second Club South will win ♣Q. South has nine tricks on top. How should you play the hand?

Only two pairs out of six bid to slam on this hand. The sequence above shows how the hand might be bid. West will open 1♠, East already thinking about slam should try to find out as much asc possible about West's hand by bidding 2♦, West will rebid 2NT showing 15-16 points, a greedy East might bid 3♠ (intending to explore the possibility of 7♠ should West show five Spades by raising to 4♠) and in any event East with 35 or 36 points must bid 6NT over the 3NT response (or over 2NT). There are eleven top tricks and you can take the Diamond finesse in either direction making 12 or 13 tricks. 

Bid slam with slam values

This hand is interesting because of the results achieved at the table. Three pairs played in 3NT, one in 2♠ and only one in the correct contract of 4♠. Everyone should lead ♥Q two players found another lead at the table. Declarer will play ♠A then finesse ♠Q losing to West making 10 tricks in a Spade contract. Now the problem with 3NT is that if you lose a Spade the defence should cash three Heart winners (lucky it could be more) holding you to nine tricks in this case as the Hearts are 4-4.

So back to the bidding how do we reach 4♠ . With a good 11 points South should invite game by transfering to Spades then bidding 2NT most of the time North will have three or more Spades and will end up in 4♠  (if North with 12 points bids 3♠ South should raise counting extra points for the singleton). In this case North has a maximum with 3♠ and should bid 4♠. I guess the shape pursuaded some Norths to bid 3NT this is a mistake on two counts South has not shown a balanced hand and the high cards held suggest suit play rather than No Trumps. If South had enough points for game (add ♠Q) and the same shape over 2♠ the correct bid would have been 3♣ showing either a very strong hand or some concern about 3NT as the final contract. So a bid of 3NT would show a balanced or semi-balanced hand. 

A transfer followed by a bid of 2NT does not necessarily show a balanced hand

There were three good slams today Several pairs bid 6♠  on board 3. Nicky and Ian did well to bid and make 6♥ on board 22. The hand above is board 2 the key is to realise how strong the West hand is. West will open 1♥ , East should respond 2♣ showing 10 or 11 points, West will force to game with 3♥, South will bid 4♥ showing at least two card support. Now the moment of truth East has 10 or 11 high card points and you have 21 points if East holds ♦A you should be able to discard a Spade (or Club loser from hand) if not where are his points (Club values could be good too). Perhaps best is 5♥ asking East to bid 6♥  with a good Heart holding and East with good Hearts and two more kings should have no trouble in bidding 6♥. 

Sometimes you have to take a chance with a good hand

North will open a Weak 2♠, West will overcall 2NT 16-18 with 2 Spade stops and East should transfer to Hearts. Most West's will make 3♥ as North cannot get a Heart ruff without help and a trump promotion in the Spade suit is difficult for the defence to see and organise. In any event it is better than 2NT which will probably make only 5 tricks. Notice if you do not play transfers in this position you cannot bid 3♥ as this would be a game force. 

Stayman and Transfers apply when the first natural bid by your partnership is 1NT or 2NT

There are probably many bidding sequences on this hand. The Double of 1♥ in the sequence above is not ideal but it is one way to make sure a Spade fit is not missed. Also if West bids 3♣ instead of Double North may be disuaded from bidding 3♥. Certainly if West is allowed to show some values East at the vulnerability should Double 4♥. Bidding 3♥ may result in missing a game. The other thought is if South bids 4♥ immediately will this avoid the contract being Doubled. I think its a tough call but I think an immediate 4♥ will pay off in the long run.

Vunerability should influence your bidding

This is a difficult hand to bid. West will open 1♦, East must bid 1♠, West has a tough desision but bidding 2♦ seems best (the other option is 1NT), now East has the tough desision but should either raise to 3♦ inviting game when West with 18 points will jump to 5♦ or bid 2NT when West will raise to 3NT. In either case game will make (3NT needs the Heart finesse to work or no Club lead but scores better).  The point is with 26 points game should be reached. 

Bid game with 25 or more points

Three pairs did well bid a small slam. South will open 1♠, North should respond 2♣ (responder should bid four card suits in ascending order), South will jump to 3♠ a game force with 15+ high card points and 6+ Spades. Now North knows the partnership has at least 33 points enough for slam. North should check for Aces and Kings with Blackwood then bid a slam. In this case 6NT scooped all the matchpoints.

Is it possible to bid seven? The sequence above is Roman key card Blackwood 5♠ shows 2 key cards and ♠Q, 5NT asks for Kings and 6♥ shows ♥K and denies ♣K as well as ♦K. Now South must have at least one queen for the 3♠ bid so North could bid 7♠ (slightly better than 7NT) hoping South holds ♥Q or ♣Q or if not you will need at least one finesse to work. (South has shown 12 points from the Blackwood responses so should have at least 3 points in Queens and Jacks. North is missing ♥Q, ♦ QJ and ♣Q. If South has 4+ points the grand slam is always making. So the only problem is when Souths 3 points are specificaly ♦QJ and even with this holding there are still chances.)

Discover partners hand from the bidding.

The bidding should start as shown. What should West do after the 1NT bid?

What do you when South opens 1NT?

When you are holding 14 points and partner opens the bidding the one thing you must not do is make a bid partner can Pass. This was obviously a problem with this hand. For most the bidding will start as shown above. Three West's made a non forcing Heart bid either 2♥  showing 6-9 points and a 6 card suit or 3♥  showing 10-12 points and a 6+ Heart suit. One West bid 2NT showing 11-12  inviting game and one West allowed East to play in 4♣. So what is the best bid? Have a think then press the show answer button to see my thoughts.

This hand was played in 1NT at all tables. At three tables South was declarer presumably on the auction above. What should you lead? 

West will Pass, North will Pass, East will start with 1♥, South wanting to ensure a Club lead will bid 2♣, West should compete with 2♥, North should continue with 2♠ this should be a 5 Card suit with a tolerence for Clubs also as North has already Passed it is no longer forcing (with 6 or more Spades North would have opened with a pre-empt) and South happy to play in Spades will Pass. If West gets into the action with 2♥ over the 2♣ bid (showing either 3 Hearts and 6-9 points or 4 Hearts and 2-5 Points), when North bids 2♠ East knowing there is at least an 8 card fit will bid 3♥  for a good score.

Support partner with 3 cards and 6-8 points after intervention.

There were unusual results on this hand. The auction should proceed as shown once South has shown 19 points 6NT seems the only bid to make. (5NT is not Blackwood but invitational to 6NT). You can lead ♥ 9 towards dummies ♥ K for the 12th trick (13 if West ducks). In fact only one pair bid the slam but then slipped in the play. 

With a balanced 15 points South will open 1♥  (the hand lacks intemediates and has three suits with a single honour so 1NT is not an unreasonable alternative), West has no option but to Pass, North will respond 1♠ , South will rebid 1NT showing 15-16 points, North will force to game with 3♦  and South should bid 4♠  showing a minimum hand with three Spades. 6♠  is a good contract requiring Spades 2-2 or the ♦ J to fall in three rounds or the Club finesse however two of the four pairs yesterday failed to bid game.

Bid game with game values 

This was the bidding at our table. The first decision is whether to open 1♠  or 4♠ . Opening 4♠  means you might miss slam if partner has a good hand but as in this case you may stop the opposition reaching their contract. There is nothing wrong with West's Double but East unluckily picked the wrong suit. Many players play 4NT in this position to show two places to play (with Spades you can Pass 4♠).  5♦ will make but 6♥  is the contract. With an extra Spade and a good hand I felt justified in bidding 5♠  espechally at this vulnerability.  If East had bid 5♥  West would have passed 5♠  to show slam interest and with so much more than he might have East could bid 6♥ . A tough hand for East/West.

Pre-emptive bids make you guess

North will open 1NT, East will overcall 2♣, South has no convenient bid as well as knowing the partnership has at most 24 points so will Pass (this must be done in tempo or North will have difficulty bidding) , West will Pass, North should make a takeout Double and now whether South decides to Pass for +300 or bid the result will be improved.

You can Double for takeout after opening 1NT with a doubleton in the suit bid and a 4432 shape .

South will open 1NT, North will bid 2© a transfer to Spades, East should Double to show Hearts, South will complete the transfer and West with 13 points not including the ♠ K should jump to 4©. North will lead ª6 to ªA, switch to ¨3 West will win ¨A, draw trumps ending in dummy, play §3 South will win §A, play ¨8 to ¨J and West will claim the rest making 10 tricks for +420. 

Remember a Double of an artificial bid shows the suit bid

This should be a fairly simple game to bid but three of the four pairs ended up in a Heart part score. Once East opens 1NT West should commit to game by using Stayman and on finding a Heart fit bid game. The three pairs in Hearts all made 10 tricks. Only one pair reached game on this hand a poor 3NT which slipped though on a misdefence but at least West recognised the need to bid game with game values.

Bid game with game values