Let’s look at four Boards where there are little bidding points of note.

The bidding starts as follows:

W         N          E          S

                        P          P

1H        1S        2D        X

What do you understand by South’s double?

With 3 or more spades South would raise to the level of fit.

At the 2 level the double is not for penalties.

It can hardly be for takeout, asking partner to bid; there is only one unbid suit.

The double shows limited support for partner’s overcall, typically a doubleton containing a high honour.  South’s hand was:

♠  K3                           

♥  AT64                                   

♦  953                          

♣  T632                

The advantage is that if on opening lead North is encouraged to lead her suit.

Now let’s look at another bid which comes up more often than is recognised.

E          S

1C        2C

What is the meaning of the 2C bid?

It is the Michael’s cue bid, a cousin of the unusual 2NT.

Here, the 2C bid indicates 5/5 in the majors.  South’s hand was:

♠  76543

♥  AT752

♦  9                             

♣ 82                            

Michael’s is a pre-emptive bid which gives partner two opportunities to raise to the level of fit.

On Board 35 North held this hand:

♠  A762                        

♥  K95                         

♦  73                            

♣  KJ32                                   

After 2 passes it is North’s turn to bid.  Should she pass?

The point to note is that once partner has passed any response to an opening bid is not forcing.  North opens 1S with the intention of passing whatever her partner bids.

There are three requirements for making these light opening bids.  The first is that partner has passed.  The second is a reasonably balanced hand giving some support for all the other three suits.

The third is 4 or more spades.  The reason for this last reason is that if you don’t hold length in spades then it is very likely that your opponents do.  In that case they are likely to win any competitive auction since 2S is the high ground.

This board was passed out 5 times and the one pair in a spade part score got an outright top.

Now let’s turn our attention to the strong hands on Board 25:

The bidding starts

S          W         N          E

2C        P          2D        P

2S        P          3S

What has North got for her 3S bid?

Certainly, North has at least 3 card spade support but is it a very minimum hand?

It can’t be.  The 2S bid introduces a game forcing situation.  With little other than 3 card spade support North should go straight to game, bidding 4S.

The 3S bid is stronger the 4S; North has something extra, but what?

North has a feature and I like to play that the feature is an ace.  This is because controls are so important in slams.  Let’s look at both hands and see how the bidding can go.

   N                              

♠  T86432                     S          N         

♥  A                              2C        2D

♦  87543                       2S        3S

♣  J                              4D        4H        4D and 4H are cue bids.

   S                               5D        6S        4D is a cue bid showing second round control.

♠  AKQJ9                                              In cue bidding, South has by-passed clubs twice

♥  QJ52                                                 and in so doing has shown 2 losers in that suit.

♦  AK                                                    As North can hold clubs to just one loser and

♣ 83                                                     also hearts to no losers, she jumps to 6S.

Only one pair bid to 6S.  They were doubled for their pains and got an outright top.

Let’s start with Board 5 and a revision of biding after an opening of 2C.

There are 3 points I’d like to raise on the bidding.

First, what does the 2D bid mean?  We say it is negative but what do we really mean by that?

After an opening bid of 2C there is only one bidding sequence that can stop short of game:

2C        2D

2N        P

Any other sequence is forcing to game.  Therefore, the 2D bid is not saying anything about the prospects of bidding to game, that is going to happen anyway.  The 2D negative by responder is indicating a hand that has no interest in a slam.

If responder has 12 Bhcp (8 hcp) then there is a real prospect that there may be a slam.  Hence the negative 2D represents 0 – 11 Bhcp (0 – 7 hcp).

Secondly, how should the bidding continue after:

2C        2D

2N        ?

Opener has, in effect, opened with a super-strong 2NT.  Therefore, whatever conventions you play after an opening bid of 2NT should now be used.  Therefore, with West’s hand, a transfer bid of 3H is made and the 4S game reached.

The third point is that a double of an artificial bid is lead directing asking partner to lead that suit.  If North doubles West’s 3H transfer bid then South should lead a heart.  Unless South finds the heart lead E/W make 12 tricks.  With the heart lead only 11 tricks are available.  Did I get a heart lead?  Yes, I did and was limited to 11 tricks and a poor score.  Well done that E/W pair.

As North on Board 11 you pick up this hand:

South opens a weak 1NT.  Do you pass or bid?

Pass is not unreasonable, the points are roughly evenly divided and so there is a good chance of 7 tricks.

The alternative is Stayman and then to pass whatever opener responds.  This is Stayman with weakness.  A response by opener of 2H would be wonderful and of 2S would be fine as there is the likelihood on a club ruff.  Passing a response of 2D would only work out badly if opener was exactly 3 cards in each major, 5 clubs and only 2 diamonds.

In the event I bid 2C (as did one other North); partner responded 2D and 9 tricks were made and both pairs made good scores.

Finally, let’s look at Board 23 where the effectiveness of pre-emptive bidding is demonstrated.

The question is whether South’s 4S bid is full strength or merely competitive.  If it is ful strength then North should bid on to the slam.  If it is competitive then 4S is high enough.

The 4H bid has put North on the spot with the need to guess.  Nobody, however clever, guesses correctly every time.

As North I very much wanted to bid on but decided to ‘go with the room’.  By that I mean I decided to do what I thought most other Norths would do.  I passed.  In one sense I guessed correctly, only one pair bid the slam so we got an average.  Had I gone for the slam we would have got an outright top; in another sense I guessed incorrectly.

Tip: when you have a weak hand with a very long suit bid to the limit immediately and then shut up.  Your first bid will have done the damage.

Let’s start with Board 3 where there could have been a rather nice opportunity to make a good defensive bid.

Given the starting auction what is East to bid?

The 2H bid is conventional.  The double of a conventional bid is lead directing, asking partner to lead that suit as soon as she is on lead.  That is not the right bid.

What about bidding 3H?  The problem is that it takes you to the 3 level and implies a 6 card suit.  East has only 5 hearts and not that good a suit either.  That rules out a 3H bid.

Had N/S not been playing transfers then North would have made a weakness take-out into 2S.  It would have been easy then for East; she would have doubled to show hearts and asking her partner to bid.  The question is;  can East find a bid which has the same meaning as a take-out double of North’s implied 2S bid?

I wouldn’t have asked if there hadn’t been such a bid.  Have you seen it yet?

The bid is 2S, the suit held by North. 

The general situation is:

After a transfer to hearts (1NT – P – 2D) a bid by 4^th seat of 2H is equivalent in meaning to a take-out double of hearts;

After a transfer to spades (1NT – P – 2H) a bid by 4^th seat of 2S is equivalent in meaning to a take-out double of spades;

Now let’s look at how South should deal with the intervention.  It is quite simple really.

With a doubleton in responder’s major, opener passes.  Responder now knows that there is only 2 card support and this will affect the extent to which she will compete in the auction.

With 3 or 4 card support for responder but with less than maximum values opener doubles.  Responder now has a good picture of opener’s hand and may be prepared to compete to the 3 level on the basis of bidding to the level of fit.

With 3 or 4 card support for responder and with maximum values opener bids 3 of responder’s major.  Responder now has a good picture of opener’s hand and may be prepared to bid game.

So there is a useful bidding wrinkle from a board which initially look very ordinary.

Board 24 presented an interesting bidding situation.

West has 5 spades and 5 clubs; which should she open?

One view is that if you open 1C then you have a convenient rebid of 1S over partner’s response.

Another view is that 1S is more pre-emptive and should be bid so long as the spade suit is rebiddable.  Also, if 1S is the opening bid then it is usually easier to indicate a 5 card suit later in the auction.  Further, if I have a good major suit I like to get it into the auction as soon as possible.

West’s spade suit is certainly rebiddable.

With opening values and a 4 card heart suit North doubles.

After an intervening double and having support for opener responder should bid 1 level higher than she would without the double.  Why is this?

If you have an 8 card fit then almost certainly they have a fit (about 95% certain).  With the double they have taken the first step in finding that fit; you want to make it as difficult as possible for them,

If responder has zero points then she is definitely on the weaker side.  The weaker side should bid to the level of fit.  Responder with support for opener assumes that they have an 8 card fit.  The level of fit is thus a bid of their suit at the 2 level.

Thus with just 3 Bpts (1 pt) East bids 2S.

South has an awkward bid.  She is strong but does not want to go past 3NT.  I have suggested (without enthusiasm) a bid of 3D.

In the play West’s plan should be to ruff 3 clubs without cashing the CA.  Then that would produce 3 club ruff tricks and the CA later in the play once trumps have been dealt with.

Let’s just quickly run through responder’s bidding options after a take-out double.  I’ll take the example of an opening bid of 1S.

The bidding starts:        1S – X – ?        Responder’s bids:

With 3 card spade support and 0 – 14 Bpts (0 – 9 pts) respond 2S;

With 4 card support and 0 – 8 Bpts (0 – 5 pts) respond 2S;

With 4 card support and 9 – 14 Bpts (6 – 9 pts) respond 3S.

With 4 card support and 15 – 18 Bpts (10 – 12 pts) what is responder going to bid?

There are 3 choices:

Bid a timid 3S;  bid a bold 4S or make a conventional bid of 2NT.

The 2NT bid indicates a hand which would have raised 1S to 3S had there been no intervention.

With game values just bid game.

Finally we’ll look at the E/W hands from Board 34.  East dealt and N/S were vulnerable.

What should East open?

   W                       E                

♠  J8                 ♠  974              

♥  Q9643          ♥  87               

♦  98                 ♦  AKQT643                 

♣  KQ43           ♣  9                 

Did you say 3NT?  This is a text book hand for an opening bid of the gambling 3NT.

What then should West bid?

West can tell from her club holding that East’s suit is diamonds.  She has to look at the other 3 suits; if there is one in which she does not have a stop then she bids clubs at the level she wants to play at.  In this case West is weak and would bid 4C which East would convert to 4D.

However, on this board South was strong and would have entered the bidding and saved West the trouble of bidding.

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We start with Board 44 where only one pair bid the slam.

The auction starts easily enough: 1S and a 2C overcall.  What should East bid?

An immediate bid of 4S usually shows trump support, relatively few high cards (typically 9 – 12 Bhcp or 6 – 8 hcp) and good distribution (a void or singleton).  East is much too strong for this bid.  East knows that game in spades is on but there may be more; a slam.  East needs to go slowly.  So, again, what is East to bid?

East might double to show hearts.  If West then supported hearts East would know that they had a 5/4 fit in spades together with a 4/4 fit in hearts.  Double is a reasonable bid.  Another bid which has the advantage of showing strength is the bid the opponent’s suit.  True, at that moment West would not know of the spade fit but would expect to end up in a game (or higher) contract.

At this point West also has a choice of bids: either 3NT or 3S (to show extra length).  There’s not much between them.  It may be the last chance to get to 3NT if that is the right place but a bid of 3NT would miss any 5/3 fit in spades.  I just prefer the 3S bid.

Whichever West chooses to bid, East can continue with 4D.  This cannot logically be a suggestion that diamonds be trumps because East could have bid diamonds earlier over the 2C overcall.  It is a cue bid showing first round control and agreeing spades by implication.

After West’s cue bid of 4H East bids 5S.  This bid (known as ‘5 of a major’ for some unknown reason) asks partner to bid 6S if she can hold the clubs (the opponent’s suit) to just 1 loser.

Let’s look at another slam hand:  Board 5 where North was the dealer and N/S were vulnerable.

East opens 1D; not quite strong enough for a strong opening bid.

West has a choice of bids, either 3D or a waiting bid of 2C.  3D is the text book response showing 4 card support and 15 – 18 Bpts (10 – 12 pts).  West expects that the final contract will be either a diamond part score or 2NT/3NT.  If it is going to be a No Trump contract then showing club values might make it easier for East to bid No Trumps (which is likely to score better in duplicate).

East’s rebid is a jump to 3NT showing a very strong hand with 26 – 30 Bpts (18 – 20 pts).

The possibility of a slam should now cross West’s mind.  Here Redwood comes into its own: you can ask for key cards at a safe level.

4D asks for key cards.  The 4NT bid shows 2 key cards and the trump queen.  Had the response by East been disappointing then the 4NT could have been passed.  However, with all 5 key cards and the trump queen West opts for the slam.

Tip:  do take the trouble to adopt Redwood.  Your hands will give you the possibility of 12 tricks in clubs and diamonds just as often as in hearts and spades.

Sometimes you need luck.  Board 18 provided me (and one other declarer) with extreme good fortune.

South led the HA to the 8, 2 and .... ?

I played the H7 leaving the 6 and 4 hidden.  I was trying to persuade South that I was short in hearts and that by continuing with the HK dummy’s HQ and HJ would be set up.

So what was my good fortune?

Most pairs at our club play that a small card is encouraging: “Partner, please continue the suit”.  South should believe her partner rather than her opponents.  In that case she would think that North had a doubleton heart and would ruff the 3^rd round.  My luck was that my opponents were playing high/like and low/discourage.  The H2 definitely looked like a request to switch.

South switched, the diamonds were set up and I lost just the three aces.

Had North’s singleton been something like the H9 instead of the H2 then that high heart would have asked for a continuation and the defence would have gone something like:

            HA;  HK;  H5 (suit preference for a diamond) ruffed;  D2 to DA;  heart ruff again:  that is 6 tricks to the defence with the SA still to come.

Yes, fortune smiled.

Results for the duplicate on Tuesday, 18^th November.

The Hands from 18^th November 2014

On Board 1 the contract in 4 cases was 1NT by West.  East’s hand evaluation was lacking.

After 3 passes West has a routine 1NT opening bid.  How do you evaluate East’s hand?

The key is the club suit.  Do you really think it is only worth 8 Bpts (6 pts)?

Long suits are an asset and should figure in your hand evaluation.

In the Bpt system a good 5 card suit is worth an extra 2 Bpts.  In the old work count system you add 1 pt.  This recognition of the worth of a 5 card suit brings the assessment of East’s hand up to strength for an invitational 2NT.

Not one E/W pair reached a game contract yet it really should be routine.

Now let’s take a look at the play of the diamond suit in Board 10 where 3 declarers made 11 tricks in clubs when there should have been only 10 available.

We have all heard ‘cover an honour with an honour’ but why should we do so?

We cover an honour with an honour either because we know it will promote a lower card in our hand or hope it will do so for a lower card in partner’s hand.

If East plays low here then West takes her DQ but declarer will finesse again and East’s king will not take a trick.  Just 1 diamond trick to the defence where there had been 2 losers.

Now consider what happens if East covers the DT with the DK.  Okay, it loses to the ace but now West’s DQ and D9 surround South’s DJ and there are 2 diamond losers.

Sure, East couldn’t know that West held the DQ/D9 but he could see that his king would fall to the second finesse so there was nothing to lose and just maybe something to gain.

Finally, it’s hand evaluation time again.

That’s how the bidding started at my table.

Perhaps North had stretched a bit to respond 2D but South’s rebid of 2NT should be game forcing.  If North reckons her hand to be worth a 2 level response it must be worth a game bid after 2NT.

The first point I’d like to make is that if you stretch a bit in your bidding and partner then makes a forcing bid, then you should live with the consequences of your stretch and find some bid other than pass.

Putting aside the question of 2NT being a game forcing bid, do you think North’s hand is worth a 3NT bid once South has shown a minimum of 22 Bpts (15 pts)?

There are 12 Bhcp (8 hcp) and a 6 card suit.  It comes back again to the evaluation of a long suit.

The way to evaluate a 6 card suit is to first drop the 6^th card, evaluate the resulting 5 card suit and then add 1 Bpt (1pt) for the 6^th card.

So what is AT865 worth?  It is certainly worth 1 Bpt (and almost 1 pt).  Then consider that South has shown values in spades so the SK is probably worth a bit over full value.  Put both of these factors together and you have a cast iron bid of 3NT.

Cheers, Alan

We start with Board 13 where 4 declarers played in a contract of 1S.

North has a 3 loser hand and a 5 card spades suit AND a very good 5 card diamond suit.  That qualifies twice over for an opening of 2C.

North’s rebid is 2S.  East should pass quietly without a flicker.

South has two 5 cards suits so bids the higher ranking.

5D bid and made.

Since the 1950s the Acol 2C opening bid has meant either a hand with 23 or more hcp OR a hand which is so strong that game could well be on even if responder holds less than enough to respond to an opening of a suit at the 1 level.  These days we interpret the second condition as a hand with either a good 5 card or longer major suit and no more than 4 losers or a hand with a very good 5 card or longer minor suit and no more than 3 losers.

The 2C opening bid is not pre-emptive; it requires high cards as well as distribution.  The minimum high card lolding for a 2C opener is 24 Bhcp (16 hcp).

Tip: when you have a strong distributional hand do count your losers.

Board 3 had all sorts of possibilities in the bidding.

South opens 1NT, West passes and North bids 2H as a transfer to spades.

What are East’s options?

East could pass and await developments.

East could double asking partner for a heart lead although the suit quality doesn’t really lend itself to that.

East could bid 3H just to be a nuisance; she does have values and a 6 card suit.

East could bid 2S, her opponent’s suit.  This bid has the same meaning as a take-out double had North made a simple weakness bid of 2S (as he would have done had he not been playing transfers).

So, what is your choice?

Indeed, what is my choice?  I’m not quite sure but here is my thinking.

I’m not keen on the suit quality so I would rule out the double asking for a heart lead.

I know nothing of North’s strength; he may be very weak or have game values.  That rules out the 2S bid which does show strength and could well help declarer in the playoff the hand if we don’t win the contract.

I am going to get another opportunity to bid.  That makes me come down in favour of passing and waiting to see if North has strength.  That’s rather a pity because E/W are vulnerable and can make 11 tricks in hearts but West is never going to imagine East is that strong if she makes no noise at her first opportunity.

It seems that everyone took the same view because all 7 declarers were in spades.

Let me make just one point about the play of the hand.  South is declarer in spades and the opening lead is the CA to the4, 6 and ... ?  What card do you as declarer play?

If you lazily play the C5 then West can see the 2, 3, 4, 5 and so the 6 is low.  Then West can play the C2 (suit preference for diamonds) for East’s CQ to take the trick.  With a diamond return West can then cash her CK to restrict declarer to 7 tricks.  If declarer plays the C8 rather than the C5 then to West it looks as though east started with the 65 in clubs and a switch is needed.

Finally, here is the traveller for Board 8.

The average score (Butler score) is given as +270 for N/S.

Pair 1scores 430, 160 points better than the average.  Their ‘team’ score is +160.

Pair 2 scored 420, 150 points better and their ‘team’ score is +150.

Pairs 3, 9 and 22 all scored 400, their ‘team’ score is +130.

In teams scores falling in the range 130 – 160 all score +4 IMPs.

As you can see from the traveller, all 5 pairs scored exactly the same +4 IMPs.

This emphasises the relative unimportance of overtricks and the need to find the safest contract.  The tactics vary considerably between teams and ordinary (matchpoint) duplicate scoring.

The Hands from 4^th Novemberber 2014

Board 13 looks a straightforward part score hand but there are a couple of points of interest in the bidding.

So what is so unusual or interesting about this bidding?

South’s 2D bid is a transfer to hearts.  As such it is a conventional bid.  The double of a conventional bid is lead directing: it asks partner to lead the suit bid as soon as she has the chance.  West’s double is asking for a diamond lead.

North then bids 2H.  Once West has double South has a second chance to bid.  With a doubleton heart West can pass and let partner bid again if strong.  Therefore, North’s 2H bid promises at least 3 hearts.  Now South, if strong, can compete safe in the knowledge that they do have a fit in hearts.

So there you are, two little wrinkles in what appears at first to be quite an ordinary start to the auction.

Point 1: a double of an artificial bid is lead directing; it is not for take out.

Point 2: if a transfer bid is doubled then opener should pass with only a doubleton in partner’s suit but complete the transfer with 3 or more cards.

Now let’s look at Board 31.

There are a number of things to mention about this bidding.

South’s opening of 2S is routine.

Some might be tempted to bid a Michael’s 3S to show 5/5 in hearts and one of the minors.

Don’t.

The reason follows from a general precept of competitive bidding.

If your opponents have shown weakness then keep all your bids for strong hands (opening values).

If your opponents have shown strength then keep all your bids for weak distributional hands.

Now let’s look at North’s hand.

There is a 9 card spade fit.

It is a 6½ loser hand (counting 2½ losers for the diamond suit).

A weak 2 at the bottom end of the range usually has 8 losers and one at the top end 7 losers.

North would like to bid 3½ spades.

A cautious North would bid 2NT asking South to describe her hand further.  Other Norths would bid 4S straightaway.

I’ve shown the 2NT option.  South shows a hand at the top end of the range but with a moderate trump suit.

Either way the end result is 4S.

Now let’s look at the play on Board 5 when West is playing in some diamond contract.

First let’s consider the play if North leads the DA and follows with a second diamond.

It now looks like there is a club loser to add to whatever there are in diamonds and spades.  But West comes to hand with a club, draws the last trump and overtakes her HK with the HA.  She then discards her losing club on the HQ.  As the HJ falls it is 12 tricks made.

Now let’s assume North’s opening lead is not a trump, say a club.  Seeing all 4 hands West can play the DK (felling the DQ) and again make 12 tricks.  However, at the table it looks more reasonable to play 3 rounds on clubs, ruffing the loser in dummy.  Now East’s last diamond is player and North makes 2 diamond tricks but that is all the defence get. 

Either 11 or 12 tricks should be made whatever the lead but the point to notice is that a vital entry to dummy is overtaking declerer’s HK with the HA.

Team league News

Here are the results to date of the matches played in the club’s teams league.  Captains, please check that the results are correctly entered.

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On Board 22 two N-S pairs finished in 3NT going off whilst the other four pairs were in 4H making.  From South’s point of view, why is 4H the better contract?  In the bidding North shows a long heart suit with at least six hearts.  South has a strong hand but only the singleton ace of hearts.  She should realise that North’s heart suit might be difficult or impossible to establish in no trumps.  It is likely that there will be insufficient entries to dummy if South is playing in no trumps.  Therefore 4H, with at worst a 6-1 trump suit, is likely to play better.  The time to play in no trumps when the weaker hand has a long suit is when the strong suit has at least a trebleton in the suit, as that will take care of the entry problem.  (A similar hand occurred on the very next board, Board 23, when 4H scored better than 3NT, both contracts making exactly.)

On Board 32 West had to decide whether to venture a vulnerable overcall after South’s first round bid.  The key question is, do you want this suit led against a no trump contract?  As the answer is “yes”, I would bid 2C.  This might be doubled and be very costly.  On the other hand most of the time the opponents will bid on.  And a double will usually be taken out.  If West does overcall, North-South might finish in 3NT, although 4H is a more likely final contract.  4H is an easy make, losing two clubs and trump.   How would the play go in 3NT (played by North)?  Without the 2C overcall there might be a diamond lead in which case declarer will make the same ten tricks as in 4H (and therefore get a better score).  But if there is a club lead?  West has no outside entries so she should duck the first trick.  Declarer can then take nine tricks off the top but as soon as she loses a heart trick to East a club will come back and West will take up to five tricks (or, if the top diamonds have been cashed, East will take the queen and jack of diamonds before leading a club).  (The computer says that North can make ten tricks in no trumps, but on a club lead I cannot see how to make more than nine.)

Board 14 provided an example of when it may not be best not to lead partner’s suit.  On the bidding declarer is likely to have two club tricks on a club lead.  No major suit has been bid.  So ignore partner’s club bid and lead a spade.  This sets up four spade tricks for the defence before declarer can start to establish the hearts, so the defence have gained a tempo.  The play of the hearts is also interesting.  If the first heart is led from dummy then West will duck allowing the king to win.  East then covers North’s second heart and, to play the heart suit for only one loser, North (declarer) has to duck on dummy.  This would be obvious as there would be no entry to dummy except the queen of hearts.  But if the first heart is led from the North hand, there will be two heart losers.  This would surely happen if the opening lead had been a club, in which case the defence would come to eight tricks, four spades, two hearts and two clubs.  So as it happens it would have been best to lead partner’s suit after all! 

Cheers, James

The best way to play a suit is well known by expert players.  Let’s just look at one possibility.

You have AJ9 in dummy and 3 small in hand, something like this:

            North    AJ9

            South   542

What is the best way to play this suit to make 2 tricks?

It is only a 25% chance that both the king and queen are with East.  So first assume that exactly one of them is with West.  It is then no use playing a small card from hand and putting in the jack; you expect it to lose.  What you need to do is finesse the ten: lead a small card and play the 9.  If the ten is with West then the 9 forces out whichever of the king and queen is with east.

That’s the theory for you.

Now let’s look at the club suit in Board 4.

                W                      E

            ♣  AJ6              ♣  987             

Does it look familiar?

Does it bear any resemblance to the layout I have just gone through?

We are missing the king, the queen and the ten, just like in the example I have been through above.

So how do you play the suit?

You lead the 7 (or 8 or 9) and if South does not cover you let it run.  You are finessing the ten.

In fact, on this board, the C7 held; South had all three club honours so you couldn’t go wrong.  What I want to point out is that learning by rote how to play suit combinations is not sufficient.  You need to understand why the best play works.  You can then adapt the best play to the many equivalent suit combinations which can occure.

Now let’s have a look at Board 20 where West had a real problem with her rebid.

Looking at the traveller I suspect that virtually all Wests bid 2S.  I can see the temptation but it’s not my choice.

Let’s look at the advantages of agreeing hearts.  First, you know you have a fit rather than hoping for one.

Second, in hearts your short trump suit coupled with the void in clubs will produce extra tricks.  You are unlikely to get extra spade tricks from the East hand.

Are you concerned about the quality of east’s heart suit?  Might she be missing the ace and the king?

If she is then you are losing 2 heart tricks whichever of spades or hearts are trumps so no difference there.

For me, this is definitely a situation to agree hearts.

The most straightforward way to get to 6H is probably for West to jump immediately to 5H.  This bid asks partner to bid the slam with good trumps.  East would bid 6H.

There are just 2 things to watch for in the play.

First, the spades are most likely to split 4/2 with the SJ in the 4 card suit.  To cater for this declarer needs to play 1 top spade and then ruff a spade.  That produces 5 spade tricks once trumps have been drawn.

Second, trumps need to be led from dummy towards the high hearts.

Do these 2 things early in the play and 12 tricks roll in.

Let’s start with Board 7 where bidding the slam should have been straightforward.

Declarer loses 1 heart and makes easily.  What I wanted to look at was the play in the impossible to bid contract of 7D.

Declarer has to get rid of the heart loser.  It doesn’t matter what the opening lead is, declarer then plays 3 rounds of spades, discarding one of North’s hearts.  Then follow the HA, HK and a high ruff.  Now trumps are drawn and the last 2 hearts cashed for 13 tricks.

There was also a slam to bid on Board 2.

Declarer has a heart loser and a diamond loser.

Declarer’s plan is to unblock the CA, draw trumps ending in dummy and cash the CK and CQ discarding 2 diamonds.  The unfortunate club break reveals itself but all is not lost.  Declarer is in dummy and needs 2 entries to the East hand, one to ruff clubs a second time and the second to get to the established clubs.  Declarer will have those entries, what they are depending on the opening lead.  The last 2 little clubs will make the necessary tricks.

I want to finish with Board 11, not so much from the bidding angle but as an exercise in planning the play.

Seeing dummy declarer can plan like this:

If I don’t draw trumps I might be able to ruff 4 diamonds or establish the 5^th diamond..

To get back to my hand I can ruff clubs.

To make sure that my opponents don’t discard hearts and then end up ruffing my HA I’ll cash that early.

That’s the plan.  If it works then there will be 1 diamond and 4 diamond ruffs, 1 heart, 1 club and 3 club ruffs with finally the 2 top spades.  That adds up to 12 tricks.

Once you look at a hand and make a plan in broad terms like that then the play becomes a doddle.

You cash the DA and ruff a diamond.  Cash the HA and the CA.  Ruff a club.

Ruff a diamond and ruff a club.  Lead a diamond and you can always overruff West.

Now STOP AND THINK.  The last diamond has been established as a winner so there is no need to try to ruff it.  Lead dummy’s last trump, playing the SA and then the SK from hand.  With all trumps gone you cash the last diamond: 12 tricks made.

Cheers, Alan

This week it is all about bidding slams.  There were a lot of them about.

We start with Board 5.

In the bidding East’s bid of 3S is a cue bid agreeing hearts and showing a first round control in spades.

Why is that?

If East had 5 spades and wanted to suggest they be trumps she would have responded 2s rather than 2NT to the opening 2C bid.

6H was bid only the once while 12 tricks were made 5 times out of 6.

Board 11 could be a little trickier if N/S are playing a weak 2 in diamonds.

Now consider the E/W bidding if South opens a weak 2D.

A basic principle of competitive bidding is that if your opponents have shown a weak hand then all your bids should show strength.  The converse is that if your opponents have shown strength then all your bids should be on a weak hand.

Taking this guidance on board, West’s overcall of 2S shows a hand with opening values and at least 5 spades.

North now gets into the act by bidding 4D, the level of fit.

Now does East settle for doubling or for looking for their game?

West is unlikely to leave any double in but remove it to 4S.  East will know that if West had had 4 hearts as well as her spades then she would have doubled rather than overcalling 2S so  bidding 4H is out; it would imply a 5 card suit.  The options are 4S or 5C, neither particularly attractive although 4S rates to be better.

All in all, the 2D opening has made bidding the slam much more unlikely.

So, how many E/W pairs bid the slam?  None!

Still on the slam hands we turn to Board 25.

This is probably the easiest way to bid the grand slam.

South’s 2NT bid is the Unusual No Trump (UNT) showing 5/5 in the 2 lowest unbid suits (clubs and diamonds).

North bids her better minor suit.

Most often the UNT bid is weak and pre-emptive and North would expect South to pass.

South bids 3H, her opponent’s suit, and so has a strong hand.

North cue bids 3S to show first round control in spades.

Just to be sure South bids 4D as Redwood and North’s 4H response shows 1 key card.

South goes straight to 7D; 13 tricks are an easy make.

At least 3 of the 6 N/S pairs bid a minor suit slam.

I want to finish off with 2 boards where 7NT was makeable.  In each case one pair bid to 7NT but on both occasions declarer lost concentration and needlessly went down.

If East is left to open there is a little more to the bidding.  I am going to give 2 versions, one on the basis of the old hcp evaluation and the other on the new Bpt system.

In the Bpt system East’s rebid of 3C is game forcing and is being used to determine whether West has a 5 card heart suit.

Once West knows of East’s fit and strength she goes into Blackwood.

In the hcp system East opens 2NT, West transfers to show a 5 card heart suit and then on point count alone jumps to 6H.  With only 2 hearts East would convert to 6NT.

The play is simple.  Missing 5 cards in a suit including the queen the odds favour finessing.  There is only one way to finesse, through East’s AJ5 and as it works 13 tricks roll in.  Unfortunately the only pair who bid to the grand slam only took 12 tricks.

Finally, Board 44.

West’s opening 2C bid is just slightly below the minimum point count usually recommended but it is a 3 loser hand with a 7 card suit.

As soon as dummy appears East knows that the SK has to be with South.  A principle of play is that if a particular card has to be in a certain place for you to succeed then play as though it is there.  Taking this on board East has to plan the play for South’s spade holding being Kx or Kxx.  East has to plan to finesse spades twice.

East has entries enough to her hand.  South has K75 and so declarer makes 7 spade tricks to go with 3 hearts, 2 diamonds and 3 clubs.  It is such a shame that the one declarer in 7NT tried for an extra club trick before tackling spades and so went 2 down.

The bath Coup works like this:

West’s opening lead is a king with a lay out something like

            752

KQ83                T96

            AJ4

On the lead of the K declarer ducks hoping for the suit to be continued.  If West continues the suit then declarer makes 2 tricks.

With this in mind let’s look at Board 27.

Of the 6 declarers who played this board, 5 were in 3NT with 2 not making their contract.

What I want to look at is the play to the first trick on the lead of the HK.

Declarer holds the ace and the jack is in dummy.  Is it time to duck, playing the Bath Coup?

Let’s think how an experienced E/W would play.

As the lead of the HK denies the HA, East can place the ace with declarer.  East can also see the HJ in dummy.  She knows that it is a Bath Coup situation.  East plays a discouraging H9.

A switch by West to a low club to East’s ace and a heart return leaves declarer with only 1 trick in the heart suit and a total of only 8 tricks.

The key element in South’s hand is the HT.  Once declarer takes the opening lead of the HK dummy’s J7 combined with declarer’s T4 provide a sure second heart trick.

This is not a hand to try the Bath Coup.

Only 2 pairs bid the 4S game on Board 38 so let’s look at the bidding.

With a 4441 distribution always open a minor suit, in this case 1C.  The danger of opening 1H or 1S is that your partner will most likely bid your singleton suit.  Now, unless you are strong enough to bid No trumps, your second bid will indicate a 5 card major and possibly you will end up in a major suit game with a 4/3 fit.

On this board North responds 1S.  With minimum opening values South rebids 2S.

North, with a 5 card suit, knows that they have a 5/3 fit at worst.  She does the Losing Trick Count; she has an LTC of 7.  Assuming South has an LTC of 7 for her opening bid this indicates 10 tricks: North bids game.

The play is simple, just one loser in each of the non-trump suits.

On Board 22 you sit North and pick up this moderate hand.

East dealt and after 3 passes it is up to you.  With almost opening values do you bid or do you pass?

I have a very simple rule to guide me.  I count the number of spades in my hand.  If it is less than 4 then I pass.

The reason is this.  Holding 16/17 Bhcp (or 10/11 hcp) after 3 passes it looks like the points are pretty evenly divided.  Therefore, in a competitive situation the side holding spades can bid to 2S quite comfortably.  Their opponents would have to go to the 3 level to outbid them.  2S is the high ground.  If I don’t have spades the odds are that my opponents have them.  If that is so then they are either going to outbid me or force me too high.  Either way I am heading for a poor score.  Therefore, if I don’t have spades then by passing I don’t give them the chance to get into the bidding.

My second criterion is that I must be prepared to pass any response by my partner.  Compare these bidding sequences:

                  A                     B

            1D – 1S                      P

                                    1D – 1S

In sequence A the 1S bid is forcing.  Opener is required to bid again.

In sequence B responder has already passed so the response of 1S is not forcing.

So back to North’s hand on Board 22: although I would be prepared to pass any bid my partner might make after an opening bid of 1C, I don’t have the spades.  I would pass.

The 2 North’s who passed got good scores.

The bath Coup works like this:

West’s opening lead is a king with a lay out something like

            752

KQ83                T96

            AJ4

On the lead of the K declarer ducks hoping for the suit to be continued.  If West continues the suit then declarer makes 2 tricks.

With this in mind let’s look at Board 27.

Of the 6 declarers who played this board, 5 were in 3NT with 2 not making their contract.

What I want to look at is the play to the first trick on the lead of the HK.

Declarer holds the ace and the jack is in dummy.  Is it time to duck, playing the Bath Coup?

Let’s think how an experienced E/W would play.

As the lead of the HK denies the HA, East can place the ace with declarer.  East can also see the HJ in dummy.  She knows that it is a Bath Coup situation.  East plays a discouraging H9.

A switch by West to a low club to East’s ace and a heart return leaves declarer with only 1 trick in the heart suit and a total of only 8 tricks.

The key element in South’s hand is the HT.  Once declarer takes the opening lead of the HK dummy’s J7 combined with declarer’s T4 provide a sure second heart trick.

This is not a hand to try the Bath Coup.

Only 2 pairs bid the 4S game on Board 38 so let’s look at the bidding.

With a 4441 distribution always open a minor suit, in this case 1C.  The danger of opening 1H or 1S is that your partner will most likely bid your singleton suit.  Now, unless you are strong enough to bid No trumps, your second bid will indicate a 5 card major and possibly you will end up in a major suit game with a 4/3 fit.

On this board North responds 1S.  With minimum opening values South rebids 2S.

North, with a 5 card suit, knows that they have a 5/3 fit at worst.  She does the Losing Trick Count; she has an LTC of 7.  Assuming South has an LTC of 7 for her opening bid this indicates 10 tricks: North bids game.

The play is simple, just one loser in each of the non-trump suits.

On Board 22 you sit North and pick up this moderate hand.

East dealt and after 3 passes it is up to you.  With almost opening values do you bid or do you pass?

I have a very simple rule to guide me.  I count the number of spades in my hand.  If it is less than 4 then I pass.

The reason is this.  Holding 16/17 Bhcp (or 10/11 hcp) after 3 passes it looks like the points are pretty evenly divided.  Therefore, in a competitive situation the side holding spades can bid to 2S quite comfortably.  Their opponents would have to go to the 3 level to outbid them.  2S is the high ground.  If I don’t have spades the odds are that my opponents have them.  If that is so then they are either going to outbid me or force me too high.  Either way I am heading for a poor score.  Therefore, if I don’t have spades then by passing I don’t give them the chance to get into the bidding.

My second criterion is that I must be prepared to pass any response by my partner.  Compare these bidding sequences:

                  A                     B

            1D – 1S                      P

                                    1D – 1S

In sequence A the 1S bid is forcing.  Opener is required to bid again.

In sequence B responder has already passed so the response of 1S is not forcing.

So back to North’s hand on Board 22: although I would be prepared to pass any bid my partner might make after an opening bid of 1C, I don’t have the spades.  I would pass.

The 2 North’s who passed got good scores.

Immediately after the end of the session I was accosted about how to bid the slam on Board 22.  It all hinges on the opening bid.  As a guide I suggest not opening 2C on less than 24 Bhcp (16 hcp) but that is a guide.  Here East could imagine Kxx and a bust in partner’s hand and that would still make game a good shot.  On that basis 2C is the better opening bid.

West’s response to 2C is 2NT.  Don’t ever let the thought of bidding such a bad 5 card minor suit cross your mind.

East bids her hearts and West shows heart support by bidding game.  Had West’s hand held either minor suit ace then she should have cue bid either 4C or 4D.

East’s hand is worth a try opposite a positive response to 2C: she cue bids showing the ace of spades.

West cue bids in clubs.  In theory this is bidding second round control as she should have bid 4C earlier if she had held the CA.  Putting that to one side for the moment, once partner has shown a very strong hand then cue bid either 1^st or 2^nd round controls.

East bids the slam.

In passing, note that if East opens 1H then South should overcall 2D.

In the play East draws trumps and then plays SA and SQ.  The SJ and ST fall promoting the S9 into a trick.  East makes 4 spades, 6 hearts, 1 club and 1 club ruff.

Now let’s turn to Board 3 where the key element is the club suit.

After 1C and a 1S overcall South with 9 – 14 Bpts (6 – 9 pts) bids 1NT; she has the required spade stop.

North shows the strength of her hand by bidding 2NT.

Using Bpts South is worth a raise to game, using pts she is not.

There are too many variables in the play to go into detail but the club suit is critical.

South should reckon on 5 tricks in clubs.  When in hand, she plays the C8.  If West plays low and declarer lets it run expecting to lose to one of the missing honours.  When it holds clubs are played again to give 6 club tricks.

If West covers the C8 with an honour then the trick is taken in dummy and South, when in hand again, repeats the finesse.

The 6 club tricks leaves only 3 more needed, and there should be one in each suit.

Now I’d like a small comment on the spade suit.  After the overcall a spade will be the opening lead.  It should be the ST.

If East lets it run then South takes the trick and, since she will be finessing into East, the Q5 of spades is a sufficient stop.

I’d like to finish off by going into the fantasy world of Board 31.

The first question is whether South’s hand is worth an opening bid.  There are 16 Bhcp (10 hcp).  The good 5 card heart suit is worth 2 Bpts (1 pt) giving 18 Bpts (11 pts).

The next question is whether any response from partner might be awkward.  There is a rebid of 2C if available but what if partner responds 2D?  The heart suit is good enough to be rebiddable so that is fine as well.  An opening of 1H is certainly reasonable.

After the opening of 1H West comes in with a weak jump overcall of 3D (certainly worthwhile at this vulnerability).

North is too strong for anything other than a double.

South shows a minimum opening by bidding 3H.

North pretends to have heart support and asks for key cards and gets the response of 2 without the HQ.

The D9 is led and dummy goes down.  The D9 is obviously a singleton so the diamond finesse will succeed.  The DQ takes the first trick, leaving the D5 for a later finesse

A spade is led; the finesse works – phew.

The HA played and the heart finesse taken; that works also – phew.

The HK played; the hearts break 3/3 with the queen right – phew.

Another spade is played and the SK captured.

Cross to the CA and take the marked diamond finesse.

Declarer makes 3 spades, 5 hearts, 4 diamonds and 1 club for 6NT + 1.

What are the chances of that happening?

The spade finesse has to work so we are down to 50% immediately.

The diamond finesse has to work as well so that brings it down to 25%.

For the hearts to divide 3/3 with the queen right is 18%.  That brings the overall chance of making 13 tricks down to about 5%.  It will happen about one time in twenty and this was that one time.

Cheers, Alan

There was more than the usual number of part score hands this week.  They can be a challenge to bid; it can be difficult to know when to stop and when to compete.  Also, because there are often differing options on the play it can be demanding to decide at the outset which is the best line to take.  This variability also makes it hard to summarise such hands in a short paragraph or two.

I’ll start with a bidding option from Board 6.

East dealt and E/W were vulnerable.  As West, you hold:

East and South both pass.  Do you bid anything?

West knows that 3 hands are pretty weak which leaves North with the strength.  Also, it looks as though North has spades.  The purpose of pre-empting is to make it as difficult as possible for your opponents when they have the strength.

What are the dangers in opening 3C?

If it is a part score hand then 2 off (-200) is a disaster.  If N/S have game then 2 off is good.

What are the dangers of being doubled?

If West opens 3C and North doubles then that double is asking South to bid.  For West to end up in 3C doubled then South would have to pass, converting the take-out double into a penalty double.

All in all, even with this vulnerability, I would open 3C.

Would it have worked out well?

With the actual deal North should double and South respond 3S.  It was a part score board and the limit for N/S was 8 tricks in spades.  The 3C bid rates to have converted a score of minus 110 for E/W into one of plus 50.

Now let’s turn to Board 13 where I would have expected every declarer to be in spades and 12 tricks to be the norm.

North’s second bid of 2D is because she is not strong enough to reverse into 2H; 24 Bpts (16 pts) are required for that.

South knows that they have game values and so bids her second suit; a game forcing 3C.  By bidding a second suit South is showing an unbalanced hand with at least 5 spades.

Knowing of the 5/3 fit North bids the spade game.

It is not obvious that South should bid on.  She has a 6 loser hand and so could well continue with a 4NT enquiry.  A contract of 6 spades is not out of the question but it is aggressive.  No pair bid the slam and that is fair enough.

The main thing I want to emphasise is the play.

As soon as dummy goes down the bright neon lights in South’s head should light up blazing the message “ROUGH IN DUMMY”.

It does not matter what was the opening lead but the one most likely to cause problems is a trump.

South wins in hand and immediately leads a club.

West wins and leads another trump.  South wins in hand and ruffs a club with dummy’s last trump.

South makes 5 spades, 2 diamonds, a club ruff and 4 hearts courtesy of the 3/3 split.

No declarer in spades (or hearts) made 12 tricks.  I find that very disappointing.

Next let’s have a quick look at the play on Board 25.

South opens 1D.  You need a 3 loser hand to open 2C when it is a minor suit.

West makes a weak jump overcall of 2S.

North doubles to show hearts.

East raises to the level of fit, bidding 3S.

South then shows her second suit and her strength by continuing at the 4 level.

North, with good values jumps to the diamond game which South converts to 6D.

On the likely lead of the SQ South realises that the club finesse has to work.

She takes the trick and leads a club, no point in delaying.

South returns to dummy with the DJ, noting the fall of the DT.  The D9 is now an entry if needed.

The finesse is repeated, trumps drawn and 12 tricks made.

Nobody bid the slam and I am not surprised; not easy to do.  There were 3 declarers in diamond contracts and at least 2 of them made the 12 tricks available.

How often do you get 3 boards on the trot each of which had an easy 12 or 13 tricks? 

N/S were in this position when they played Boards 7, 8 and 9.  Were they lucky?

First, let me ask you; how do you feel when you bid game and then make an easy 12 tricks?  Do you feel happy to have made 2 overtricks or disappointed that you missed bidding the slam?

Of the 21 times N/S bid these hands slam was bid only 4 times, each time on Board 7.

I suspect there were quite a few disappointed N/S pairs after they had finished that round.

On each of the hands the play was straightforward; it was the bidding which was difficult so I’ll just look at that aspect of the boards.

First, Board 7

As soon as South opens North should be thinking about a slam contract but even so a bid of 1S is sufficient.

South has 22 Bpts (20 Bhcp plus 2 Bpts for the good 5 card diamond suit).  She is very close to having the values to reverse into 2H at her second bid: there are many distributions which will give 5 diamond tricks, the SQ is full value opposite a response of 1S and there is reasonable stuffing (9s, 8s and 7s).

It is North’s second bid which is critical.  The 4D bid is voluntary; it is not forced in any way.  It is Redwood asking how many key cards (aces) South holds.

The replies are: 4H = 1 or 4 key cards; 4S = 3 or 0 key cards; 4N = 2 key cards without the queen of trumps (DQ); 5C = 2 key cards with the queen of trumps.

Knowing of South’s long diamond suit headed by the AKQ makes it easy for North to bid 6NT.

There is not much to the play.  Off top there are 3 spades, 1 heart, 5 diamonds and 3 clubs.  Just make sure you take the SQ early.

I would like to make a comment about Redwood.  Half the hands where 12 tricks are available if the right suit is trumps are when that suit is either clubs or diamonds.  The contracts 6C and 6D are much more difficult to bid than 6H or 6S.  Therefore slams in the minor suits are missed time and time again.  The stronger pairs at the club really ought to make the effort to absorb Redwood into their slam bidding.

Now for Board 8

North is just worth an opening bid of 1D.

East is too strong for a weak jump overcall so bids 1H.

South jumps to 4C, a cue bid agreeing diamonds, showing first round control in clubs and suggesting slam interest.

West bids 4H, the level of fit assuming East has a 5 card heart suit.

North cue bids a first round control in spades.

South jumps to 6D.

If E/W sacrifice in 6H then South is likely to bid 7D.  E/W won’t be happy because there are an easy 13 tricks

North makes 1 spade, 1 heart (discarding a spade from South), 5 diamonds, 5 clubs (discarding 3 spades from North) and a spade ruff.

Note: in 6NT there are 10 tricks in the minor suits and 2 major suit aces.

Now for Board 9 (for reasons I won’t go into I played this board in 2D as North making 9 tricks).

This is certainly the hardest of the 3 boards to bid.

North is not worth an opening bid (I certainly didn’t open).

North’s 2D bid is 4^th suit forcing, asking South for more information about her hand.

South’s 2NT showed a little something in diamonds but nothing extra in strength.

North’s 3C bid is interesting.  Why go to the trouble of making the 4^th suit bid of 2D if you are going to bid 3C anyway?  The answer is to show extra strength, a hand too strong to have bid 3C earlier (in clubs it is a 7 loser hand).

4C = Redwood – again.

The replies are: 4D = 1 or 4 key cards; 4H = 3 or 0 key cards; 4S = 2 key cards without the queen of trumps (CQ); 4N = 2 key cards with the queen of trumps.

South plumps for 6C.

Did I imply earlier that the play in all the 3 boards was straightforward?  I’m sorry.  This is a little more difficult to play.  The plan is to ruff 3 spades in dummy to give 4 tricks there.  There are 5 club tricks and 1 heart.  That leaves the diamonds.  By finessing twice from the North hand you will lose 2 tricks only if West holds both the DK and the DQ (and that is only a 25% chance).  So with a 75% likelihood, by finessing twice you make 2 diamond tricks.  That’s your 12 tricks.

Team news

Here are the details of the 8 teams entered into this year’s league.

                                                      2014/2015 Teams

I’m surprised that no one bid the slam on Board 20.

Although West has only 17 Bhcp (11 hcp) she has a 4 loser hand and great playing strength.  She needs very little from partner to make game a good prospect.  For example, give East the CA and 3 card support in one of the majors and you would want to be in game.  However, with only 5 Bhcp (4 hcp) East would pass an opening bid of 1H.  This is why the West hand is worth an opening of 2C.

East’s second bid (3S) is not suggesting spades as a trump suit.  If she had had a long spade suit she would have bid 2S at her first turn to bid.  The 3S bid is a cue bid; it agrees hearts as trumps (West would not bid hearts unless she had at least 5 of them) and indicates the SA.

West’s third bid (4D) is also a cue bid showing first round control but in this case it is a void: any diamond lead can be ruffed.

East’s 5C bid is (you’ve guessed it) a cue bid showing the CA.

West now happily bids 6H.  Even if it turns out that East does not have either the HK or the SQ then the slam depends on just one of the two finesses succeeding and the odds on that are 75%.

Now for a little question on card play.  As East you are dealt:

♠  K5                            South opened 1NT.

♥  T98                          North responded 3NT.

♦  T8752                       Your partner’s opening lead is SQ.

♣  732                          Dummy has 2 small spades and one of them is played.

                                    What do you play, and why?

To see what and why let’s look at Board 15.

First let’s see what happens if East plays an encouraging S5.

West continues with a spade and East wins the trick and is on lead.  Whatever he heads, South wins and takes the next 11 tricks: 2 hearts, 4 diamonds and 5 clubs.  The result is plus 2 to N/S.

Now let’s see what develops if East overtakes the SQ with the SK.  She leads back the S5 and E/W take the first 5 tricks.  The result is minus 1 to N/S.

The point is that West has led what East can deduce is their side’s strong suit.  East, being short, has to get her high cards out of the way so that West can run the suit.  This is called unblocking.

Now let’s consider East’s play if dummy had been a little different; in particular if dummy had held A3 doubleton in spades.  If the ace had been played what then should East have played?

Just the same; she must unblock the suit.  East should play the SK under the SA.  Then no matter which defender gets the lead next, the rest of the spades can be cashed.

Sometimes your partner opens 2C and you are so strong yourself that you are sure the 2C bid must have been on the basis of distribution.  Board 30 is an example.