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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the January 2018 duplicates
1 Elementary Grand Slam
Board 3 Thursday 11 January – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
|
x
Qxxx
Qxxx
xxxx
|
|
KQxx
AKxx
x
AKJx
|
|
AJ109xx
10xx
Axx
x
|
|
xx
Jx
KJ10xx
Q10xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
4 Diamonds
5 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
3 Diamonds
4NT
7 Spades
|
Only one pair out of eight managed to reach what is really a very easy Grand Slam to bid.
After East responds 1 Spade to the West’s opening 1 Club bid West should make a mini-splinter of 3 Diamonds. As previously explained in June 2015 Tip No 1 this shows the values for at least 3 Spades with a singleton in Diamonds. East how cue-bids 4 Diamonds which shows the Ace as there would be little point in cue-bidding the King opposite shortage. Now West can bid RKCB. East responds 5 Spades to the RCKB bid. This is not a misprint. When you know that the partnership possesses a 10 card trump fit you respond to Keycard as if you have the Queen of trumps. West can now count 13 tricks as long as East has three cards in Diamonds (six Spades, two Clubs, two Hearts, the Ace of Diamonds and two Diamond ruffs). Only if East had started off with precisely Ax of Diamonds would West need either the Club finesse or for East to have the Queen of Clubs or the Queen of Hearts.
2 Minor suit game missed
Board 19 Monday 15 January – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
|
10xx
AK109xx
Qxx
J
|
|
A98xx
x
Ax
AQ98x
|
|
x
Jxx
KJxxx
Kxxx
|
|
KQJx
Qxx
10xx
10xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Hearts
Pass
|
Double
Pass
|
Pass
3 Hearts
Pass
|
1 Spade
5 Clubs
|
Only one pair out of eleven managed to reach the excellent 5 Club contract on this hand.
After a 2 Heart overcall from North East has a perfect hand to make a negative double which implies at least four cards in each minor suit and approximately 8 plus points. When South raises to 3 Hearts it would be very timid for West to only bid 4 Clubs with a very attractive 5-5 distribution, three Aces and only five losers. Accordingly he should jump to 5 Clubs.
While it is possible to make 12 tricks in Clubs by finessing in Diamonds it is safest to play the hand on a cross ruff and make just 11 tricks for +600 to East West.
3 Poor Judgment by East
Board 19 Monday 22 January – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
|
QJx
Q98xxxx
x
J9
|
|
10x
KJx
KJ9xxxx
x
|
|
Axxxxx
Ax
AQ10x
x
|
|
Kx
10
x
AKQ10xxxxx
|
|
This hand caught my eye because at eight of the twelve tables East showed extremely poor judgment by choosing to defend 5 Clubs instead of bidding 5 Diamonds.
South should open just 1 Club because if he opens 5 Clubs first or second in hand there is too great a risk of missing a slam. West does best to make a weak jump overcall of 2 Diamonds. While he does have a seven card suit the Red vulnerability makes the suit quality too poor to jump to the three level. North passes and the spotlight turns to East. First of all there is a high likelihood that West has a seven card Diamond suit given that East has AQ10x in support and the vulnerability is red. Secondly whenever West has a singleton Spade it is almost certain that the Spades can be established in a 5 Diamond contract. Thirdly if West has either rounded King (Hearts or Clubs then 5 Diamonds is almost certain to make). This is because if West has the King of Clubs then on a Club lead the King will immediately become established to deal with any possible Heart loser. Finally if for instance West’s Hearts were originally Qxx then on a Club lead to South if the King of Hearts is in the South hand the defence will not be able to attack Hearts before the Spades are established.
Had the eight East pairs correctly judged to bid 5 Diamonds then South would need to bid 6 Clubs which East would of course double and take the absolute par of +300 to East West.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the February 2018 duplicates
1 Spotlight on North and West
Board 4 Monday 19 February – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
AKQ10xxxx
AJ9
AQ
None
|
|
x
10xxxxx
10
J10xxx
|
|
xxx
x
KJx
AKxxxx
|
|
J
KQx
xxxxxxx
Qx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Clubs
6 Spades
Pass
Pass
|
3 Clubs
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Double
|
Pass
5 Clubs
7 Clubs
Pass
|
This hand caught my eye for two reasons.
The first reason it caught my eye is that only one East West pair out of eight judged correctly to sacrifice in 7 Clubs against 6 Spades by North South.
The above is what I consider to be a sensible auction. When North having opened 2 Clubs finds that the bidding is at the five level he has a choice between bidding 5 Spades and 6 Spades. The reason why 6 Spades is a practical choice is because if South has as little as Q10xxx in Hearts then the Spade slam is almost certain to make. If this were the case and North bid only 5 Spades then South would hardly find a raise to the six level on such a hand. When 6 Spades comes back to West it is fairly clear to sacrifice. This is because North’s bidding strongly suggests a void in Clubs and in addition West knows that it is impossible for the cost of the sacrifice to be greater than the score from 6 Spades making. In other words the target is only eight tricks in 7 Clubs Doubled. A further point of interest is that against 7 Clubs Doubled after North cashes his three Aces that he should then lead a low Spade at trick four which promotes South’s Queen of Clubs into a fourth defensive trick and a score of +1100 to North South.
The second reason it caught my eye is that for the seven pairs who played in Spades they all made only 12 tricks. You might think that with the Diamond finesse wrong that North has to lose to the King of Diamonds but that is not the case. After ruffing the opening lead of the Ace of Clubs North should draw trumps and then play out every remaining Spade discarding six of the seven Diamonds in the Dummy. Now at trick nine Declarer cashes the Ace of Hearts and continues with Hearts at tricks ten and eleven. The last Heart forces East to bare his King of Diamonds because the Queen of Clubs in the Dummy is a threat. Now at trick twelve Declarer plays a Diamond to the Ace dropping the King from East making all thirteen tricks. The bidding makes it a near certainty that East has the King of Diamonds because he has made an overcall at Amber at the three level which is most unlikely on just AKxxxx and a bust.
2 Minor suit game missed
Board 26 Monday 19 February – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
KQJ9
AJ9xx
None
K10xx
|
|
xx
KQxx
AKxxx
Jx
|
|
xxxx
xx
QJ10xx
xx
|
|
A10x
xx
xxx
AQxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Heart
3 Diamonds
5 Clubs
|
Pass
2 Diamonds
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
Double
4 Clubs
|
1 Diamond
Pass
Pass
|
Only one pair out of eight managed to reach the laydown 5 Club contract on this hand. (In fact a small slam in Clubs is available but that is very tough to bid).
When East raises West’s opening bid in Diamonds the best bid for South to make is Double. This implies that he has values in the unbid suits and almost certainly denies three cards in Hearts. The spotlight now turns to North. What should he say after the value showing Double? Although North has only 14 points his hand has improved dramatically. It is almost certain that game is available in one of the black suits. If for instance South has as little as ♠A10xx♥xx♦Qxx♣QJxx then four Spades is a near certainty to make while if South has ♠Axx♥xx♦Qxx♣QJxxx then 5 Clubs is unbeatable. Accordingly North should cuebid 3 Diamonds. This conveys the message “we are going to game partner but the strain is not yet known”. South bids 4 Clubs which suggests that he has 5 or 6 Clubs but only 3 Spades since he would bid Spades in preference if he held 4 Spades. North then goes to game in Clubs. Indeed if North were feeling super optimistic he might even repeat cuebid with 4 Diamonds which might lead to the unbreakable 6 Club contract being reached.
3 14 top tricks
Board 16 Thursday 22 February – Vulnerability East West – Dealer West
|
xxx
K109xxx
Kx
xx
|
|
AQJxxx
Jx
AJ
Kxx
|
|
Kx
A
xxxx
AQJxxx
|
|
10x
Qxxx
Q10xxx
10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
4 Clubs
4 Hearts
5 Diamonds
7 Clubs
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
3 Spades
4 Diamonds
4NT
6 Clubs
7NT
|
The East West bidding on this hand was truly woeful. At the eleven tables only two tables managed to reach 6 Spades and not a single one managed to get to a Grand Slam which has 14 top tricks.
West jumps to 3 Spades over 2 Clubs which is game forcing after a two level response and promises a minimum of six Spades. It would be very lazy for East to just raise to game in Spades as he knows that a slam is quite likely and so continues with 4 Clubs as a cuebid agreeing Spades. West now cuebids 4 Diamonds and East cuebids 4 Hearts. Roman Keycard Blackwood is now wheeled out. East’s response of 5 Diamonds can only be showing 3 keycards since it is not possible for him to have zero given his earlier cuebid. At this point West knowing that all the keycards are now present is now only concerned with the quality of East’s Clubs. Accordingly he cuebids 6 Clubs to ask “have you got third round Club control (the Queen). East confirms that he has by bidding 7 Clubs and West can thus count a minimum of 13 tricks (14 actually with East’s sixth Club).
It is true that at a couple of tables North may have made a Weak Jump Overcall of 3 Hearts given the favourable Green Vulnerability. While this would make it difficult for East West to bid a Grand Slam there is absolutely no excuse for their missing a Small Slam.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the March 2018 duplicates
1 Moysian fit is the best game
Board 14 Thursday 8 March – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
|
xxx
Axx
Jxx
xxxx
|
|
KQJx
Qx
KQ9x
AQ9
|
|
A10x
xx
A10xxx
Jxx
|
|
xxx
KJ10xxx
x
K10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Diamonds
3 Spades
Pass
|
2 Hearts
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Double
3 Hearts
4 Spades
|
As previously noted in Tip No 1 January 2013 The term Moysian fit means playing in a 4-3 trump fit. It is named after the American Alphonse Moyse Jr (1898 – 1973) who was said to love playing in 4-3 fits often at the game level.
Only two pairs out of ten managed to reach 4 Spades. After South opens a weak two in Hearts West doubles and East bids 3 Diamonds. This shows 8 to 11 points and denies a four card major. If East held fewer than 8 points with Diamonds he would start off with a Lebensohl 2NT bid. West now expects game to be on with 19 points opposite East’s positive bid and accordingly bids 3 Hearts which generally asks partner if he has a stop in Hearts. East has no Heart stop but he does have three good Spades and so bids 3 Spades. West is delighted to raise to game in Spades. Even though this is only a seven card trump fit as long as Spades do not split worse than 4-2 it is certain to make and indeed makes an overtrick when the Club finesse is working. Refer also to Tip No 1 October 2013 for further clarification of how Lebensohl works.
2 Minor suit game missed
Board 4 Monday 12 March – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
QJxx
AKJxxx
x
Kx
|
|
A10xxx
Q
QJ9x
A10x
|
|
None
10xxx
AKxxx
QJxx
|
|
K9xx
xx
10xx
xxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Hearts
Pass
Pass
|
Double
4 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
3 Diamonds
5 Diamonds
|
Only two pairs out of twelve managed to reach the laydown 5 Diamond contract on this hand.
East has a routine takeout Double of North’s 2 Heart overcall and West is happy to bid 3 Diamonds. East should not pass 3 Diamonds. He has a fifth trump, no wasted honours in Hearts and only 6 losers on the Losing Trick Count. Accordingly he should raise to 4 Diamonds. West is delighted to then go to game because he has a singleton Heart, two Aces and four good trumps.
Assuming that North starts off with two rounds of Hearts the safest way to make 11 tricks is as follows. Ruff the second Heart. Queen of Diamonds wins followed by nine of Diamonds to the King. Ruff a third round of Hearts, discard Dummy’s fourth Heart on the Ace of Spades. Now ruff a Spade, draw the last trump which still leaves a trump in the Dummy and play a low Club to the Ace at trick nine and the 10 of Clubs to the King at trick ten. If you do not play the cards in this order there is a danger of South’s 10 of Diamonds being promoted.
3 Rectifying the count followed by positional squeeze against North
Board 13 Monday 26 March – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer North
|
xx
Jxx
Jxxx
QJxx
|
|
KQxx
AKx
Kxx
Kxx
|
|
Ax
Q10x
AQxx
Axxx
|
|
J1098x
xxxx
109
109
|
|
A nice brief auction. East opens 1NT and West goes directly to 6NT. Opening lead Jack of Spades.
However despite a combined point count of 34 HCPs there are only eleven top tricks and only one declarer out of eight managed to make 6NT.
The Golden Rule in such situations where you only have eleven top tricks is to give up a trick in a suit in which you are certain to lose a trick in order to create a situation where one or both of the defenders may have too much to look after towards the end of the hand. Such a process is called Rectifying the Count. Here Clubs is the suit in which a trick should be lost immediately. Accordingly after winning the Ace of Spades at trick one Declarer plays a Club at trick two and allows South to win the trick with the 9. South continues with Spades at trick three. At tricks four and five Declarer continues with King and Ace of Clubs discovering that North still has a Club winner. The Ace and King of Diamonds are cashed at tricks six and seven followed by three rounds of Hearts from tricks eight to ten. At trick eleven we have reached:-
|
None
None
Jx
Q
|
|
Qx
None
x
None
|
|
None
None
Qx
x
|
|
109
x
None
None
|
|
The Queen of Spades is now played from the Dummy. North is forced to concede the twelfth trick. Knowing that Declarer still has a small Club he discards a Diamond. East now throws his Club and makes the last two tricks in Diamonds.
This is a positional squeeze and only works because East is discarding after North at trick eleven. If the North and South hands were reversed (with North holding length in Spades) the squeeze would not work because South can discard after East plays at trick eleven.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the April 2018 duplicates
1 Slam only biddable with Kokish
Board 8 Thursday 12 April – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
Q9xxx
Kxx
xx
xxx
|
|
10xx
Jxx
Qxxx
Kxx
|
|
None
10xxxx
J109x
QJ10x
|
|
AKJxx
AQ
AKx
Axx
|
|
Playing traditional methods there would be no way to reach 6 Spades on the above hand. South would open 2 Clubs, North would respond 2 Diamonds and South would jump to 3NT showing 25 to 27 points. This would end the auction.
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
2 Diamonds
2 Spades
3 Hearts
3 NT
4 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
2 Hearts
2 NT
3 Spades
4 Clubs
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
We have previously seen in September 2014 Tip No 2 and January 2015 Tip No 1 how the Kokish relay allows very powerful balanced hands to be bid. The problem with jumping to 3NT to show 25 to 27 points is that it makes life very difficult for responder if he has modest values which cannot be described at the four level.
The Kokish Relay was invented by the Canadian International, Eric Kokish. After the bidding starts 2C – 2D then a rebid of 2H by the opener is artificial and requests that the responder bids 2S. After this start a 2NT rebid by opener shows 25+ points (no maximum) and is game forcing even if responder has zero points. The principle is that with a huge balanced hand worthy of game, opener does not have to eat up bidding space by jumping to 3NT. He can Puppet to 2S (via 2H) and then bid 2NT. Responder can use Stayman and Transfers in the usual way after the Kokish relay.
Here after opener finally rebids 2NT responder shows a five card Spade suit by bidding 3 Hearts. As we are in a game forcing situation there is no need for South to jump in Spades so he simply contents himself by carrying out the transfer request. North now rebids 3NT showing that he is balanced or semi-balanced. South now bids 4 Clubs. The message this conveys is that South has at least three good Spades and is highly suitable for slam. North now cuebids 4 Hearts showing the King of Hearts. South can now count 12 tricks in Spades because as long as the King of Hearts is in a three card holding it does not matter in which minor suit North has a doubleton as the King of Hearts will provide a parking space for one of South’s minor suit losers. In other words if North has a doubleton Club then we will discard the Diamond loser on the King of Hearts. If North has a doubleton Diamond then we will discard a Club loser on the King of Hearts. Note that as North South are known to have a 10 card Spade fit that there is no need to ask for the Queen of trumps since the odds of a 2-1 split are 78% and as we have the Jack of Spades the odds of bring in the suit with the Queen of Spades missing rises to 89% when Qxx in the East hand can be easily picked up.
2 25 point slam universally missed
Board 26 Wednesday 25 April – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
Kx
xx
Axxx
Axxxx
|
|
Jxx
Axxx
Q9xx
Qx
|
|
Q10x
J109xx
K10xx
x
|
|
Axxxx
KQ
J
KJ10xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Clubs
4NT
6 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
3 Diamonds
5 Spades1
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Responds to RKCB as if he has the Queen of trumps because he knows that the side possess a 10 card fit.
None of the seven North South pairs managed to reach the excellent 6 Club contract. As we so often see on low point count slam hands the key to getting to slam is through the use of a Splinter bid which at one go gets across the singleton and excellent trump support.
Although South only has 13 working points (ignoring the Jack of Diamonds) his huge support for Clubs warrants him making a splinter bid of 3 Diamonds when North bids 2 Clubs. Now the focus shifts to North. While North has “only” 11 points the splinter bid has dramatically increased the potential of his hand. A Diamond holding of Axxx opposite a singleton is ideal for slam and equally crucially he has the golden King of Spades opposite a five card suit in the South hand. Accordingly he goes straight to RKCB. Note that North does not need to worry about there being two losers in Hearts because as a general rule when the opener makes a splinter bid in the third suit he promises high cards in the fourth suit.
I will try and quantify the odds of 6 Clubs making. It always makes when Clubs break 2-1 (78 per cent). When Clubs are 3-nil (22%) on half of the occasions you will guess wrong which way to play the Clubs. In addition when Clubs break 3-0 you will in practice need Spades to break no worse than 4-2 (84 per cent). Thus the total odds of 6 Clubs making are:-
78% plus 11% x 0.84 = 78% plus 9% = 87%
3 North South go back to school
Board 2 Thursday 25 April – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
|
xx
AJx
QJ9xx
xxx
|
|
QJ109x
109xx
xx
108
|
|
Kxxx
Qx
K
KJ9xxx
|
|
Ax
Kxxx
A10xxx
AQ
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Clubs
2 NT1
Pass
|
1 Club
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 NT
2 Hearts
3 NT
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Denying four Spades
Only one of the nine North South pairs managed to reach game on this hand which is truly woeful and the other eight North South pairs should hang their heads in shame.
When East opens 1 Club South has a routine overcall of 1NT despite his shape being semi-balanced. 1NT shows 16 to 18 points ideally with a double Club stop. What better description could there be of the South hand. At teams North should go straight to game. At pairs he might err on the side of caution by using Non-promissory Stayman to invite game. South is delighted to accept the invitation with 17 points, a double stop in Clubs and a five card suit.
In the play assuming the lead of the Queen of Spades you should win the second round of Spades and cross to dummy by playing a low Heart to the Ace. Then lead the Queen of Diamonds. When the finesse is successful you now have nine tricks on top. You then cash the King of Hearts dropping the Queen for 10 tricks and run the rest of the Diamonds before safely finessing the Club at trick eleven making two overtricks for +660. (It is impossible for the Club finesse to not be working in view of the opening 1 Club from East.)
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the May 2018 duplicates
1 West or East for Keycard?
Board 10 Wednesday 9 May – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
x
QJxx
J10xxx
Jxx
|
|
Kxx
A109x
Axx
Axx
|
|
AQx
x
KQx
KQxxxx
|
|
J10xxxx
Kxxx
xx
10
|
|
It ought to be relatively straightforward for East West to reach a Small slam on this hand although astonishingly only three out of eight pairs managed to do so. However none of the eight pairs managed to reach the laydown Grand slam. I believe that this was because the wrong hand used keycard.
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
3 Clubs
4 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
4 Clubs
?
|
After East makes an automatic jump to 3 Clubs with his 16 points and strong six card suit several Wests appear to have made the underbid of the year by signing off in 3NT. Holding three Aces and a King a Small slam is almost underwritten opposite a jump rebid. Accordingly West should raise Clubs which is forcing. East should now cuebid 4 Diamonds. At this point I believe that the three Wests who managed to reach the Small slam then used keycard. Although all the keycards were present West could not be certain that there were more than 12 tricks available and so had to sign off in 6NT. The reason why West was wrong to use keycard is that by so doing he then has to guess what his partner holds in terms of side suit Queens. If on the other hand West lets East do the asking then all of West’s 15 points can be shown in the responses to keycard. The bidding continues:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
3 Clubs
4 Diamonds
4NT
5NT
7NT
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
4 Clubs
4 Hearts
5 Diamonds
6 Spades
Pass
|
West shows three keycards in response to RKCB. East’s 5NT bid confirms that all the keycards are present and asks West to show any side suit King or to bid 7 Clubs with a strong side suit. West owns up to the King of Spades and East can now count thirteen tricks.
2 Bidding lesson for South
Board 17 Wednesday 9 May – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
Kxx
Qxx
109x
AJxx
|
|
J10xx
KJ10xx
x
Qxx
|
|
Qx
A9xxx
Kxx
Kxx
|
|
Axxx
None
AQJxxx
109x
|
|
From an examination of the scores on this board it is clear to me that none of the eight Souths who held this hand had an understanding of the correct way in which their assets should be shown.
After East opens 1 Heart South has to decide whether to overcall in Diamonds or to make a takeout double. The correct call is to overcall 2 Diamonds. This is because with such a low point count South cannot Double and then bid Diamonds if North bids Clubs. After South overcalls it is practical for West to jump straight to game in Hearts. This is automatic for those playing five card majors and even for those playing four card majors it seems the sensible choice not vulnerable with the singleton Diamond. When 4 Hearts comes back to South he has the perfect hand to double. THIS IS NOT A PENALTY DOUBLE. Rather it implies that in addition to the six card Diamond suit already shown that South has a very attractive hand on which to compete further with tolerance for both the unbid suits. The most likely shapes for South to make such a bid are 3=1=6=3 or 4=0=6=3 or 4=1=6=2.
For instance if we give North ♠Kx♥xxx♦xx♣KQJxxx then he can bid 5 Clubs which is certain to make. If instead we give North ♠QJ10xx♥xxx♦xx♣Axx then he can bid 4 Spades which is almost certain to make. On the actual hand North is very balanced and is delighted to convert the take out double to penalties by passing 4 Hearts doubled and collecting +300 for North South after the natural lead of the 10 of Clubs. While it is true that on the actual hand 5 Diamonds does make for +400 this is a poor contract as it requires the Diamond finesse as well as split Club honours.
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
Double
|
4 Hearts
Pass
|
3 Breaking the transfer
Board 7 Monday 21 May – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
Ax
J9x
AJ10
AKxxx
|
|
KQxxx
Qxx
Qxx
10x
|
|
J109x
xx
Kx
QJ9xx
|
|
xx
AK10xx
xxxxx
x
|
|
Only one pair out of eight managed to reach game in Hearts on this hand.
There are two ways in which game should be reached. Although the North hand is within the point range for a 15-17 strong no trump there is a good case for upgrading the 17 point hand with a strong five card suit and seven controls (Ace = 2 controls, King = 1 control) and treating the hand as if it were 18-19. In this case the bidding would go:-
1 Club 1 Heart
2NT 3 Clubs or 3 Diamonds depending on partnership methods
3 Hearts 4 Hearts
After the jump to 2NT South either bids a natural 3 Diamonds promising five Hearts or an artificial 3 Clubs as a major suit checkback looking for either three card Heart support or four card Spade suit.
Alternatively if North opens the top heavy 1NT then after South transfers by bidding 2 Diamonds if North simply bids 2 Hearts then this will end the auction. Instead North should break the transfer by bidding 2NT. This implies a maximum 1NT with three or four Hearts. South then retransfers with 3 Diamonds and raises 3 Hearts to game.
On the Jack of Spades lead careful play should lead to eleven tricks and a score of +650 to North South.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the June 2018 duplicates
1 Game inexplicably missed
Board 9 Thursday 7 June – Vulnerability East West – Dealer North
|
xxx
10xx
AQJxx
Jx
|
|
Jxxx
AJ8
x
AKQ10x
|
|
AK10x
Q9xx
xxx
xx
|
|
Qx
Kxx
Kxxx
xxxx
|
|
Not a single East West pair out of the ten tables managed to bid and make a contract of 4 Spades on this hand which is quite extraordinary.
If North overcalls 1 Diamond then the auction is very quick and simple:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
1 Diamond
Pass
|
Pass
Double
Pass
|
Pass
3 Diamonds
Pass
|
1 Club
4 Spades
|
East doubles to show both majors. When South raises pre-emptively to 3 Diamonds then it is important for West to jump to game in Spades since if he bids only 3 Spades on his six loser hand and powerful five card Club suit then it would not be clear for East to go to game as West would feel able to bid a major at the three level with any 4=3=1=5 shape even if minimum points.
If instead North passes then the bidding will take a more nuanced route:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
1 Heart
2 Spades
4 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
1 Spade
3 Hearts
Pass
|
By bidding in this fashion West is showing a good 4=3=1=5 hand. As we have previously noted in this column (see in particular August 2012 Tip No 3) if you have a minimum 4=3=1=5 hand you must raise Hearts immediately rather than go via the slow route if you are in the 11 to 14 range. (Refer also to January 2014 Tip No 1).
2 Nul points for West in Milton’s and his Defence !
Board 13 Monday 11 June – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
J
Ax
AQx
AK10xxxx
|
|
109xxx
109xx
98xx
None
|
|
AKQxxx
Kxxx
J10
x
|
|
x
QJx
Kxxx
QJ98x
|
|
This hand caught my eye because at five of the twelve tables North South reached an excellent 6 Club contract which should always go one down but astonishingly it would appear that in each case they were allowed to make the contract because each West despite having no points discarded in a suicidal way allowing the contract to make.
A possible bidding sequence would be:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Club
6 Clubs
|
1 Spade
Pass
|
3 Clubs
Pass
|
4 Spades
Pass
|
East leads the King of Spades (King for Count). West shows five Spades by playing low. East then switches to the Jack of Diamonds won by Declarer with the Ace.
The outstanding trump is drawn and Declarer runs off five more rounds of trumps knowing that he needs either for the Diamonds to break 3-3 or for the Heart finesse to be taken (total probability of success 68 per cent). (Note that the last trump cannot be cashed as this would squeeze the Dummy). Declarer then tests the Diamond break before falling back on the Heart finesse. One of the Golden Principles of defence when discarding is always to keep the same length in a suit as the Dummy. Here as long as West keeps all his Diamonds then Declarer will eventually have to take the Heart finesse and go quietly one down. However each of the five Wests feeling sorry for themselves at not having been dealt any points must have discarded a Diamond on one of the first six rounds of trumps letting the contract succeed, no doubt to much gnashing of teeth from East.
3 Only 33% of the field reach routine slam
Board 17 Monday 11 June – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
Kxxx
Jx
KQxx
10xx
|
|
x
KQ1098xxx
x
KQx
|
|
J10x
Ax
AJxx
AJ9x
|
|
AQ98x
x
109xx
xxx
|
|
This should be a very routine slam to reach but again only four pairs out of twelve managed to get there.
There are two possible routes to get there:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
4 Hearts
5 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
4 Diamonds
4NT
6 Hearts
|
West transfers into Hearts at the four level and then bids Roman Keycard Blackwood. On hearing of three keycards opposite he bids 6 Hearts.
However it could be argued that there is perhaps a 5 per cent chance of East only having one Ace if he has something like:- ♠KQJx♥Ax♦KQ10♣Jxxx
For this reason it is perhaps safer to simply use Gerber:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
4NT
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
4 Clubs
6 Hearts
|
(The responses to Gerber are 4 Diamonds = No Ace, 4 Hearts, = one Ace, 4 Spades = 2 Aces, 4NT = 3 Aces).
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the July 2018 duplicates
1 Splinter bid to slam
Board 19 Monday 16 July – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
|
x
AKx
K9x
A98xxx
|
|
KJ9xx
10xx
Jxx
xx
|
|
Q10xxx
Qxxx
10xx
K
|
|
Ax
Jxx
AQ8x
QJ10x
|
|
Only one pair out of twelve managed to reach the excellent 6 Club contract on the above hand. It is also a good example of why it is preferable when 4=4 in the minors to open 1 Club rather than 1 Diamond.
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
3 Spades
4 Hearts
4NT
6 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
4 Diamonds
4 Spades
5 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Even for those playing 5 card majors North should make a splinter bid of 3 Spades in response to 1 Club showing at least five Clubs and a singleton (or void) Spade. The South hand immediately knows that the hand should not be played in No Trumps as South has only one Spade stop. Accordingly South cuebids 4 Diamonds which leads to North employing RKCB. On learning that one keycard is missing North settles for the small slam. Note that the correct line in 6 Clubs is to win the Spade lead and run the Queen of Clubs losing to the King. East returns a Spade ruffed in the Dummy. Now declarer draws the remaining trump with the Jack, plays the 9 of Diamonds to the Queen and a low Diamond to the King at trick six before cashing the Ace and King of Hearts at tricks seven and eight. Now the three remaining Clubs are run at tricks nine to eleven on which Declarer discards the Jack of Hearts at trick eleven. If either defender started with five Hearts and four Diamonds he will be automatically squeezed. Otherwise declarer has the option at trick eleven of finessing the eight of Diamonds at trick twelve which would be the correct line if West originally started with either 10x or Jx in the suit.
There was a further point of interest in that at four of the twelve tables the contract was 3NT by South. The two pairs who went down on a Spade lead correctly ran the Queen of Clubs losing to the singleton King and so were defeated. However they can console themselves that they played the Club suit correctly. The two pairs who dropped the singleton King of Clubs urgently need to read a book on suit combinations as it is very inferior odds to play for the drop of the King with ten cards. (When the suit is divided 2-1 it is twice as likely that the King is in the two card holding rather than singleton while when we add in the possibility of West having started with three Clubs it becomes even more clearcut to finesse).
2 Intermediate jump overcall in fourth seat leads to game
Board 7 Wednesday 18 July – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
10x
xxx
QJx
Qxxxx
|
|
xx
AK109
Kxxx
xxx
|
|
AKQ9xx
x
A10xx
10x
|
|
Jxx
QJxxx
xx
AKJ
|
|
Only one pair out of eight managed to reach 4 Spades on this hand which is almost certain to make whenever the trumps split 3-2 (68 per cent). If South opens 1 Heart then a sensible sequence would be:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Spades
3 Diamonds
Pass
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
2NT
4 Spades
|
In fourth seat jump overcalls should not be played as weak because there is no longer any need to pre-empt the opposition. Rather a jump to 2 Spades should show a strong six card suit with about 6 ½ or 7 tricks with Spades as trumps. West bids 2NT having a good Heart stop. East now bids his second suit and West cannot insist on No trumps because he has no honours in the unbid suit Clubs. Accordingly he jumps to game in Spades as he knows this in an eight card fit.
Alternatively for those North South pairs who are playing a weak Notrump then East West would reach game by employing the excellent Multi Landy defence to 1NT as follows:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds1
3 Diamonds
Pass
|
1NT
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
2 Spades2
4 Spades
|
1 Showing a six card major suit
2 Implying a good fit for Hearts
Usually after a Multi Landy bid if responder bids 2 of your major denying a fit the Multi Landy bidder would pass. However as East has a very attractive 6-4 shape he is entitled to make a further bid. When East bids 3 Diamonds he is implying six Spades and four Diamonds since if he held Hearts he would either bid 3 Hearts if minimum or 4 Hearts if maximum. Although West has only 10 points he is delighted to jump to game in Spades as all of his points appear to be working.
3 Minor suit transfer followed by showing shortage
Board 17 Wednesday 18 July – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
Jxxxxx
109x
xx
xx
|
|
x
Qxx
AQx
Q9xxxx
|
|
109x
KJ
KJxx
AK10x
|
|
AKQ
Axxxx
10xxx
J
|
|
Only one pair out of eight managed to reach the excellent 5 Club contract. Several pairs ended up in the ridiculous contract of 3NT which would normally have at least six losers but due to the extremely fortunate blockage in the Spade suit there was no way to defeat this contract.
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
3 Clubs
4 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Spades
3 Spades
5 Clubs
|
West transfers into Clubs by bidding 2 Spades. When replying to a minor suit transfer it is important for the opening bidder to be able to indicate to responder whether he has a fit for the minor suit. A fit is defined as Qxx or better. When opener does not have a fit for responder’s minor suit he just bids the next step ie 2NT over 2 Spades or 3 Clubs over 2NT showing Diamonds. Here East breaks the transfer by bidding 3 Clubs. Continuations by responder now show shortage. So 3 Spades by West shows a singleton Spade. East now knows that the partnership cannot play in No trumps and so cuebids 4 Diamonds in case West is interested in higher things. West signs off in 5 Clubs. There was a degree of poetic justice on the score sheet in that the pair who reached 5 Clubs were dubiously doubled by South and this made +550 so getting a better score than the agricultural bidders who ended up in the ridiculous 3NT.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the August 2018 duplicates
1 The vanishing overtrick
Board 4 Thursday 2 August– Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
A10x
xxx
Axxx
QJx
|
|
Kx
AKQJ
K10xx
AKx
|
|
QJxxxx
xxx
x
xxx
|
|
xx
10xx
QJ9x
109xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
4 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
2NT
4 Spades
|
This hand caught my eye because at first sight it appears easy to make eleven tricks in the routine 4 Spade contract with apparently five Spade tricks, four Heart tricks and two Club tricks. Note that in the bidding East transfers at the four level after West rebids 2NT showing 23-24 points because if he instead simply transfers at the three level and then bids to game in the major suit this should be played as a mild slam try.
However appearances can be deceptive and accurate defence prevents the overtrick.
The most sensible opening lead is the Queen of Clubs. On the lead of the Queen of Clubs South must play the TEN to indicate that he also has the NINE. Otherwise North will be reluctant to continue the suit when he gains the lead. West starts to draw trumps by playing the King of Spades. It is essential for North to duck this trick. He then wins the second round of Spades with the Ace and continues Clubs. Now although Declarer appears to have eleven tricks he has no means of drawing the last trump because the simple action of ducking the first round of trumps by North has severed the link with the Dummy. At trick five Declarer would have to choose between settling for ten tricks by exiting with the King of Diamonds to create a route to the Dummy to draw the last trump or live dangerously in trying to make an overtrick by playing his winning Hearts in the hope that the hand with the last trump held four Hearts. However this would risk the contract being defeated if the third round of Hearts were ruffed.
2 Textbook demonstration of why 4-4 fit beats 5-3 fit
Board 16 Thursday 2 August – Vulnerability East West – Dealer West
|
J10
J9
Kxxxx
KJ10x
|
|
AKxxx
Qxxx
Ax
xx
|
|
xxx
AK10x
Jxx
Axx
|
|
Q9x
xxx
Q10x
Qxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
4 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
2 Hearts
Pass
|
East is forced to bid a 3 card Club suit in response to the opening bid of 1 Spade until the eight card Heart fit comes to light.
If the final contract were in Spades with the 5-3 fit there would be three inescapable losers, one Spade, one Diamond and one Club.
However playing in Hearts with the 4-4 fit provided that the major suits both break 3-2 there is an easy overtrick available. It does not matter which minor suit North elects to lead. Let us suppose that he chooses his fourth highest Diamond. This runs to the 10 and Ace. Trumps are drawn in three rounds and Declarer continues by giving up the first round of Spades. Diamonds are continued and declarer ruffs the third round with his last trump. When the Spades break he now has eleven tricks because two Clubs are discarded from the Dummy on the fourth and fifth round of Spades.
The result is the same if the opening lead is a Club rather than a Diamond the only difference now being that two Diamonds are discarded from the Dummy on the long Spades.
3 Par contract missed at all eight tables
Board 15 Wednesday 15 August – Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
|
xx
109x
xx
AQJ10xx
|
|
xxx
x
AJ109x
K9xx
|
|
KQJ10
Jxxxx
Kxx
x
|
|
Axxx
AKQx
Qxx
xx
|
|
I was astonished that at none of the eight tables did North South reach the par contract of 3 Clubs. This is remarkable because this contract should be reached regardless of whether North South are playing a strong or a weak no trump.
If North South are playing a strong no trump then the bidding should go as follows:
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Spades1
3 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
2NT2
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Showing Clubs usually a six card suit if weak
2 Denying a fit for Clubs
A fit for Clubs is defined as Qxx or better. Thus when South effectively denies having the King of Clubs then North knows that 3NT will be a poor contract and settles for a part score in Clubs which makes exactly losing just four tricks after the lead of the King of Spades.
If North South are playing a weak no trump with four card majors then the bidding should go as follows:
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Hearts
Pass
3 Clubs
|
Pass
2 Spades
Pass
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
Double
Pass
Pass
|
When 2 Hearts comes back to West he balances with a protective Double. East’s Hearts are not strong enough to risk defending 2 Hearts doubled and so he bids 2 Spades. North is now able to compete further with 3 Clubs which implies six Clubs and three Hearts. South passes because he does not have a fifth Heart and so again North is left as Declarer in 3 Clubs.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the September 2018 duplicates
1 Game inexplicably missed
Board 7 Monday 3 September– Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
AJxxx
xx
Q
KJ9xx
|
|
Kxx
Jx
AKJxxx
xx
|
|
Qx
Axx
108xx
AQxx
|
|
109x
KQ10xxx
xx
10x
|
|
Only one pair out of eight managed to reach 3NT on the above hand which I found quite remarkable. At four of the eight tables West played in 4 Diamonds plus one. 3NT should be reached regardless of whether South opens a weak 2 Hearts or passes because he is vulnerable and considers his hand a little weak.
If South opens a weak 2 Hearts then the auction should be very brief:
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
|
3NT
|
2 Hearts
Pass
|
3 Diamonds
Pass
|
With a Heart stop and twelve points opposite a vulnerable three level overcall East expects to make game in notrumps.
Should South pass if he feels he a little weak for a vulnerable weak two then the bidding is likely to go:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
Pass
Pass
|
2 Spades
3 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
3 Diamonds
3NT
|
East starts off by cuebidding 2 Spades to promise at least four card Diamond support and 10 plus points. West holding only 12 points initially signs off in 3 Diamonds. East is worth a further move with 3 Spades asking if West has a Spade stop and West is happy to oblige The only difference now is that West is the Declarer.
With East the Declarer the likely lead is the King of Hearts. Declarer wins the second round of Hearts and cashes the Ace and King of Diamonds (best technique is to unblock the 10 on one of the first two rounds to ensure that there is no danger of the Diamond suit subsequently being blocked). With eight tricks on top Declarer has a choice between the Club finesse and playing a Spade to the Queen. It is correct to play a Spade to the Queen because while South might have the King of Clubs it is unlikely that he has the Ace of Spades since that would make him a little heavy for a 2 Heart opener. When the Queen of Spades wins Declarer then runs off the rest of his Diamonds. North’s discards will give declarer a good clue as to whether he can risk an overtrick by finessing the Queen of Clubs at trick ten. Result either +600 or +630.
With West the Declarer the likely lead is a Spade from North. Now when the Queen of Spades wins the first trick you can run all the Diamonds and if you watch North’s discards like a hawk (who will have to make five discards on the run of the Diamonds) you will be able to judge whether it is safe to finesse the Clubs for an overtrick. Again the result is either +600 or +630.
2 Keycard at the second bid !
Board 9 Thursday 6 September – Vulnerability East West – Dealer North
|
J98x
xx
Qxxx
Axx
|
|
Qxx
10x
xxxx
KQ9x
|
|
10
Kxx
KJ10x
J10xxx
|
|
AKxxx
AQJxxx
A
x
|
|
I consider that the South hand is so strong that it is one of the extremely rare occasions on which it is correct to launch straight into Roman Key Card Blackwood on the second round of the bidding. In some respects the South hand is worthy of a 2 Club opener. However experience shows that with such a shape it is better in the long run to start off with a humble 1 Heart and accept the very rare occasions on which 1 Heart might be passed out.
When North responds 1 Spade the South hand is absolutely huge. While some might argue for a splinter bid of 4 Clubs this will not achieve anything. Given that as little as Qxxxx Spades in the North hand and a singleton Heart makes a contract of 6 Spades almost ironclad and as the South hand only has 3 losers the chances of a 5 Spade contract not making if the North hand is unsuitable for slam is quite low. North shows one keycard and now South bids the next step asking for the Queen of trumps. The reason why South asks for the Queen of Spades is that if North had both the Queen of Spades and the King of Hearts he would respond 5 Hearts which would allow South to bid a grand slam in Spades. North denies the Queen of Spades by signing off in 5 Spades. However despite this denial South goes on to the slam. Why is this? Well for one thing if North held a 5th trump then the chances of bringing in the Spades would be at least 78% (since the odds of a 3-nil trump split are 22%). Secondly even if there is a Spade loser then the Heart finesse is still available.
We can quantify the approximate odds of 6 Spades making. If the Spades come in the contract makes. This is 52.5 % (2-2 split plus singleton Queen = 40% + 12½ %. If the Spades do not come in then the contract will still make when the Heart finesse is working. So we can add in one half of the remaining 47.5% or 23.75%. The total odds of the contract making are therefore 76.25%.
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
1 Spade
5 Clubs
5 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
4NT
5 Diamonds
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
However the play of 6 Spades does have something of a sting in the tail. Five pairs out of eight reached the slam but two of these five pairs went down after receiving a Club lead. As the Club lead takes out the only quick entry to the North hand it is crucial to make use of this entry by finessing Hearts at trick two. The Heart finesse works and now the Ace and King of Spades can be cashed. The Queen does not drop but this matters not as declarer can continue with the Ace of Hearts and easily set up the Hearts even if they break four one. However note the difference if Declarer carelessly starts to draw trumps at trick two. When the Ace and King of Spades fail to drop the Queen Declarer is forced to continue with a third round of Spades. West wins and forces Declarer’s fourth trump by continuing Clubs. Now Declarer is forced to hope that East started off with only two Hearts by playing his last trump to the Jack in the Dummy and finessing in Hearts. When the finesse wins but the Ace does not then drop the King declarer goes at least one trick down depending on whether East has any Clubs left.
3 Autosplinter paves the route to slam
Board 18 Monday 10 September – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
|
109
J10x
Jxx
KJ98x
|
|
xx
A9xx
A109x
Qxx
|
|
AKQJxxx
Qx
KQxx
None
|
|
xx
Kxxx
xx
A10xxx
|
|
Twenty years ago the East hand would have started off proceedings with a strong 2 Spades opener showing at least eight playing tricks in Spades and the bid was forcing for one round ie it could not be passed. However now that strong two bids in a major have gone out of fashion largely because of the low frequency with which they occur a method has to be found to catch up later in the bidding. The answer is that whenever partner responds 1NT to the opening bid of one major the opening bidder is able to describe his hand accurately on the second round by use of the Autosplinter. If East had a game going hand with Spades and a minor he would jump to the three level in the minor suit to insist that game be reached. Thus a jump to the four level in a minor cannot possibly be natural. Instead it is an autosplinter setting his original major as trumps and inviting the responder to cue-bid in case a slam is available.
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
4 Clubs1
5 Spades2
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
4 Diamonds
6 Hearts3
Pass
|
1 Autosplinter setting Spades as trumps
2 A jump to the five level after cuebids have been exchanged in two suits says “I have no control in the fourth suit (Hearts), have you got the Ace or King?”
3 I have the Ace of Hearts in case you are interested in a Grand Slam.
West cuebids in Diamonds and as East has the King of Diamonds he knows that West must therefore have the Ace. However East is still worried about the Heart suit. By jumping to the five level over 4 Diamonds he is asking West to look exclusively at his Heart holding. If West held the King of Hearts he would jump to 6 Spades. By bidding instead 6 Hearts he is showing the Ace of Hearts. In fact if East were desperately in need of a top he might consider bidding 7 Diamonds which only needs a 3-2 break in Diamonds. However this is very risky as West might have only 3 Diamonds in say a 1=4=3=5 or 2=3=3=5 shape. Only one East West pair out eight reached 6 Spades. Clearly the others need to learn Autosplinters!
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the November 2018 duplicates
1 Lack of imagination
Board 15 Monday 12 November– Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
|
Jx
AQxxxx
Kxx
QJ
|
|
AQxxxxx
10x
Qx
xx
|
|
K109x
xx
109xxx
xx
|
|
None
KJ9
AJx
AK109xxx
|
|
The North South bidding on this hand was absolutely woeful. With a Grand Slam available in either Clubs or Hearts only one pair out of eight managed to get to even a small slam. The suggested auction to a small slam would be:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
4 Hearts
Pass
|
4 Spades
Pass
|
1 Club
6 Hearts
|
3 Spades
Pass
|
When North bids Hearts freely at the four level almost certainly showing a six card suit it is actually quite difficult to construct a hand where 6 Hearts would go down unless the opening lead is ruffed. As little as Queen to six Hearts and the King of Diamonds would make it a near certainty to succeed.
If South wishes to invite a Grand Slam then instead of punting 6 Hearts he should instead bid 5 Spades which as it commits the partnership to the six level is a Grand Slam try in Hearts. North should accept this holding six Hearts with two of the top three honours together with the secondary honours in the minor suits.
2 Don’t be wasteful of entries
Board 16 Monday 12 November – Vulnerability East West – Dealer West
|
A10xx
A9x
AKJ10
xx
|
|
KJx
xx
Q9xx
AJ10x
|
|
Qxx
Q10x
xx
KQxxx
|
|
9xx
KJ8xx
xxx
xx
|
|
Four of the eight North South pairs played in 2 Hearts after a strong no trump opening from North and a transfer by South. However in each case they only made 9 tricks instead of the 10 which are available with careful play.
East will lead the King of Clubs. West will signal with the Jack and a second Club follows to the Ace. West now switches to a low Spade. It is good technique to duck the first round of Spades. East wins with the Queen of Spades and returns a second Spade at trick four. Declarer now starts on the trumps by cashing the Ace of Hearts at trick five and playing a low Heart to the Jack at trick six which wins. The key point of the hand has now been reached. DECLARER SHOULD NOT DRAW THE LAST TRUMP AT THIS STAGE. Instead Declarer takes the Diamond finesse by playing a low Diamond to the 10 at trick seven. The finesse wins and only now does Declarer draw the last trump at trick eight. The Diamond finesse is now repeated at trick nine followed by the Ace of Diamonds at trick ten and the King of Diamonds at trick eleven on which the losing Spade is discarded.
The reason why it is good technique to duck the first round of Spades is that supposing the Diamond finesse loses but that the Spades break 4-2. On this lie of the cards Declarer will still make nine tricks because East will not have a third Spade to return when he wins the Queen of Diamonds. The moral of the hand is that Declarer must make the maximum use of entries. By drawing the last trump prematurely then Declarer needed West to have only three Diamonds with the Queen whereas by finessing twice he was able to deal with an original four card holding.
3 Reaching slam after pre-emptive opening by opposition
Board 8 Thursday 15 November – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
x
xx
109x
KQ109xxx
|
|
KJxxx
Jx
KQx
xxx
|
|
A9xxx
Axx
AJxx
A
|
|
Q10
KQ10xxx
xxx
Jx
|
|
In a similar vein to Tip 1 with a Grand Slam available not a single one of the seven East West pairs managed to reach even 6 Spades. While I do consider that it is impossible to reach the Grand Slam after the pre-emptive opening from North a Small Slam is achievable with the following auction:
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
3 Clubs
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Double
4 Clubs
4 Hearts
6 Spades
|
3 Hearts
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Spades
4 Diamonds
5 Diamonds
Pass
|
West is close to bidding 4 Spades opposite the takeout double of 3 Clubs but by bidding freely over South’s 3 Heart bid he is showing fair values. East holding five card trump support and all the Aces then cue-bids 4 Clubs which agrees Spades. West now cue-bids 4 Diamonds. East then cue-bids in Hearts and now West has a further decision to make. Holding five trumps together with his chunky Diamond holding the most constructive bid for him to make is to make a further cue-bid in Diamonds. While it is unusual to make two cue-bids holding KQx in a suit this is the most constructive bid which he can make to encourage East to then jump to 6 Spades.
One reason why it is impossible to bid the Grand Slam is that if West’s distribution were 5=3=3=2 instead of 5=2=3=3 there would be an inevitable Heart loser.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the December 2018 duplicates
1 East West go back to school
Santa Claus Pairs – Session 2
Board 20 Sunday 16 December– Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
K98xx
Qxx
Qxxx
x
|
|
x
AKJxxx
Jx
KQxx
|
|
AJ10x
10x
Ax
AJ10xx
|
|
Qxx
xx
K109xx
xxx
|
|
The East West bidding on this hand from the second session of the Santa Claus Pairs was absolutely woeful. With a Grand Slam in Clubs available only one East West pair out of the ten tables who bid the hand managed to even reach a Small Slam. There are two reasonable auctions to the Grand Slam:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
4 Spades
5 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
3 Spades
4NT
7 Clubs
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
4NT
5NT
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
3 Spades
5 Spades
7 Clubs
|
First of all East should respond in his longest suit Clubs rather than bidding Spades as he has a game forcing hand and in such cases the suits should always be bid with the longest shown first. West then agrees Clubs by making a splinter bid in Spades promising four card Club support and a singleton or void in Spades. At this point East has a choice. My preference is for the first auction where East cuebids 4 Spades. This promises the Ace since there is little point in cuebidding a King opposite known shortage. West now bids RKCB and hears three keycards opposite. With the very powerful six card Heart suit it is now sensible for West to jump to the Grand Slam in Clubs expecting any Diamond losers to disappear on his Hearts. The only time when this is likely to misfire is if East were to have a 2=2=4=5 shape where a 4=1 Heart split might then not provide enough discards from the four card Diamond suit in the Grand Slam.
Any competent pair from Division 2 of the Manchester League ought to be bidding the Grand Slam.
2 Takeout double by opener to ensure the best game
Board 27 Monday 17 December – Vulnerability White – Dealer South
|
xxx
A108x
QJx
Jxx
|
|
AKQJ10x
xxx
xx
10x
|
|
xxxx
Qxx
Axxx
xx
|
|
None
KJx
K109x
AKQxxx
|
|
Only one pair out of seven reached the par contract of 5 Clubs by North South.
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Double
4 Clubs
Pass
|
3 Spades
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
Double
5 Clubs
|
1 Spade
Pass1
Pass
|
1 If West bids 4 Spades then North is likely to go to 5 Clubs himself because he can visualize a Spade void in South’s hand since opposition almost certainly have a 10 card Spade fit to be sacrificing.
East raises his partner’s overcall to the 3 level. This shows four trumps and a fairly weak hand since with more East could either cue-bid 2 Clubs or in the modern style bid 2NT to show a good hand (10 plus points with four card Spade support). When not vulnerable it is almost always correct to “raise to the level of the fit” ie with 9 trumps combined raise to the three level and with 10 trumps combined raise to the four level. When vulnerable it is sometimes prudent to exercise a little more caution.
The spotlight turns to South. He knows that game is a near certainty for his side but does not know in which denomination this should be. Accordingly he doubles which implies that he has a strong hand but without four cards in Hearts. North can then bid Hearts should he have a five card suit or alternatively give preference to Clubs or possibly even bid Diamonds if he has for instance a 3=4=5=1 shape. Finally if North held a trump trick in a balanced hand he might choose to convert the takeout double to penalty.
Two crazy East West pairs went on to 5 Spades which should of course be doubled and accurate defence would defeat this contract by four tricks for a penalty of 800. (While the absolute par on the hand is for North South to double 4 Spades for +500 it is difficult for North South to judge that a penalty of 500 would result).
3 Jumps in new suit after Jacoby
Board 23 Thursday 20 December – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
xx
Kxxxx
xxx
Jxx
|
|
QJ987x
x
x
AK10xx
|
|
K10xx
AJ10
AQJx
Qx
|
|
A
Qxxx
K109xx
xxx
|
|
West opens 1 Spade and East should employ the Jacoby 2NT response. In response to an opening one of a major this shows at least 12 points with four card support for opener’s major and is the best way to suggest the possibility of getting to a slam and allows a jump to four of the major by responder to show a more distributional hand with fewer points.
Even though West has only 10 High Card Points the playing potential of the hand is enormous. He knows there is a 10 card trump fit and he has only five losers. Since a typical Jacoby hand by responder will have about seven losers there is a high likelihood of a slam unless East has Kings opposite the singletons.
The mainstream way of opener responding to Jacoby is to jump to four of the major with a bad hand which is basically telling the Jacoby bidder to forget all about a slam. With a singleton West bids the singleton except that if West has a strong 5-5 with two of the top three honours in his second suit he should jump to the four level in his second suit. If West has a better than minimum hand but with no singleton he simply rebids his suit as the three level. On the above hand it is clearly more descriptive for West to jump to 4 Clubs rather than show a singleton in a red suit.
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2NT
4NT
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
4 Clubs
5 Clubs
Pass
|
When West jumps to 4 Clubs East knows that his partner must have AK to five Clubs since he has the Queen. Accordingly he can go straight to keycard and on hearing of one keycard opposite he jumps to 6 Spades. Note that while East could check that opener has the Queen of Spades by bidding 5 Diamonds there is really no need because West would hardly jump to 4 Clubs if his Spades were Jack high.
Refer also to August 2013 Tip No 2 for a further example of using Jacoby in this situation.
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|
|
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the January 2017 duplicates
1 Learn your safety plays !
Board 22 Monday 9 January – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
|
10x
AKxxx
K8xx
AK
|
|
xxx
x
109x
10xxxxx
|
|
Jxx
Q108x
Qx
QJ9x
|
|
AKQxx
J9x
AJxx
x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Hearts
4NT
6 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
4 Clubs
5 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Three pairs out of eight bid to the best contract of 6 Hearts on the above hand. However they went down because they failed to play the trump suit correctly.
Assuming the Queen of Clubs lead the only danger to the contract is losing two trump tricks. Accordingly after cashing the Ace of trumps on the first round you should then continue with a low Heart towards the Jack. This restricts East to only one trump trick when he started with Q10xx. The odds of East having started with such a holding are 14 per cent – one half of the 28 per cent odds of a 4-1 trump split.
While it is true that by playing the trumps in this way you give up any chance of making all thirteen tricks nevertheless in a modest field you are almost certain to score above average whenever you bid and make a slam contract in a major suit (with 6 Hearts making scoring better than 6 Diamonds plus one).
2 Landy or Multi-Landy to reach game
Board 15 Thursday 19 January – Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
|
Jx
AKQJ
K10xx
Jxx
|
|
K10xxx
xxx
Axx
xx
|
|
AQxx
109xxx
Q
AKx
|
|
xx
x
J9xxx
Q109xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1NT
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
4 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Spades
Pass
|
Only one pair out of nine managed to reach the laydown 4 Spades on the above hand. Whether you play the simple Landy defence or the more comprehensive Multi-Landy defence to 1NT reaching game should not be a problem.
By overcalling 2 Clubs East is showing at least nine cards in the majors (some authors recommend making the bid not vulnerable with only eight cards) and a point count in the range 9 to 16. What should West respond? Well knowing of the minimum nine card Spade fit and holding a side suit Ace he should jump to 3 Spades to invite game. East holding only six losers and a non-minimum hand (even if the Queen of Diamonds does prove to be wasted) is delighted to accept the invitation.
Even against those pairs playing weak no trump who open 1 Heart on the North hand it is still possible to reach game. When 1 Heart comes round to West he should bid 1 Spade not vulnerable even though he only has 7 points as he has an Ace and a King and it is quite likely that East has passed the opening bid on account of Heart length. East has a comfortable raise to 4 Spades because assuming that West has at least three Diamonds the hands are likely to fit extremely well together.
3 Slam missed at nine out of ten tables
Board 15 Thursday 26 January – Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
|
Jxx
Q98xx
Qx
K6x
|
|
Kx
x
AK98x
AQJ108
|
|
AQxx
AKJ10
10x
7xx
|
|
109xx
xxx
Jxxx
9x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
3NT
4 Spades
5 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
2 Clubs
4 Clubs
4NT
6 Clubs
|
Only one pair out of ten managed to reach the excellent 6 Club contract on this hand although they they failed to play it correctly and went down.
Note that although West has 17 points his correct rebid is just 2 Clubs rather than 3 Clubs. This is because a jump to the three level in a new suit is 100% game forcing and as East’s response of 1 Heart might have as few as 6 points this would be completely unsound. Thus a rebid at the two level in a lower ranking suit than opener’s can be anywhere in the range 11 to 18 points.
After East then jumps to 3NT showing 13 to 15 points with a good Spade stop West is worth a slam try of 4 Clubs showing a strong 5-5 and knowing that if the East hand is unsuitable for slam (ie with poor controls) that East can sign off in 4NT. However here East is delighted to cuebid 4 Spades. RKCB is wheeled out and 6 Clubs is the final contract.
The play is interesting. Say North opens with a low Heart. Declarer wins with the Ace in the Dummy and immediately takes a Club finesse. If North wins to return a second trump the appearance of the 9 of Clubs from South on the second round means that it is relatively safe to leave the last trump outstanding and instead ruff the third round of Diamonds in the Dummy with the 7 of Clubs. Then you can return to hand with the King of Spades, draw the last trump and two Diamonds left in Declarer’s hand disappear on the Queen of Spades and the King of Hearts.
However alternatively suppose that North defends more strongly and allows the first Club finesse to succeed. Declarer should now turn his attention to Diamonds. As North does not have the nine of Clubs it does not help him to ruff the third Diamond in front of the Dummy and so after ruffing the third Diamond in the Dummy, Declarer now repeats the Club finesse. Even though the second Club finesse loses Declarer is still safe because North having no more Diamonds cannot cash the Defence’s Diamond winner and later on Declarer’s two remaining Diamonds disappear on the Queen of Spades and the King of Hearts.
|
|
|
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the February 2017 duplicates
1 Don’t concede the contract with the opening lead !
Board 10 Thursday 9 February – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
QJ98xx
9xx
KJ
Ax
|
|
10x
Kxxx
97x
Q9xx
|
|
Kxx
J108
Q108x
K10x
|
|
Ax
AQx
Axxx
Jxxx
|
|
I was astounded to see that all seven North South’s who played in 4 Spades were allowed to make the contract. In three cases South was the Declarer and in four cases North was the Declarer.
South would be the Declarer after opening a strong no-trump and North transferring into Spades. For South to make the contract West must have started with a low Heart which is a very poor lead from Kxxx into a strong no-trump. He should start off with a Diamond as the safest lead (preferably the middle card MUD – middle up down). In fact on any lead other than a Heart South must lose four tricks.
When North was the Declarer East must have made the opening lead of a Diamond. While this is not such a bad lead as a Heart from West nevertheless the safest lead is for East to lead the suit in which he has a run of two honours, namely the Jack of Hearts. After the Jack of Hearts from East then North must again lose four tricks.
Strangely enough the eighth pair managed to arrive in 3NT which cannot be beaten making nine tricks on any lead.
2 Don’t be a slave to showing your shape if it is not the most descriptive rebid available
Board 3 Thursday 16 February – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
|
Jx
9x
KQJ10x
J9xx
|
|
A10
J108xx
Axxx
A10
|
|
K9xxxxx
Axx
x
Qx
|
|
Qx
KQx
xxx
Kxxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
4 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
1NT
Pass
|
I was fascinated to note that nine pairs out of ten played in Hearts (six in partscore and three in game) and only one pair correctly played in Spades although they still failed to reach game.
The only explanation for this outcome is that having opened 1 Heart and received a 1 Spade response from East that all the Wests must have rebid 2 Diamonds. While it is true that this shows the 5-4 shape it is not a very sensible choice for several reasons. Firstly West’s Hearts are so weak that he does not particularly want to end up in a 5-2 Heart fit. Secondly only five of West’s thirteen points are in his two suits. Thirdly having A10 in each of the black suits it only needs Jxx in Clubs and 9xxx in Spades in the East hand for each suit to have a second stop for notrump purposes. Therefore despite the 5-4 shape the sensible rebid for West is to rebid 1NT. This makes East’s second bid easy as assuming that West has at least two Spades then 4 Spades is highly likely to make and even if West were to have made an off centre rebid with say the singleton Queen of Spades then the contract would still be playable.
Note that in the defence the Club suit is what is termed a “frozen suit”. That is to say neither defender can lead the suit without surrendering a trick. Therefore on a neutral Diamond lead Declarer can win, draw trumps and play Hearts at every opportunity to make an overtrick for +650.
3 Don’t invite game with points in the short suits
Board 5 Thursday 23 February – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
109xx
Kx
AJx
98xx
|
|
Qxx
Axxxx
xxx
J10
|
|
AJxx
Q8x
xxx
Qxx
|
|
Kx
J109
KQxx
AKxx
|
|
South opens 1NT and North has to decide whether to take any action. While he might be tempted to invite game due to holding eight points one should not push for borderline games at pairs and in any event it is not good for your points to be in your short suits. If the majority of the eight points were in the long suits then it would be acceptable.
Six of the eight Norths wrongly invited game and four of the six Souths who received the invitation then went on to game. On competent defence this contract has absolutely no chance of making.
Note that on the lead of the fourth highest Heart from West to the Queen winning in East’s hand that on the return of the 8 of Hearts that West must duck in order to keep communication with his partner. West can tell from the return of the 8 of Hearts that South originally started with J109.
When South wins the second trick with Dummy’s King of Hearts he has quite a dilemma at pairs. He can either run for home with four Diamonds, two Clubs and a Heart or he can play a Spade to the King hoping that the Ace of Spades is in the East hand thus making eight tricks. However note that if he plays a Spade and the King loses to the Ace should West have been dealt this card then now South will not even make 1NT because he will lose four Heart tricks and three Spade tricks.
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|
|
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the March 2017 duplicates
1 The modern way to play 2C – 2D – 3NT
Board 23 Thursday 9 March – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
KJ
QJxxxx
10x
Axx
|
|
Ax
Ax
AKQJxxx
xx
|
|
Q109xx
109x
xx
KJx
|
|
xxxx
Kx
xx
Q109xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
3NT
|
Until the introduction of the Kokish convention (which I have covered previously in September 2014 Tip No 2, January 2015 Tip No 1) the sequence 2♣-2♦-3NT showed 25 to 27 points.
However playing Kokish there no need to jump the bidding on such a hand. Rather a jump to 3NT shows a running minor suit. As only one pair out of eight ended up in 3NT on the above hand it would appear that the rest have not taken on board the advantages of Kokish.
Here although West has only 18 points with nine clear tricks it is not unreasonable to open 2 Clubs. After a response of 2 Diamonds from East then West now jumps to 3NT to show a running minor suit in a semi-balanced hand ie 7-2-2-2 or 6-3-2-2.
There are nine tricks on top but after a Heart lead from North if West wins and cashes all his Diamond winners then the North hand is inexorably squeezed on the last Diamond winner and declarer can make an overtrick for +630.
2 Support Double by opener helps to get to sensible contract
Board 4 Monday 13 March – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
10xxxx
Qxx
10xx
Qx
|
|
AQx
xxx
xxx
AKxx
|
|
KJxx
AJ10
x
J9xxx
|
|
x
K9xx
AKQJxx
10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
3 Diamonds
Pass
|
1 Spade
3 Clubs
4 Clubs
|
2 Diamonds
Double2
Pass
|
1 Club
Double1
Pass
Pass
|
1 Support double showing three card Spade support
2 Takeout suggesting six Diamonds and four Hearts
There were a whole variety of contracts on this deal. However only one East West pair out of eight played in a sensible Club contract making 11 tricks for +150 and a 100% score.
The recommended auction is as shown above.
The key to the auction is West making a support double after the overcall of 2 Diamonds. This shows three card support for responder’s major suit whereas if West raised Spades in competition it would promise four cards. Thus East is not tempted to play in Spades with only a combined seven card fit and instead supports Clubs. South now makes a takeout double of 3 Clubs suggesting 6-4 in the red suits and North goes back to 3 Diamonds. East is happy to bid 4 Clubs with a singleton Diamond. Game in Clubs is actually a reasonable bet needing only the Clubs to come in for no loser (52%) but is almost impossible to bid due to West having nothing wasted in Diamonds.
Support doubles were invented by Eric Rodwell (one half of the greatest American partnership of the last 30 years Meckstroth and Rodwell) in the early 1990’s. Rodwell proposed the use of a double in competitive auctions to be able to distinguish between having 3 card support for responder’s major suit and 4 card support. This allows responder to be much better able to decide how high to bid in a competitive auction because he knows whether his side have a 7 card, 8 card or 9 card fit. There are 10 situations in which this support double could arise:-
|
West
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
|
(1)
|
1 Club
|
Pass
|
1 Heart
|
1 Spade
|
|
(2)
|
1 Club
|
Pass
|
1 Heart
|
2 Diamonds
|
|
(3)
|
1 Club
|
Pass
|
1 Spade
|
2 Diamonds
|
|
(4)
|
1 Club
|
Pass
|
1 Spade
|
2 Hearts
|
|
(5)
|
1 Diamond
|
Pass
|
1 Heart
|
1 Spade
|
|
(6)
|
1 Diamond
|
Pass
|
1 Heart
|
2 Clubs
|
|
(7)
|
1 Diamond
|
Pass
|
1 Spade
|
2 Clubs
|
|
(8)
|
1 Diamond
|
Pass
|
1 Spade
|
2 Hearts
|
|
(9)
|
1 Heart
|
Pass
|
1 Spade
|
2 Clubs
|
|
(10)
|
1 Heart
|
Pass
|
1 Spade
|
2 Diamonds
|
|
In each of the above 10 cases if West has 4 card support for partner’s major suit he raises the suit immediately. If West has only 3 card support for partner’s suit he doubles.
Refer also to September 2013 Tip No 3 for the use of a Support Redouble in a similar vein.
3 Unusual No-trump overcall points the way to game
Board 24 Monday 27 March – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
Axx
10x
J10xxx
Jxx
|
|
K10xxx
xxxx
K9
xx
|
|
QJxx
Kx
Q
AQ10xxx
|
|
x
AQJ9x
Axxxx
Kx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
4 Diamonds
Pass
|
1 Club
Pass
Pass
|
2NT
5 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Only two pairs out of eight managed to reach the excellent 5 Diamond contract on the above hand and of these only one was with North the declarer.
After 1 Club from East the South hand is best described by a jump to 2NT showing 5-5 or 5-6 in the two lowest ranking unbid suits. With the exception of the vulnerability being Green I would suggest that this shows a hand with not more than six losers.
West passes and although North only has six points he should jump to 4 Diamonds. This is because he knows that the partnership possesses a 10 card fit in Diamonds and the Ace of Spades is sure to be invaluable. South is happy to raise to game with two Aces and only five losers.
Note that when North is the Declarer if East makes a passive Spade lead then the contract should make an overtrick for +420. This is because after the Ace of Spades wins the first trick Declarer then leads the 10 of Hearts. If this wins then a second Heart to the King and Ace follows. Now the Ace of Diamonds is cashed at trick four. As West has four Hearts he has to follow helplessly when the remaining Heart winners are cashed and all North’s Clubs disappear on the Hearts.
The contract requires the Heart finesse plus a 2-1 trump split. In view of the opening bid by the East hand the Heart finesse has at least a 70% likelihood of success. Therefore the approximate probability of the contract making is 0.7 x 0.78 (2-1 trump split) = 55%.
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|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the April 2017 duplicates
1 Good game on 24 points missed
Board 23 Thursday 13 April – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
J10xx
KQxx
10
Axxx
|
|
x
9xxxx
Qxx
KQ10x
|
|
AKxx
Jx
AKJ9x
Jx
|
|
Qxxx
A10
xxxx
xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Double
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
1 Spade
3 Clubs
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
1 Heart
2 Diamonds
3 NT
|
Not a single one out of the nine East West pairs managed to reach 3NT by West on the above hand.
The East hand is too strong in playing strength to open 1NT as well as the shape being somewhat off centre. After opening 1 Diamond and then receiving preference to Diamonds (which could show anything between 6 and 9 points) East should make a game try by bidding 3 Clubs. Despite West having only seven points he should accept with such a strong Club holding and the Queen of Diamonds is sure to be extremely valuable.
Strangely enough this bidding sequence has actually “wrong-sided” the contract. By this I mean that on a Heart lead from North if the Dummy plays low and South manages to diagnose to play the 10 then now North South will take five tricks. If East is the Declarer the contract is unbeatable.
However the natural lead on the North hand is to lead Dummy’s second suit Spades as North’s holding in the fourth suit (Clubs) is not very attractive from which to lead. On a Spade lead Declarer simply wins in the Dummy and immediately plays the Jack of Clubs to drive out the Ace. Now North needs to switch to a low Heart to stop the overtrick.
2 Too strong to overcall
Board 5 Friday 28 April – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
xx
Ax
Kxxx
KQJxx
|
|
AKQx
KJ109xx
AJ
x
|
|
Jxxxx
xx
109xx
xx
|
|
10x
Qxx
Qxx
A10xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Club
Pass
Pass1
|
Pass
2 Spades
Pass
|
1NT
3 Clubs
Pass
|
Double
4 Spades
|
1 Cannot sacrifice at Red as this will cost 500.
All the East West pairs failed to reach the excellent 4 Spade contract which requires only the Heart finesse to make.
After North opens 1 Club note that South should respond 1NT. This shows 8 to 10 points with four Clubs. If South has Club support with only 5 to 7 points he would respond 2 Clubs.
While West could overcall 2 Hearts he is too strong for this action with his powerful 6-4 shape in the majors and only four losers on the losing trick count. Accordingly he starts off with a double. When East bids Spades West goes straight to game since as little as the Queen of Hearts in the East hand is enough for game to be laydown. If instead East were to bid Diamonds then the West hand is strong enough to bid 2 Hearts showing a minimum of 18 points with at least five Hearts.
Assuming South leads the Ace of Clubs and then switches to a Diamond, East can win the second Diamond in the Dummy, draw two rounds of trumps ending in hand and play a Heart to the Jack and Ace for +420.
3 West accepts the second invitation
Board 18 Friday 28 April– Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
|
Ax
J98xxx
xxxx
x
|
|
Q109xxxx
K10x
x
xx
|
|
Kxx
None
AKQ10
AKJ9xx
|
|
J
AQxx
Jxxx
Q10xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
2 Diamonds
4 Hearts
5 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
2 Spades
4 Spades
6 Spades
|
All the East West pairs failed to reach the excellent 6 Spade contract which is cold against Spades 2-1 (78 per cent).
East reverses at his second bid with 2 Diamonds showing a minimum of 17 points with at least five Clubs and four Diamonds. West owns up to having at least five Spades by rebidding the suit. East now makes a splinter bid of 4 Hearts showing a singleton or void in Hearts and agreeing Spades with a strong interest in slam. At this stage West cannot co-operate as his King of Hearts is of dubious value and so he signs off in 4 Spades. East now makes a second slam try of 5 Hearts confirming that his shortage in Hearts is actually a void. Now West must accept the invitation since his Spades might have been as weak as J109xx rather than the actual Q109xxxx.
Note that if North were to lead his singleton Club that West should take the precaution of discarding his second Club by cashing the Ace and King of Diamonds before starting to draw trumps by playing a low Spade from the Dummy. Now even if South had the singleton Ace of Spades and North started off with Jx then there would be no danger of running into a Club ruff because West could ruff the second Club with the Queen of Spades and draw the outstanding trump.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the May 2017 duplicates
1 Ruff & Discard is the correct defence !
Board 7 Wednesday 3 May – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
Axxx
K10x
xx
Qxxx
|
|
xxxx
x
J98x
xxxx
|
|
KQJx
QJ8x
AK10xx
None
|
|
x
A9xxx
Qx
AKJxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
3 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
2 Clubs
4 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Several North South pairs were allowed to make 4 Hearts Doubled because East failed to recognize that the correct defence is to concede a ruff and discard at trick three.
Assuming the 9 of Diamonds lead East wins the first two rounds of Diamonds and then has to decide what to do. Given that East has 16 points it is almost certain that South has 1=5=2=5 distribution rather than 2=5=2=4 because it would be somewhat dubious to accept the invitation to game if South only held ♠xx♥A9xxx♦Qx♣AKJx. By playing a third round of Diamonds the presence of the 8 of Hearts makes it 100% certain that East will win two Heart tricks. If Declarer ruffs in the Dummy then after two rounds of Hearts have been played (East splitting his honours on the second round) East will remain with ♥Q8 and South with ♥9xx, thus guaranteeing two Heart tricks for East. Alternatively if Declarer ruffs in Hand then after two rounds of Hearts the Dummy will have ♥10, East ♥Q8 and South ♥9x. Now if South plays a third round of Hearts then East will continue with Diamonds and the contract will go two down. Note that even if South has aggressively bid to game on the example above of ♠xx♥A9xxx♦Qx♣AKJx then giving a ruff and discard will also guarantee two trump tricks even though the Spade loser now disappears from the South hand.
2 Game on 21 points
Board 1 Wednesday 17 May– Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
J10xx
Q10xx
A10x
xx
|
|
Kx
A98x
x
AQJxxx
|
|
xxxx
KJxx
xxx
Kx
|
|
AQ9
x
KQxxxx
10xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Double
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
Redouble
3 Hearts
Pass
|
1 Diamond
2 Diamonds
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
2 Hearts
4 Hearts
|
Only one pair out of six managed to reach the excellent 4 Heart contract. In fact none of the other pairs even managed to play in Hearts ! ! !
When North doubles the overcall of 2 Clubs it is a good idea for East to redouble. This is best played as showing a tolerance for Clubs typically Honour x but may be two small since to overcall at the two level in a minor suit almost certainly guarantees a six card suit. West now bids 2 Hearts. Even though East has only seven points he is delighted to raise the Hearts because all of his points are working. West with his five loser hand goes to game.
On the lead of Ace and another Diamond, Declarer ruffs and then plays Ace of Hearts and a Heart to the Jack expecting the Hearts to be 4-1 after the negative double of the 2 Club overcall. It is important not to continue with a third round of Hearts at this point as otherwise Declarer will eventually run out of trumps later in the play. Declarer continues at trick five by playing Clubs. North ruffs the third round of Clubs at trick seven with the 10 of Hearts overtrumped with the King of Hearts in the Dummy. This leaves:-
|
J10xx
Q
x
None
|
|
Kx
9
None
Jxx
|
|
xxxx
x
x
None
|
|
AQ9
None
Kxx
None
|
|
Now a Spade from the Dummy at trick eight ensures that the Defence can only take two more tricks. (If South rises with the Ace of Spades to continue with Diamonds, Declarer simply ruffs with his last trump and continues with Clubs).
3 Looking for an alternative to 6NT
Board 4 Tuesday 30 May– Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
Ax
Axx
AQxx
Q9xx
|
|
QJ10xx
xxxx
10xx
x
|
|
Kxx
J10x
xx
J10xxx
|
|
Xxx
KQx
KJ9x
AKx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1NT
5 Clubs
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
4NT
5 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Many years ago Boris Schapiro writing in the Sunday Times Bridge Column recommended that after the auction starts 1NT – 4NT or 2NT – 4NT that the opener if he is non-minimum but with two four card suits should bid his lowest four card suit with a view to reaching slam in a suit contract rather than in notrumps.
The above hand is an excellent example of why this is a good idea. If the contract is 6NT then this either needs a 3-3 Club break or for East to have Jx or 10x in Clubs and for Declarer to finesse on the third round. However a contract of 6 Diamonds is excellent and almost certain to make as long as the Diamonds are not five nil (4%). Thus after the 4NT quantitative raise from South, North bids 5 Clubs showing at least four cards in Clubs, South bids 5 Diamonds and North raises to 6 Diamonds.
Should no 4-4 trump fit come to light then the partnership can sign off in 5NT. In other words if North’s second suit were in Hearts then the bidding would continue 5 Clubs – 5 Diamonds – 5 Hearts – 5NT – Pass.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the June 2017 duplicates
1 How to play the trump suit for the overtrick
Board 4 Wednesday 14 June – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
Qxxxx
AKQJ
x
xxx
|
|
A
xxx
J98xxx
Qxx
|
|
J9x
9x
KQx
KJ98x
|
|
K10xx
10xxx
A10x
Ax
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
4 Spades1
|
Pass
Pass
|
3 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Although minimum in points any hand with a 5-4-3-1 distribution should almost always accept a game invitation.
Every North who declared this hand on the lead of the 9 of Hearts played it on autopilot without stopping to think about the distribution of the East hand. Ten tricks are certain but in order to make an overtrick it is necessary to diagnose which of the two defenders is more likely to have been dealt the singleton Ace of Spades. Clearly the lead of the 9 of Hearts is either a singleton or doubleton. If East had been dealt a singleton Ace of Spades then this would mean that he would have started with 10 or 11 cards in the minor suits and would presumably have made some noise in the bidding. Therefore the only defender who might have started off with the singleton Ace of trumps is West. Accordingly after winning the first round of Hearts, Declarer should then cross to Dummy by playing a low Diamond to the Ace. Now a low Spade from the Dummy at trick three sees the Ace appear and when East still has to follow suit to the second round of Hearts then an overtrick is made for +650.
2 Which suit to return at trick four ?
Board 20 Wednesday 14 June – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
109x
xxx
AJ10976
J
|
|
Q9xxx
xx
53
K97x
|
|
Jx
QJx
K82
Q8xxx
|
|
AKx
AK10xx
Q4
A10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
|
3NT
|
Pass
Pass
|
The above is the agricultural sequence. Alternatively South might bid 2NT as an enquiry and then follow with a forcing 3 Hearts over 3 Diamonds.
Let us assume that the contract is 3NT and West leads a fourth highest Spade to the Jack and King. Declarer then leads the Queen of Diamonds which wins the trick as East follows low smoothly. Now Declarer plays a second Diamond to the Jack and King. How does East decide whether to return his partner’s suit Spades or switch to another suit (Clubs clearly being more promising than Hearts in view of the shortage in the Dummy).
The answer lies in having agreed with your partner that you are playing Smith Peters. A Smith Peter can be defined as follows: “Against no trumps, a defenders first spot card, unless it is essential to give the count should indicate attitude to the opening leader’s suit”. By petering in the first side suit played by Declarer West is conveying the message to East that he wants Spades continuing. If West fails to peter then he wants a switch to another suit. Here in following suit in Diamonds West plays the 3 followed by the 5 to say to partner “Do not return my suit, I want you to switch”. Having interpreted the message conveyed by the absence of a Smith Peter then East knows not to return a Spade. Accordingly he simply has to decide which Club to switch to. Whenever South started with either A10x or K10x it is essential to switch to the Queen of Clubs. With the Dummy now dead East later wins a Heart trick and continues Clubs defeating the contract by two tricks (four Club tricks, one Diamond trick and one Heart trick).
Note that South made a crucial error on the hand. When the Queen of
Diamonds won the second trick then South should have switched to Hearts guaranteeing nine tricks via four Heart tricks, two Diamond tricks, two Spade tricks and one Club trick.
3 Successfully avoiding 3NT
Board 6 Wednesday 21 June – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
|
98xx
J10x
Qxxx
J9
|
|
xx
Axx
K9xx
Q8xx
|
|
KQJx
x
A10x
AK10xx
|
|
A10x
KQxxxx
Jx
xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
2 Spades
3 Diamonds
3NT
4 Diamonds
Pass
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
3 Clubs
3 Hearts
4 Clubs
5 Clubs
|
On the above hand the secret is to avoid playing in 3NT which has no play provided that South is not careless enough to discard a Diamond on the fifth round of Clubs which happened at one table.
Playing 5 card majors West has little alternative but to bid 1NT after the 1 Heart overcall even though one would prefer to have a double Heart stop for such action. East reverses into Spades and West’s 3 Club bid is game forcing having shown 8 to 10 points with his 1NT bid. East now bids out his shape by bidding 3 Diamonds to suggest a 4=1=3=5 distribution. With only one Heart stop West now judges well to take out 3NT back into Clubs and the best game is reached.
One pair reached 5 Clubs and easily made 11 tricks. However at another table after the above auction East made an indisciplined raise to 6 Clubs. This was because he assumed wrongly that making 11 tricks in a minor suit would score badly. It is true that if 3NT is making 10 tricks then 11 tricks in a minor suit would score badly. However East should have considered the significant possibility that 3NT would not make 9 tricks if West had only one stopper in Hearts. Thus he was wrong to raise to slam. However the East in question justified his optimism with first class card play. At first glance it appears that 6 Clubs has no chance of making (unless the Queen & Jack of Diamonds are doubleton or South holds a singleton Quack (a quack is the recognized term for a Queen or Jack). However by reversing the Dummy East was able to create an end position where North was squeezed at trick ten.
The play went as follows:- The King of Hearts was won with the Ace and a Heart immediately ruffed. Then East exited with the King of Spades which South won with the Ace and played back the 10 of Spades at trick four. Declarer now played Ace of Clubs and the 10 of Clubs to the Queen drawing the trumps. At trick seven the third round of Hearts was ruffed with the King of Clubs. At trick eight the Queen of Spades was cashed. Now a low Club was played to the 8 at trick nine leaving the following ending:-
|
9
None
Qxx
None
|
|
None
None
K9x
x
|
|
x
None
A10x
None
|
|
None
Qx
Jx
None
|
|
At trick ten the play of the last Club from the Dummy inexorably squeezed the North hand who had to choose between discarding the winning 9 of Spades or discarding a Diamond which would allow Declarer to make the last trick with the 9 of Diamonds. The beauty of reversing the Dummy is that this allowed Declarer to make six trump tricks without having to ruff a Spade in the Dummy. Then because North had started with four Diamonds and at least four Spades he had too much to look after when the last Club was played from the Dummy.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the July 2017 duplicates
1 Slam try after sign-off accepted
Board 1 Tuesday 11 July – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
K9xx
10xxx
xx
Jxx
|
|
QJ10
AJx
AKQx
A109
|
|
A8xxx
Kxx
xxxx
Q
|
|
x
Q9x
J10x
Kxxxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Hearts
3NT
4 Hearts
5 Clubs
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2NT
3 Spades
4 Clubs
4NT
6 Spades
|
After transferring into Spades East then signs off in 3NT. At this point West knows that he is going to play in Spades but rather than lazily bidding 4 Spades it costs him nothing to cue-bid 4 Clubs. This conveys the message “I have three good Spades and a control in Clubs, there might be a slam on if you are maximum for your sign-off”. East now cue-bids the King of Hearts. West bids keycard just in case East has only ♠98xxx♥KQx♦xx♣KQx and the excellent slam is reached. The 4-1 Spade break means that there is a Spade loser. However an opening Heart lead would end any worries about where the Queen of Hearts is. On a Club lead to the Queen, King and Ace, declarer would also have the option of the ruffing finesse in Clubs to generate the 12th trick.
2 Smith Peters solves the problem !
Board 4 Thursday 20 July – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
Jxxx
QJ10x
KQ
AKx
|
|
Kxxx
A2
J8xxx
10x
|
|
xx
953
A9x
J9xxx
|
|
AQ10
K876
10xx
Qxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1NT
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
|
3NT1
|
Pass
Pass
|
1 Not recommended to use Stayman on a 4-3-3-3 shape.
Every single North who declared 3NT on a Club lead was allowed to make the contract. This can only have been because East West were not playing Smith Peters (see Tip No 2 June 2017).
As we saw last month a Smith Peter can be defined as follows: “Against no trumps, a defenders first spot card, unless it is essential to give the count should indicate attitude to the opening leader’s suit”. By petering in the first side suit played by Declarer East is able to convey a message to West as to whether he wants Clubs continuing. If East fails to peter then he wants a switch to another suit.
North wins the first Club trick with the King of Clubs and plays the Queen of Hearts at trick two. East plays the three of Hearts his lowest card to indicate to West that he has no interest in his original Club suit being returned. If on the other hand East had started off with A9xxx in Clubs he would want Clubs continuing and would therefore play the nine of Hearts his highest card to request a continuation of Clubs. West thus switches to his fourth highest Diamond. East wins the Ace of Diamonds at trick three and continues with the 9 of Diamonds. North can then cash all his Heart and Club winners ending in hand but is forced to take the Spade finesse at trick ten. When this loses West can cash two more Diamond tricks to defeat the contract by one trick (West will probably have discarded one Diamond on the last rounded winner in order to not bare the King of Spades).
3 Scientific sequence to slam
Board 15 Monday 24 July – Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
|
K9xx
AJxxx
Axx
x
|
|
Jx
xx
KQJx
QJxxx
|
|
10xxx
Qx
98xx
xxx
|
|
AQx
K10xx
10x
AK10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Clubs
3 Spades1
4 Clubs3
4NT
6 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
2 Hearts
3NT2
4 Spades
5 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Showing slam interest with an undisclosed singleton
2 Where is your singleton?
3 In Clubs
Only three pairs out of twelve managed to reach the excellent 6 Heart contract on the above hand. It makes when the Hearts are 2-2 or singleton Queen (Total 52.5%). When the Hearts are not favourable it also makes when the Spades are 3-3 allowing the Diamond loser to be discarded from the South hand. Thus we add 36% x 47.5% = 17%. Total probability of making the contract the contract is thus approximately 69.5%. (There would also be the very small probability of the Queen and Jack of Clubs dropping in three rounds allowing a second Diamond to be discarded from the North hand after ruffing a Club.)
The recommended bidding sequence to reach slam is as above. After using Stayman and receiving a positive response a bid at the 3 level in the other major is best played as showing slam interest with an undisclosed singleton. South enquires where the singleton is by bidding the next step ie 3NT over 3 Spades when Hearts is the agreed suit or 3 Spades over 3 Hearts when Spades is the agreed suit. North shows a singleton Club. However South is worried about there possibly being two losers in Diamonds so he cue-bids the Ace of Spades. North having control of Diamonds then bids RKCB and hears 3 keycards opposite. He does not enquire about the Queen of trumps with a view to a Grand Slam because he knows that South does not have the King of Diamonds.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the August 2017 duplicates
1 Opening lead critical
Board 8 Monday 7 August – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
J10x
K10x
QJ9xx
KQ
|
|
Kxx
87
xx
xxxxxx
|
|
AQxxxx
J96x
AKx
None
|
|
9
AQ5x
10xx
AJ10xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Diamond
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
4 Spades
Pass
|
Double
Double
|
Pass
2 Spades
Pass
|
Several North South pairs allowed 4 Spades doubled to make on the above hand when South made a poor opening lead.
South initially made a negative double after East’s 1 Spade overcall and then doubled 4 Spades for penalty having two Aces and eleven points. Those South’s who made the opening lead of a Diamond were soon to regret it. Declarer wins the Diamond with the King and continues with Ace of Diamonds and a Diamond ruff at trick three. He then plays the 8 of Hearts from Dummy, low from North, low from East, won by the Queen with South. Belatedly South switches to a Spade at trick five won with the King in the Dummy. Now a second Heart is played from the Dummy. North has to rise with the King in order to play a second round of trumps. However Declarer wins in hand and draws the last trump at trick eight. At trick nine East now applies the Coup de Grace by playing the Jack of Hearts, pinning North’s 10 and promoting the 9 of Hearts as the 10th trick.
While it is not generally recommended to lead a singleton trump here the indications were that it was the correct lead on this occasion. North South clearly had the balance of the high card strength while East must surely have a six card Spade suit and a very shapely hand to go straight to game after the single raise from West. Therefore the only way in which East West were likely to have a chance of making 4 Spades doubled would be if Declarer were able to score two ruffs in the Dummy. Note the difference which an initial trump lead makes. This has to be won in the Dummy and Ace of Diamonds, King of Diamonds and Diamond ruff follows. Now when a Heart is played from the Dummy at trick five North can rise with the King in order to play a second round of trumps. The difference now is that the remaining Hearts are 10x in the North hand, J96 in the East hand and AQ5 in the South hand. Declarer has to make the second lead of Hearts from his own hand and thus the 10 of Hearts is certain to make a trick so Declarer loses four tricks for +100 to North South.
2 Superior Grand Slam
Board 21 Tuesday 8 August – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
AK10
Kxx
AJ10x
AJx
|
|
xx
Jxxxx
xxx
109x
|
|
Jxxx
Q109x
Qxx
xx
|
|
Q9xx
A
Kxx
KQxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2NT
3 Diamonds
4 Diamonds1
4NT
5NT
7 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
3 Clubs
4 Clubs
4 Hearts
5 Spades
6 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Cue-bid agreeing Clubs
When North opens 2NT South knows that the partnership is heading for a minimum of a small slam as he holds 14 points and the partnership therefore possess a minimum of 34 points. However in order to give the partnership a chance of reaching a Grand Slam he should start off by bidding 3 Clubs, Stayman. North denies a major suit and now South rebids 4 Clubs showing a slam try in Clubs with at least a five card suit. If North did not like Clubs he would sign off in 4NT. Thus when North bids 4 Diamonds this is a cue-bid agreeing Clubs as trumps. South return cue-bids in Hearts. Now North wheels out Roman Key Card and on hearing that all the keycards are present bids 5NT asking if South has any extras. Holding the King of Diamonds and 14 points South is happy to bid 6 Diamonds and this is sufficient for North to gamble on the Grand Slam in Clubs.
7 Clubs is a significantly better contract than 7NT. This is because let us assume that the defence lead either a Heart or a Club (since a Diamond or Spade lead would immediately concede the thirteenth trick). On say a Club lead, trumps are drawn in three rounds followed by the unblocking of the Ace of Hearts. Now the King and Ace of Diamonds are cashed at tricks five and six followed by cashing the King of Hearts at trick seven on which the third Diamond is discarded from the South hand. Now the third round of Diamonds is ruffed at trick eight. When the Queen appears we now have the thirteenth trick. Only if the Queen has yet to make an appearance would we have to rely on the Jack of Spades dropping.
3 Fourteen top tricks
Board 15 Monday 28 August – Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
|
10xx
KJxx
109xxx
X
|
|
Kxxxx
Ax
AJx
Kxx
|
|
AQ
x
KQxx
AQJ10xx
|
|
Jxx
Q10xxxx
x
xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Spades
3 Hearts
4NT
7NT
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
3 Clubs
3 Spades
5 Diamonds
Pass
|
Only one pair out of twelve managed to reach 7 Clubs on the above hand and not a single pair managed to reach 7 Notrumps despite there being 14 top tricks (16 given that the Spades are 3-3).
The best way for East to start to describe his hand after West opens a 15-17 Notrump is to transfer into Clubs. Over the 2 Spade bid West has a choice between bidding 2NT and 3 Clubs. In previous issues I have recommended that by opener bidding the minor directly this promises a fit for the minor which is defined as Qxx or better. If West did not like Clubs he would bid 2NT.
East should then bid 3 Hearts which as previously explained in Tip No3 September 2015 shows a singleton in that major. West might then bid RKCB but it is better for West to cue-bid 3 Spades. The reason for this is that by waiting for East to bid Roman Key Card West is able to show where 14 of his points lie. Thus in responding 5 Diamonds to show 3 keycards, East knows that all the keycards are present plus the King of Spades shown on the previous round of bidding. Thus there are a minimum of 13 tricks (6 Club tricks, three Diamond tricks, three Spade tricks and one Heart trick).
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the September 2017 duplicates
1 No one reaches par !
Board 3 Thursday 14 September – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
|
AJ9xxx
Qx
Kx
xxx
|
|
Qxx
J842
xxx
KJ9
|
|
None
AK9xx
AQJ10xx
Qx
|
|
K10xx
10x
xx
A10xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Spades
Pass
Pass
|
4 Diamonds
Double
Pass
|
Pass
4 Spades
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
5 Hearts
|
There were an astonishing NINE different contracts at the eleven tables on this board but not one of them reached what I consider to be the par contract of 5 Hearts plus one for East West.
After two passes North is most likely to open a weak 2 Spades. While he is too strong for such an action at Green if first or second in hand it is perfectly in order to have 10 points for a third in hand weak two because you know there is no chance of game for North South after partner has passed but equally with very little defence outside Spades a weak two best describes the hand.
East is now able to use a convention called LEAPING MICHAELS. By jumping to four of a minor over a weak two in a major you are showing at least 5-5 distribution in the other major and the minor suit in which you have jumped. South takes advantage of the vulnerability to bid 4 Spades knowing that he can afford to go three down doubled for -500. West should pass because he is too flat to bid 5 Hearts voluntarily. When 4 Spades comes back to East he should double to show a very strong Leaping Michaels hand. At teams West should probably take the money from 4 Spades doubled which is 500 but at pairs he expects to make 5 Hearts on the majority of occasions holding four trumps to an honour plus the high Club honour so he should bid 5 Hearts.
5 Hearts makes if either the trumps come in (52%) or the Diamond finesse works (50% of the remaining 48%) – total probability of success 76%. On this occasion both are favourable and +680 results.
One other point to note is that if East West do choose to defend 4 Spades doubled they need to defend accurately to take +500 rather than +300. East will make the opening lead of the King of Hearts (King for COUNT). West plays the 8 (second highest from four cards). Now East continues with the Ace of Hearts. The Heart that West plays on the second round will determine which suit East switches to at trick three. If West held the King of Diamonds he would play the Jack of Hearts on the second round asking partner to switch to the higher ranking suit (ie Diamonds rather than Clubs). On this occasion West will play the 2 of Hearts on the second round which categorically denies a top Diamond honour and accordingly East will switch to the Queen of Clubs ensuring that the Defence take the maximum penalty available of 500.
2 Game universally missed
Board 27 Monday 25 September – Vulnerability White – Dealer South
|
Qxxxx
Kxx
10xx
Kx
|
|
x
xx
AJxxx
AQ10xx
|
|
A109x
Ax
KQxx
Jxx
|
|
KJx
QJ10xxx
x
xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
3 Hearts
Pass
Pass
|
Double
5 Diamonds
|
2 Hearts
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
4NT
Pass
|
All of the eight East West pairs who played this hand failed to reach the laydown game in Diamonds.
South has a routine 2 Heart opener. West has to pass because he is too weak to take any action at the three level. North should raise to 3 Hearts because he knows that East West must have at least a ten trick contract available in one of the minor suits (or possibly even 3NT). As neither side is vulnerable it is fairly safe for East to make a takeout double of 3 Hearts.
The spotlight now turns to West. Having passed with 11 points and 5-5 in the minor suits it is a near certainty that East West can make game in a minor. Accordingly he should jump to 4NT to convey the message “please pick game in either minor suit”. East duly obliges. In fact this hand is one of the rare breed called a 5 or 7 hand. That is because on a Heart lead against 5 Diamonds just 11 tricks will be made if the Club finesse fails but all 13 tricks will be made if the Club finesse succeeds as the Heart loser will disappear on the long Clubs.
3 Two different auctions to game
Board 17 Thursday 28 September – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
J10
Q10xxx
xx
KQ10x
|
|
AQx
x
AK98xxx
Jx
|
|
xx
J98xx
Q10x
Axx
|
|
Kxxxxx
AK
J
9xxx
|
|
How should East West get to game on the above hand after:-
A) South opens 1 Spade after two passes?
B) South opens 2 Spades after two passes?
In case A West should overcall 2 Diamonds generally showing a six card suit and 10 to 16 points. North will double to show Hearts and East should raise to 3 Diamonds. South passes and now West should bid 3NT. West knows that the Diamonds are almost certain to run for 7 tricks since even if East’s Diamonds are three small the probability of the missing 3 Diamonds breaking 2-1 is 78%. While it might appear that it is dangerous for West to bid 3NT with no stop in Hearts on further examination of the bidding this is not so. This is because North is unlikely to have more than five cards in Hearts as he did not open a weak two and equally South can hardly have more than three cards in Hearts as he would otherwise have bid 3 Hearts over 3 Diamonds following North’s negative double of the 2 Diamond overcall. Accordingly East must have a minimum of four cards in Hearts which is highly likely to include at least one honour. Therefore West can bid 3NT with every confidence that at least nine tricks will be forthcoming via seven Diamond tricks and two Spade tricks.
In case B West should jump to 3NT over a 2 Spade opener. This may at first sight seem wild with only fourteen points. However as North has already passed as dealer it is probable that East has in the region of 7 to 10 points given that South has implied a maximum of 10 points for his weak two. Note that on this occasion it is perfectly OK for South open 2 Spades at White opposite a passed hand despite having eleven points as he knows that there is very unlikely to be a game on for North South. If over a weak 2 Spades West chose to just bid 3 Diamonds it would be extremely difficult for East to take any action with just seven points and game in Diamonds looking a very tall order.
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|
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the October 2017 duplicates
1 Remarkable trump promotion
Board 5 Tuesday 3 October – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
AJ8xx
xx
Kx
Qxxx
|
|
xx
AK8
xxx
A109xx
|
|
K10xx
7xx
J109x
KJ
|
|
Q9
QJ109x
AQxx
xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
1 Spade
2 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
2 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
This hand caught my eye when I realized that it is possible for East West to make a third trump trick with the eight of Hearts following a remarkable trump promotion.
In the bidding North is not quite strong enough to bid 2NT over South’s rebid of 2 Diamonds especially in view of his poor intermediates and so contents himself with simply giving a preference to Hearts.
West is not keen to lead the unbid suit Clubs as it is headed by the Ace and so instead leads the top of his doubleton Spade. East wins with the King and returns a Spade won in the South hand with the Queen. South now starts to draw trumps (he does not need to ruff a Diamond because after trumps have been drawn the losing Diamond will be discarded on a Spade winner in the Dummy). Say South leads the Queen of Hearts at trick three. West wins with the King and continues with Ace and another Club at tricks four and five. East wins the second round of Clubs with the King and plays a third round of Spades. South ruffs with the nine and following general principles in these instances West discards a minor suit because he sees the possibility of the eight of Hearts becoming significant. At trick seven South continues with the Jack of Hearts. West wins with the Ace and now applies the coup de grace by playing a third round of Clubs. East ruffs with the vital 7 of Hearts which South overruffs with the ten but abracadabra the eight of Hearts is now a master ! Result one down for plus 100 to East West.
2 Trump suit bid for the first time at the six level !
St Titus League Match
Board 4 Wednesday 4 October – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
Qxxxx
109xx
Qxx
x
|
|
AKxx
Jxx
Kx
A9xx
|
|
J
x
A109xxx
KQ87x
|
|
10xx
AKQxx
Jx
J10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
3 Diamonds
3 Spades
4 Hearts
5 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Double
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
3 Hearts1
4 Diamonds
4NT
6 Clubs
|
1 Sets Clubs as trumps
The above hand had a textbook bidding sequence to 6 Clubs by Byrne/Newman as East West in a recent league match.
As previously explained in Tip No 2 October 2014 a jump to 3 Diamonds over 1NT should be played as showing at least 5-5 in the minors game forcing with possible interest in slam. Over 3 Diamonds if opener is very strong in the majors and has no interest in playing in a minor suit then he bids 3NT. If opener wishes to set Clubs as trumps he bids 3 Hearts while if opener wishes to set Diamonds as trumps he bids 3 Spades. The beauty of this is that responder knows which trump suit has been agreed.
After agreeing Clubs by rebidding 3 Hearts East then cue-bid in Spades and West cue-bid in Diamonds. Finally when East bid cue-bid 4 Hearts (doubled by South) West knew that there was no danger of there being two losers in Hearts and so was able to bid RKCB for Clubs reaching the excellent slam with just a combined 25 points. North opened with a Heart lead but there were no problems in the play and a score of 1370 to East West resulted. (Note that in the play of the trump suit it is important to start off with the Ace in case North started with J10xx which would arise 5 times in 100). The amusing thing about the auction was that the final bid was the first time that the trump suit had actually been bid!
3 Par not achieved at any table
Board 2 Wednesday 25 October – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
|
109xxx
Kxx
J10xx
x
|
|
x
QJxxx
xx
AQJxx
|
|
Qxx
A9xx
xx
10xxx
|
|
AKJx
10
AKQxx
Kxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
4 Spades
Double
|
Pass
4 Hearts
5 Hearts
Pass
|
1 Diamond
Double
Pass
Pass
|
2NT
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
At the six tables where this board was played not a single one ended in what I consider the par contract of 5 Hearts doubled minus one for 100 to North South.
At the favourable vulnerability West has an ideal hand for an overcall of 2NT showing at least 5-5 distribution in Hearts and Clubs. North should pass as he only has four points and three of these are in a suit held by West. East should now jump to 4 Hearts because in addition to being not vulnerable he knows that his side possess a nine card fit in both Hearts and Clubs. South makes a take out double of 4 Hearts and North is delighted to bid 4 Spades because South should have a minimum of three Spades in addition to a strong hand to make such a bid. The spotlight now returns to East. It is extremely unlikely that 4 Spades will not make but what is absolutely certain is that the penalty for going down in 5 Hearts doubled cannot possibly be greater than the value of the opposition making 620 or 650 in 4 Spades.
South now makes a forcing pass over 5 Hearts and North should unquestionably double 5 Hearts. Although it is possible to make 5 Spades seeing all four hands the correct bid is definitely double because holding the King of Hearts opposite a singleton in the South hand does not make it attractive to bid on.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the November 2017 duplicates
1 Too strong for strong no trump
Board 26 Monday 27 November – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
K10xx
Kxx
J9xxx
J
|
|
AQ9xx
Qxxx
x
Qxx
|
|
Jx
J109x
K10x
9xxx
|
|
xx
Ax
AQ8x
AK10xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1NT
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
3NT
|
1 Spade
Pass
|
Only two out of eight pairs managed to reach 3NT on the above hand. I would guess that this may have been because some Souths may have opened a 15-17 No trump and if West intervened to show the majors by overcalling 2 Clubs then North South on several occasions languished in a part score in Diamonds. The South hand with 17 points, three Aces and a five card suit is too strong for 1NT. Accordingly South should open 1 Club. West will overcall 1 Spade and North should bid 1NT. Note that after an overcall 1NT by North is not a dustbin bid but is a constructive bid showing 8 to 10 points (perhaps a good 7 ½) and at least one Spade stop. South then has a comfortable raise to game and even if East finds the best lead of the Jack of Hearts North should have no trouble in making nine tricks after losing one Diamond trick. (Although seeing all four hands the Diamond suit can be picked up without loss Declarer has no reason to play for East having started with K10x and so in practice will lose a Diamond trick, making four Diamonds, two Clubs, two Hearts and one Spade for +600.)
2 Slam on 24 points
Board 11 Wednesday 29 November – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
J10x
10
AKJ10xxxx
x
|
|
xxx
xx
xx
KJ10xxx
|
|
AKQxxx
Jxxx
x
Qx
|
|
x
AKQ9xx
Qx
Axxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Diamonds
3 Diamonds
4NT
6 Diamonds
|
2 Spades
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
3 Clubs
4 Spades
5 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Only one pair out of six managed to reach the laydown 6 Diamonds.
After the 2 Spade overcall South is strong enough to bid 3 Clubs which should be played as Game forcing. North emphasises his Diamonds showing a minimum of six cards. Now South has a choice. While he might be tempted to rebid his Hearts to show six it is much more sensible for him to jump to 4 Spades as a splinter bid agreeing Diamonds since Qx is excellent support opposite a minimum of six cards in the North hand. Now North has an easy RKCB bid and on hearing either a response of 5 Hearts or 5 Spades can bid the slam with confidence.
3 Slam universally missed
Board 14 Wednesday 29 November – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
|
xx
Q9x
xxxx
J10xx
|
|
AK108xxx
J
AQJxx
None
|
|
J9
AKxxxxx
x
Qxx
|
|
Qx
10x
K10x
AK9xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
3 Clubs
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
Pass
3 Spades
4 Hearts
Pass
|
2 Clubs
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Spades
3 Diamonds
4 Clubs
6 Spades
|
None of the six tables managed to reach the excellent 6 Spade contract. I suspect that this may have been because East rebid his Hearts over North’s 3 Club bid. Having opened on just 10 HCPs East is best advised to pass the 3 Club bid since West will bid again if strong enough. When West bids 3 Diamonds at his second bid then again East should not rebid his Hearts because holding J9 of Spades having not supported Spades on the previous round is excellent support. The point to appreciate is that if for instance West’s distribution had been say 5=2=5=1 or 6=2=4=1 then he would probably have reopened the bidding with a double rather than showing his second suit so he is less likely to have two cards in Hearts.
Over 3 Spades West cue-bids 4 Clubs and East should cuebid 4 Hearts which should definitely show the Ace opposite known shortage. Now West can bid the slam with confidence because the Diamond finesse is a heavy favourite to work on the bidding after South’s overcall in Clubs. On the Jack of Clubs lead Declarer should ruff and then play a Heart to the Ace. He then finesses the Jack of Diamonds, cashes the Ace of Diamonds and ruffs a Diamond. When the King drops 12 tricks are assured and now trumps are drawn making all 13 tricks when the Queen of trumps falls. Even if the King of Diamonds had not appeared on the third round then Declarer could have ruffed another Club before trumping the fourth round of Diamonds in the Dummy again making the contract.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the December 2017 duplicates
1 Textbook rectification of the count
Board 24 Thursday 14 December – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
Jxx
Q108xx
1098x
10
|
|
KQx
xxx
AKx
K9xx
|
|
Axx
AK9x
Qxxx
AQ
|
|
10xxx
J
Jx
Jxxxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
|
6NT
|
Pass
|
1NT
Pass
|
Note that in the bidding as East knows that the partnership possess at least 34 points then no purpose is served in using Stayman.
The above hand is a textbook example of how when you are in a notrump slam with only eleven top tricks that you should lose an early trick in order to subsequently leave the defenders with too much to do in keeping a stop in the key suits. Such a process is technically known as rectifying the count. Here West has eleven top winners with several chances to develop a twelfth trick.
The safest opening lead against the slam is for North to lead the 10 of Diamonds. Against a no trump slam you are not trying to establish tricks but simply trying to avoid giving away a trick. West has eleven top tricks and the only suit in which he can afford to concede a trick without losing the chance of an extra trick is in Hearts. Accordingly after winning the first trick with the King of Diamonds West should play a Heart and duck in the Dummy. South wins with the Jack of Hearts and returns the Jack of Diamonds. West should win with the Ace and now continue with the Ace and King of Hearts discovering that North started with five Hearts. At tricks six and seven the Ace and Queen of Clubs are unblocked from the Dummy. Now three rounds of Spades are cashed from tricks eight to ten leaving:-
|
None
Q
98
None
|
|
None
None
x
K9
|
|
None
9
Qx
None
|
|
10
None
None
Jx
|
|
West plays the King of Clubs and because North has to discard before East the last two tricks will be won in the Dummy. If North throws his winning Heart then Dummy throws the small Diamond, if North throws a Diamond then Dummy throws the 9 of Hearts. This is a positional squeeze and only works because North has to discard before East. If the North and South hands were reversed then the squeeze would not work.
2 Responder takes charge
Board 8 Monday 18 December – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
Kx
Qx
KQxxx
Qxxx
|
|
Axx
AKJxx
10
KJ98
|
|
QJ10xxx
x
AJxxx
A
|
|
xx
1098xx
xx
10xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
2 Diamonds
4NT
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
2 Clubs
3 Spades
5 Hearts
Pass
|
Only one pair out of twelve managed to reach the excellent 6 Spade contract on this hand.
After a routine start of 1 Heart – 1 Spade – 2 Clubs the East hand is too strong for an invitational bid of 3 Spades and so should use fourth suit forcing to request more information from partner. West is delighted to jump to 3 Spades. Not only does this show three card Spade support in a 3=5=1=4 shape but it also shows extra strength. This is because as previously illustrated (refer to Tip No 1 January 2014 or Tip No 3 August 2012) if opener has a minimum 3=5=1=4 shape in the range 11 to 14 points you must raise the major suit immediately because you are not strong enough to bid two suits and then go back to responder’s first bid suit.
East now knowing that West has a Diamond shortage can take charge. There is no need for him to cue-bid because he does not need the King of Diamonds to make slam. He can immediately bid Roman Key Card Blackwood and jump to 6 Spades on hearing of 2 keycards opposite.
In the play South is likely to lead a Diamond. On winning with the Ace of Diamonds Declarer should not draw trumps but should instead ruff Diamonds twice in the Dummy and then discard his fourth and fifth Diamonds on the King of Clubs and King of Hearts losing only one trick to the King of trumps.
3 King for Count or Unblock, Ace for Attitude
Board 2 Wednesday 20 December – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
|
QJ10xx
Jx
xx
109xx
|
|
xxxx
10x
AKJ10x
xx
|
|
Kx
Q98xx
Q9xx
Xx
|
|
Ax
AKxx
xx
AKQJx
|
|
Three of the North South pairs who reached 3NT were allowed to make this contract because on the lead of the King of Diamonds East failed to throw the Queen under it. When you have a very strong suit either AKJxx or AKJ10x you should start off by leading the King. This demands that either partner shows his count in the suit or unblocks by throwing the Queen under the King. For instance if the suit were divided:-
xxx
AKJ10x 9x
Qxx
Then on the lead of the King East would play the 9. This would deny the Queen but would make West aware that South had at least three cards in the suit and West would switch suits and hope that East would later on be able to lead through Declarer’s remaining Queen.
When East failed to throw the Queen of Diamonds under the King then West naturally switched to the 10 of Hearts allowing the contract to be made.
If instead West had started off with only four cards AKJx in Diamonds he would lead the Ace for Attitude. Here East would encourage if he had the Queen but discourage if he did not have the Queen. The point being that if the suit is divided:-
xx
AKJx Q9x
108xx
Then you do not want partner throwing the Queen under the Ace because now Declarer will make a trick with the 10 on the fourth round.
I understand that at one of the three tables where East did not thrown the Queen under the King that divorce proceedings are now under way !
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the January 2016 duplicates
1 Dubious balancing severely punished
Manchester Congress Teams – Session Two
Board 11 Sunday 3 January – Vulnerability White – Dealer South
|
xx
AKxxx
xx
J10xx
|
|
QJ10x
10x
9xx
AQxx
|
|
Axx
Q9x
K10xx
Kxx
|
|
K9xx
Jxx
AQJx
xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Hearts
|
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
?
|
After two passes my partner in the Congress Teams Final opened a slightly off centre weak 2 Hearts. While this might seem rather dangerous it is a common tactic third in hand at Green or White and is also attractive when holding two cards or fewer in the unbid major. When this came back to West he rather unwisely chose to balance with a takeout double. I consider this unwise because holding 10x in Hearts it was extremely unlikely that East held a penalty double of 2 Hearts in which case he would be able to convert the takeout double to penalty by passing.
East decided to bid his four card Diamond suit and as South I smelt blood. While it would be possible to construct hands where 3 Diamonds is making I expected that on at least four out of five occasions I would get a penalty of 300 or more by doubling. It was quite likely that my partner was not minimum 5 or 6 points in view of West having already passed. According I doubled for penalty. After a low Heart lead partner won with the King and immediately switched to his doubleton Spade. I won with the King and continued Spades. This resulted in partner being subsequently able to trump the third round of Spades. Declarer could have escaped for three down -500 but no doubt flustered by the turn of events he lost a further trick and went four down -800 giving our team a gain of 12 IMPS on the deal.
Note that East holding such a flat hand would have been much better advised to bid 2 Spades on Axx rather than 3 Diamonds in response to the balancing double. This is because West by doubling as a passed hand was guaranteeing four cards in Spades. Had East chosen 2 Spades rather than 3 Diamonds this would have been passed out and the contract would have gone a quiet one down for 50 to North South.
2 Well judged by North
Manchester Congress Teams – Session Two
Board 26 Sunday 3 January – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
Qx
AKxx
10xx
AJxx
|
|
J108x
J10
AJ9xx
xx
|
|
K9xx
xxx
KQxx
Kx
|
|
Axx
Qxxx
x
Q10xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Club
2 Hearts
4 Hearts
|
Pass
Double
2 Spades
|
Pass
1 Heart
3 Clubs
|
Pass
1 Spade
Pass
|
My partner in the Congress Teams Final judged the bidding very well on this hand to accept my game try.
Playing 5 card majors North opened 1 Club fourth in hand. East having already passed now made a takeout double showing 9-11 points. I bid 1 Heart and West bid 1 Spade. North raised to 2 Hearts which guaranteed four card support as with only three Hearts North would have made a Support Double (invented by Eric Rodwell in the early 1990’s). East bid 2 Spades and now I made a game try of 3 Clubs.
In deciding whether to accept my game try my partner attempted to build up a picture of my distribution. It was almost certain that the opposition only held an eight card Spade fit since if West held five Spades he would have jumped to 2 Spades to crowd the auction. Furthermore in order to make a game try as a passed hand I must have an unbalanced hand with either five Hearts and four Clubs or four Hearts and five Clubs. Accordingly my distribution must be either 3=5=1=4 or 3=4=1=5. In either case as my partner held no wasted Diamond honours opposite my likely singleton the hands were fitting extremely well together and thus the game try was accepted by jumping to 4 Hearts.
In the play West opened with the Jack of Spades which was covered with the Queen and King. I let the opposition win the first trick and they switched to Diamonds and I ruffed the second round of Diamonds. It was important to establish the side suit Clubs before drawing trumps and so I ran the Queen of Clubs which lost to the King at trick four. Now I was home whatever East did at trick five provided that the trumps split 3-2 since even on a trump return I could draw three rounds of trumps and Dummy’s third Diamond will eventually be discarded on the fifth Club.
The reason why it is important for the Ace of Spades to be held up at trick one is that suppose East held a 4=3=5=1 distribution with the singleton King of Clubs he would be able to reach his partner’s hand with the 10 of Spades and obtain a Club ruff had I won the first trick. By holding up the Ace of Spades this possibility was avoided.
My partner’s good judgment in the bidding won our team 10 IMPS.
3 Minor suit game missed
Board 1 Thursday 28 January – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
Axx
A10xxx
10x
J7x
|
|
Qxx
xxx
AJ8xx
xx
|
|
K108xx
QJx
K9xx
x
|
|
Jx
Kx
Qx
AKQ10xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
1 Heart
3 Spades
5 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
3 Clubs
4 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Only one pair out of nine managed to reach game in Clubs on this hand.
With seven and a half tricks South is obliged to jump to 3 Clubs following North’s response of 1 Heart to his opening bid. What should North say over that? He cannot rebid the Hearts because that would promise a six carder and it would be a gamble to bid 3NT with no Diamond stop. Accordingly North should rebid 3 Spades even though he only has three cards in the suit. By bidding 3 Spades North is showing that he has a stop in Spades and more often than not it implies five cards in Hearts. (Note that there is no danger of South raising Spades since he has denied holding four cards by bidding 3 Clubs over 1 Heart). South then knows that 3NT is not sensible because he only holds Qx in Diamonds. Accordingly he signs off in 4 Clubs. However North holding two Aces plus Jxx in Clubs has enough to believe that 5 Clubs will have a play. The Defence should start off with Ace of Diamonds and another Diamond (the correct defence because the bidding has told the world that North South do not have a Diamond stop). Assuming a trump switch at trick three Declarer then draws trumps in two rounds leaving the Jack in the Dummy. He can then establish the Hearts even assuming the most likely 4-2 break. Should the defence switch to a Spade at trick three then Declarer should only draw one round of trumps before establishing the Hearts (because if he draws two rounds he will lack the entries to reach the long Heart on the likely 4-2 break in Hearts).
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the March 2016 duplicates
1 Not the classical shape but correct to double
Board 20 Monday 21 March – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
x
QJ109x
xx
KJxxx
|
|
Q10x
xx
Axxx
10xxx
|
|
KJxxx
Kx
KQJx
xx
|
|
A9xx
Axxx
xxx
AQ
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
4 Hearts
|
1 Spade
Pass
|
Double
Pass
|
Pass
2 Spades
Pass
|
I was fascinated to note that seven out of eight pairs played in Spades by East West and the only North South pair who played in Hearts did so only at the three level.
The reason for this is that after East opened 1 Spade it was clear from the scores that all the Souths passed. West raised to 2 Spades and there the bidding ended. However while South’s shape is not the classical shape for a takeout double in that it has length in Spades it is correct to double. This is because the crucial thing is that South has four cards in the unbid major and holding three Aces the hand is far from minimum. It is true that occasionally by choosing to double the partnership may end up in an ungainly 4-2 fit in Clubs but this will happen very rarely. Note that North will always bid a four card Heart suit ahead of a five card minor suit on this auction.
Once South does decide to double then it is easy for North holding an attractive 1=5=2=5 shape and only seven losers to go straight go game in Hearts. With the Heart finesse working then this should make an overtrick with careful play losing just two tricks in Diamonds.
2 Scientific approach not best
Board 25 Monday 21 March – Vulnerability East West – Dealer North
|
A109xx
Kx
xxxxx
x
|
|
Qxx
10xxx
AQ10
QJx
|
|
x
AJxxxx
None
AK1098x
|
|
KJxx
Q
KJxxx
xxx
|
|
Assume that you open 1 Heart on the East hand and West jumps to 3 Hearts what should you now do as East. The hand has enormous playing potential and if West held ♠AJx ♥Kxxx ♦Qxxx ♣Jx then you are likely to make all thirteen tricks. However at the other end of the scale if West held ♠KQx ♥109xx ♦KQx ♣xxx then if the Clubs do not come in you might make only 10 tricks.
There are thus three possible choices:-
1 Cue bid 4 Clubs hoping to hear West cue-bid 4 Spades.
2 Jump to 5 Diamonds – Exclusion Key Card Blackwood – asking partner to count his keycards excluding the Ace of Diamonds.
3 Simply jump to 6 Hearts.
In the Monday Duplicate only three pairs out of eight bid to slam and only one of these three made the contract. I made further enquiries and discovered that the successful pair simply chose Option 3 and jumped to 6 Hearts. The reason why this was successful is that on this auction South would either lead a neutral Club or his fourth highest Diamond. He would have no reason to lead a Spade which would have defeated the slam.
On the other hand if East chose Option 1 and cue bid 4 Clubs then when West cue-bid 4 Diamonds South would be much more likely to lead a Spade against either 4 Hearts or 6 Hearts. Equally if East chose Option 2 and asked for keycards outside Diamonds then South would definitely not lead a Diamond knowing that the East hand were void in Diamonds.
So the moral is that as the chances of making all thirteen tricks are extremely low the practical choice for East is simply to jump to 6 Hearts which is what he expects to make on the majority of occasions. After all if a Spade is cashable then the opposition may need to lead Spades at trick one and even then if West’s Hearts are Q10xx or Kxxx then the slam is still a good bet.
3 Slam on 24 points
Board 5 Monday 28 March – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
QJxx
xxx
xx
9xxx
|
|
Ax
Qxxx
KQ10xxx
x
|
|
K109x
None
A9x
KQJxxx
|
|
xxx
AKJ10xx
Jx
A10
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
2 Spades
4 Hearts
6 Diamonds
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
3 Diamonds
4 Spades
Pass
|
Not a single pair managed to bid to the 90% small slam in Diamonds (only going down on a Heart lead if the trumps break 4-nil).
Having opened 1 Club East is forced to rebid 2 Spades over West’s 2 Diamond bid. Note that this is not a reverse as if South had not overcalled then East would have rebid 1 Spade after West’s response of 1 Diamond.
West should definitely rebid his Diamonds to show a strong six card suit. Now the East hand has become extremely powerful and the most descriptive bid is for East to jump to 4 Hearts as a splinter bid confirming Diamonds as trumps and showing a singleton or void in Hearts. West should now cue-bid 4 Spades and this is enough for East to jump to slam in Diamonds. Note that even if West’s Spades were Axx instead of Ax there is no danger of a third round Spade loser because the Clubs can be established to deal with any slow Spade loser.
On a Heart lead this is ruffed in the Dummy and the King of Clubs played. South wins with the Ace. Declarer can now either establish the Clubs (as long as he wins a Spade switch with the Ace) or he can take a second Heart ruff for 12 tricks.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the May 2016 duplicates
1 Stopping the tenth trick
Board 10 Monday 23 May – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
AK
AKJ9xxx
xx
Q10
|
|
109xxx
x
K10xx
xxx
|
|
Qx
Q10x
Q9x
AKxxx
|
|
Jxxx
xx
AJxx
Jxx
|
|
At all eight tables every single East player woodenly allowed declarer to make a tenth trick in Hearts whether the contract was 3 Hearts or 4 Hearts.
For those playing a weak no trump by East West the auction is more likely to end in 3 Hearts:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
3 Hearts
|
1NT
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
|
2 Hearts
Pass
|
West transfers into Spades and North bids his Hearts at the three level. It is then difficult for South to know whether he has enough for game and at pairs he is likely to pass.
For those East Wests playing a strong no trump then North South are more likely to get to game via:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Double
3 Hearts
|
1 Club
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
1 Spade
4 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
The opening lead should be the King of Clubs (KING for COUNT). West plays low to show an odd number of Clubs. Every single East has then woodenly cashed the Ace of Clubs at trick two and then looked around for inspiration. But the horse has already bolted. When partner plays a low Club at trick one there is a very high risk that Declarer started with Q10 Doubleton in Clubs and the danger of the Jack of Clubs being established for a discard should be blazingly obvious. It is essential that East must switch at trick two. With the Jack of Spades in the Dummy it is not very attractive for East to switch to a Spade at trick two holding Qx and accordingly he should instead choose a low Diamond which sets up the defensive Diamond trick before the Ace of Clubs is dislodged keeping the contract to nine tricks.
2 Too strong for just game
Board 17 Monday 23 May – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
AQ10x
AQJxxxx
x
A
|
|
xxx
Kxx
K10x
Qxxx
|
|
J9xx
None
xxx
KJ9xxx
|
|
Kx
10xx
AQJxxx
xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Heart
5 Hearts
|
3 Clubs
Pass
|
3 Diamonds
6 Hearts
|
4 Clubs
|
Only one pair out of eight bid to 6 Hearts making all thirteen tricks when the Heart finesse works.
What should North say when having opened 1 Heart the bidding is suddenly at the four level when he next has a chance to speak. To simply bid 4 Hearts is far too cautious with a hand containing only three losers. Equally if North cue-bid 5 Clubs then this would agree Diamonds. North must therefore either make a wild leap to six Hearts or more sensibly should invite slam by jumping to 5 Hearts. How does South know that he has suitable cards for slam. Well he has three trumps, the Ace of his own suit and the King of Spades with partner certain to have some length in Spades (given that North is unlikely to have more than one Club and has not shown interest in playing in Diamonds).
In 6 Hearts on a Club lead Declarer should cross to the Ace of Diamonds at trick two and play a low Heart to the Jack. He then ruffs the third round of Spades and repeats the Heart finesse making all thirteen tricks.
3 Monster three pointer
Board 12 Monday 30 May – Vulnerability North South – Dealer West
|
10xxxx
x
K98x
xxx
|
|
Qxxx
J10xx
xx
xxx
|
|
KJx
AKxx
Q
KQ1098
|
|
A
Q9xx
AJ10xxx
AJ
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
2 Diamonds
4 Diamonds
Pass
|
1 Club
Double
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
2 Hearts
5 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Only one pair out of six bid to the excellent 5 Diamond contract on this hand.
South has a routine overcall of 1 Diamond after East opens 1 Club. North has four card trump support and at Green or White it is always best to raise immediately to the level of the fit (ie bid to the three level with nine trumps and the four level with ten trumps). However the Red vulnerability means that some caution is in order and accordingly North just gives a single raise to 2 Diamonds. East doubles 2 Diamonds for takeout with a singleton Diamond and sixteen points outside Diamonds. South now bids 2 Hearts showing a very strong overcall and an interest in game despite North’s very weak bid. What should North bid over 2 Hearts. Well although he only has three points he has a fourth trump and the singleton Heart is worth its weight in gold. Accordingly he jumps to 4 Diamonds and South is delighted to go to game.
If West leads Clubs, his partner’s opening suit then game is easily made as it is easy for Declarer to trump three Hearts in the Dummy. However if West opens with the best lead of a trump then Declarer has to be careful. On winning the first trick with the Ace of Diamonds he has to maximize the chances of West being unable to lead a second round of trumps. In other words it is essential that East has the Ace and King of Hearts. Accordingly Declarer leads the Queen of Hearts from hand at trick two and the defence cannot play a second round of Diamonds so there are then no problems in being able to trump all three losing Hearts in the Dummy before finally drawing the outstanding trump.
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|
|
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the June 2016 duplicates
1 Balanced slam try after Stayman
Board 1 Monday 13 June – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
QJ10x
K10
AKxx
Qxx
|
|
Kx
Qxx
Qxxx
10xxx
|
|
xxx
98xxx
10xx
Jx
|
|
Axxx
AJx
Jx
AK9x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1NT
2 Spades
4 Hearts
5 Clubs
5 Hearts2
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
4 Diamonds
4NT
5 Diamonds1
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Have you got the Queen of Spades
2 Yes and the King of Hearts
Only one pair out of seven managed to bid to the excellent 6 Spade contract on this hand.
After using Stayman and discovering a fit exists how should responder continue? Well a jump to 4NT would be quantitative not Roman Key Card Blackwood. Thus it is recommended that a jump to 4 Clubs should be Roman Key Card Blackwood while a jump to 4 Diamonds shows a balanced slam try (15-17 HCPs) with four card support for opener’s major suit but no shortage.
Over 4 Diamonds although the North hand has only 15 points he does have reasonable trumps so he bids 4 Hearts as a forward going move. This is sufficient encouragement for South to then bid RKCB leading to the excellent slam. Against 6 Spades it is quite likely that East may open with a passive Heart which immediately yields the 12th trick. If instead the opening lead is a Spade then Declarer should aim to ruff two Diamonds in the South hand prior to drawing the last trump making five trump tricks, three Clubs, two Hearts and two Diamonds.
2 How to show a strong raise of opener’s minor after 1 Heart – Pass – 1NT – Pass – 2 Minor – Pass
Board 20 Monday 13 June – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
x
AKQxx
A10xxx
Ax
|
|
Q109xx
J10x
Qx
xxx
|
|
Jxxx
xxxx
Kx
KQx
|
|
AKx
x
J98x
J10xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Heart
2 Diamonds
4NT
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
2 Spades
5 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
None of the seven tables managed to reach the excellent 6 Diamond contract on the above hand which has nearly a 76 per cent chance of making depending on the exact lie of the trump suit.
After 1 Heart – 1NT – two of either minor, a bid of 2 Spades by responder is an artificial bid showing a strong raise of opener’s minor suit and nine or ten points. 2 Spades has to be artificial since responder’s 1NT bid has denied holding four Spades. Therefore in this sequence if responder instead of bidding 2 Spades raises his partner’s minor to the three level this shows a weaker raise with fewer than 9 points.
The 2 Spade bid is music to North’s ears. With only four losers, a powerful 5-5 distribution and seven controls (Ace = 2 controls, King = 1 control) North goes straight to Roman Key Card Blackwood. When South shows one keycard it does not matter which black suit King South has since either way there will be no loser in Clubs. The contract of 6 Diamonds is an excellent one and just needs the trump suit to behave for one loser which is approximately 76 per cent.
Note that the best percentage line in the trump suit is to take two finesses. While it is true that this will lose two tricks if East has KQ bare it is far more likely that West has KQx or KQxx.
3 Six Five shape come alive
Board 1 Thursday 23 June – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
Jxxx
xx
Axxxx
Qx
|
|
Q9x
KQ
Q9xxx
xxx
|
|
A
J10xxx
J
AKJ10xx
|
|
K10xxx
Axxx
K10
xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
3 Spades
Pass
|
1 Club
4 Hearts
Pass
|
1 Spade
Pass
Pass
|
Pass1
5 Clubs
|
1 While West does have 9 points his Spade stop is rather poor to bid 1NT, he cannot double because he only has a doubleton Heart so it is probably best to pass although he might bid 2 Clubs.
Only two pairs out of twelve bid to the excellent 5 Club contract on this hand. North raises his partner’s overcall to the three level to show four trumps and fewer than 9 points. East has to decide whether to take any further action. It might seem that it is dangerous for him to bid 4 Hearts. However a 6-5 distribution is very powerful and when one considers that as little as Queen to four Hearts in the West hand makes a 4 Heart contract almost a certainty to make then it is definitely correct for East to show his 6-5 distribution in this way. West corrects to 5 Clubs and the contract simply needs the trump suit to come in for no losers. The probability of this is just over 57 per cent. (2-2 break is 40%, singleton Queen is 12.5% and 4-nil with North having all four Clubs is 5%).
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|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the July 2016 duplicates
1 1 Heart – Pass – 1 Spade – Pass – 3NT
Board 6 Wednesday 6 July – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
|
AQJxxx
10xx
Q
Qxx
|
|
xx
Qx
J108x
KJ10xx
|
|
10x
xx
K9xxxx
xxx
|
|
Kxx
AKJ98x
Ax
Ax
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
4 Diamonds
5 Clubs
5 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
3NT
4NT
5 Diamonds
6 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Not a single one of the eight North South pairs managed to reach the excellent 6 Heart contract on this hand. In fact the only reason why it is not 100% is that if East had the King of Clubs then a Club lead might lead to defeat on those occasions when one defender had three Hearts to the Queen and was able to ruff the second or third Spade before declarer could discard his Club loser.
It is generally accepted that after 1 Minor – 1 Major that a jump to 3NT shows a long minor suit and honours in the unbid suits. While less universal I would also strongly recommend that 1 Heart – 1 Spade – 3NT should also show the values for game with a strong six (or seven) card Heart suit.
When North hears South jump to 3NT he ought to realise that the partnership may well be very close to a slam in Hearts as North has three Hearts, a singleton Diamond and very strong Spades. Accordingly he should cue-bid 4 Diamonds which inferentially agrees Hearts since South has shown a strong six or seven card suit. If over 4 Diamonds the South hand had poor controls he would sign off in 4 Hearts. As the South hand is very powerful with eight controls (Ace = 2 controls, King = 1 control) he bids 4NT as RKCB for Hearts. Partner shows one Keycard and now 5 Diamonds asks for the Queen of trumps. North denies this card and the partnership settles for the small slam. As the opening leader has the King of Clubs the contract cannot fail and all thirteen tricks are made when the Queen of trumps falls in two rounds for +1010.
2 Poor competitive judgment by North South
Board 15 Wednesday 6 July – Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
|
Ax
Qx
AKJxxx
xxx
|
|
Jxx
AJ8x
xxx
Jxx
|
|
KQ10xxxx
9
x
K10xx
|
|
x
K10xxxx
Qxx
AQx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Diamonds
Double
Pass
|
4 Spades
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
Pass
5 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Not a single one of the eight North South pairs managed to reach the correct contract of 5 Diamonds on this hand.
South opens 1 Heart and North responds 2 Diamonds. At the Green vulnerability for East West it is certainly correct for East to jump to 4 Spades with his shapely 7=1=1=4 distribution.
South now passes and when the bidding returns to North he doubles. This should not be played as unilaterally for penalties but rather it shows a good hand and asks South to do something sensible. As South has a singleton Spade he is unlikely to get rich defending 4 Spades doubled (it only goes one down) but South does have undisclosed secondary Diamond support opposite the known five or six card suit in the North hand. Accordingly South bids 5 Diamonds which makes in comfort even on the lead of a singleton Heart from East for +600. Note that should East switch to a Club at trick three having taken his Heart ruff that there is no need to risk the Club finesse. The Ace of Clubs wins trick three and a low Heart is ruffed high at trick four. Two rounds of trumps are then played ending in the Dummy at tricks five and six. Although West still has a trump Declarer simply plays winning Hearts at tricks seven and eight. Say West ruffs the fifth Heart at trick eight then Declarer overruffs and then returns to the Dummy by ruffing the second Round of Spades. Declarer’s last Club is then discarded on the final Heart.
3 Fit Jump cruises to slam on combined 26 count
Board 14 Monday 25 July – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
|
J
10x
KQJ10xx
AJxx
|
|
AK98xx
AJx
Axx
K
|
|
Q10xx
KQxxx
x
10xx
|
|
xx
xxx
xxx
Q9xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Diamonds
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Hearts
5 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
4NT
6 Spades
|
Not a single pair managed to reach the laydown 6 Spade contract on this hand with a combined 26 count (and even then the King of Clubs is not relevant to the success of this). Unless North starts off with the Ace of Clubs lead then all thirteen tricks are made.
The only explanation for the failure to bid a slam is that the East West pairs appear not to have in their armoury a very important bidding tool called a FIT JUMP. A fit jump is a single jump in a new suit which in one bid shows four card support for partner’s suit and a good five card side suit. It can be made in any of the following circumstances:-
a) After the opposition double the opening bid
b) After the opposition overcall the opening bid
c) In response to partner’s overcall
d) Any jump in a new suit by a passed hand is a fit jump even with no intervention from the opposition thus Pass – Pass – 1 Heart – Pass – 3 Clubs would show five Clubs and four Hearts and a raise to at least 3 Hearts.
Here East by jumping to 3 Hearts over the 2 Diamond overcall is showing four Spades and five Hearts with a good Heart suit. This is all the information which West needs to go slamming. Note that there is no need to ask about the Queen of trumps because West knows that the partnership possess a 10 card fit and the odds of a 2-1 split even if the Queen of trumps should be missing are 78%.
Suppose we change the East hand to:- ♠Q10xx♥Qxxxx♦Kx♣Qx then now East would simply cue-bid 3 Diamonds to show a good raise to at least 3 Spades rather than emphasise the threadbare Hearts.
Please refer also to Tip 3 from the June 2013 Tips titled “Fit Jump by Advancer” which is an example of circumstance c) described above.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the August 2016 duplicates
1 Grand Slam universally missed
Board 20 Monday 8 August – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
K98xx
AKx
AQ
Kxx
|
|
10x
xxxx
J109xx
xx
|
|
Qxx
QJ109xx
Kxxx
None
|
|
AJx
None
xx
AQJ109xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
3NT
4 Diamonds
4NT
7 Clubs
|
2 Hearts
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
3 Clubs
4 Clubs
4 Hearts
5 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Not a single one of the twelve North South pairs managed to reach the laydown Grand Slam 7 Club contract on this hand.
I have assumed in the above auction that East overcalls on his shapely 3=6=4=0 shape despite the low point count. Should East instead Pass then South bids Clubs at a lower level.
When North jumps to 3NT South knows that a slam is almost certain. He bids 4 Clubs showing at least a six card suit. North then cuebids 4 Diamonds and South return cuebids with 4 Hearts. Now when North discovers that all the keycards are present he knows that there is no danger of a third round Spade loser because in view of South’s cuebid in Hearts which must show a singleton or void that the King of Hearts will provide a parking place for any losing Spade should South’s distribution be a less extreme 3=1=3=6. Accordingly North can bid the Grand Slam in Clubs with confidence.
2 What is the difference between 1NT – 4 Diamonds – 4 Hearts and 1NT – 2 Diamonds – 2 Hearts – 4 Hearts ?
Board 5 Monday 15 August – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
KQ10
Q10x
AQ10x
Axx
|
|
xx
x
KJxxxx
K10xx
|
|
Jxxxx
Kxx
x
xxxx
|
|
Axx
AJxxxx
xx
QJ
|
|
Not a single one of the eight North South pairs managed to reach the excellent contract of 6 Hearts on the above hand.
The key to reaching slam is to have an understanding of the difference between the sequence:-
1NT 4 Diamonds
4 Hearts
and
1NT 2 Diamonds
2 Hearts 4 Hearts
By going down the slow route the transferor is showing a mild interest in slam while by transferring directly at the four level the transferor will usually then pass the correction to 4 Hearts.
The South hand is an excellent example of a hand which wishes to show a mild interest in slam having six Hearts, two Aces and 12 points without driving directly to it. North is delighted to advance having 5 controls and three good trumps.
The odds of the contract making are very high. On a Club or Diamond lead the contract has approximately a 75% chance of success because North is the Declarer. On a neutral Spade lead then 12 tricks are certain if the Heart finesse works. (Note that if the Heart finesse works then Declarer would then take the Club finesse and not the Diamond finesse because this guarantees to set up a second Club trick to deal with the Diamond loser even if the Club finesse loses) Here with all three finesses working 13 tricks roll in.
3 Upgrade to 2 Club opener on 22 points
Board 19 Monday 29 August – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
|
KJ98
Jx
98xx
KQ9
|
|
Axxx
A10
AKQxx
AJ
|
|
Qx
xxxxxx
Jx
xxx
|
|
10xx
KQx
10x
10xxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
4 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
2NT
4 Hearts
|
From studying the results of the above hand I noted that only three pairs out of eight bid to 4 Hearts. Three other pairs ended in 3 Hearts while one pair was passed out in 1 Diamond and the final pair played in 2 Spades.
While West does have 22 points his hand is simply too powerful for an opening 2NT bid. Holding a huge nine controls (Ace = two, King = one) plus a very strong five card suit this is a good example of a 22 point hand which must be upgraded to a 2 Club opener. West then rebids 2NT showing 23-24 over the 2 Diamond response. East should then transfer into Hearts at the four level. The reason why you should transfer into Hearts at the four level is because in a similar vein to Tip 2 above when we discovered that 1NT – 2 Diamonds – 2 Hearts – 4 Hearts is a mild slam try this applies equally to 2NT – 3 Diamonds – 3 Hearts – 4 Hearts which should also be played as a mild slam try. 4 Hearts is certain to make at least 10 tricks on a 3-2 trump break. It will make 11 on a Spade lead while on a neutral Diamond lead it is essential for South to switch to a Club when he wins the second round of Hearts to prevent the overtrick.
Those pairs who ended up in 3 Hearts must have failed to recognize the need to upgrade and after opening 2NT on the West hand the bidding then died at the three level when East transferred into Hearts and then passed the conversion to 3 Hearts.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the September 2016 duplicates
1 Upgrade to 2 Club opener on 22 points
Board 4 Monday 12 September – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
xxxx
xxx
Kx
K109x
|
|
Ax
AK10xx
AQx
AJx
|
|
x
QJxx
J10xxxx
Qx
|
|
KQJxxx
x
xx
xxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
3 Spades
4 Hearts
Pass
|
2 Spades
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
3 Hearts
3NT
6 Hearts
|
This is the identical title as I used for Tip 3 in August but the same principle is at stake and allows a laydown slam in Hearts to be bid with just 28 points between the two hands. The slam was missed at all eight tables.
As in Tip 3 from August while West does have 22 points his hand is simply too powerful for an opening 2NT bid. Holding a huge nine controls (Ace = two, King = one) plus a very strong five card suit this is a further example of a 22 point hand which must be upgraded to a 2 Club opener.
East responds 2 Diamonds. Let us assume in the first instance that South passes. In that case slam is very easy to reach. West rebids 2 Hearts and East now makes a splinter bid of 3 Spades showing four card Heart support and a singleton (or void) Spade. This is enough for West to drive straight to slam. If instead South bids 2 Spades then West bids 3 Hearts. (Note that as West has only one Spade stop that 3 Hearts is a better choice than 2NT). East might be reluctant to splinter at the four level although this is a possibility. Instead he might just bid 3 Spades to say “tell me more”. When West then converts to 3NT then now East can bid 4 Hearts to suggest having a hand which was too strong to just raise 3 Hearts to game. Again this is all the encouragement which West needs to go to slam.
Note that in the play of 6 Hearts on a Spade lead after drawing three rounds of trumps ending in the Dummy that Declarer should play a low Diamond to the Queen and not run the Jack. This is because if the Jack loses to the King and a second Spade comes back that with the Diamonds blocked it would not be possible to enjoy five Diamond tricks. Indeed two of the eight pairs who played in game in Hearts failed to appreciate this danger and thus only made 11 tricks when the Jack of Diamonds lost to the King.
2 Worth a slam invitation
Board 11 Thursday 15 September – Vulnerability White – Dealer South
|
K
AQ98xxx
xxx
xx
|
|
xx
x
AK10xx
AQJ10x
|
|
AQ9x
KJ10x
Q
K9xx
|
|
J108xxx
x
Jxxx
xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
3 Hearts
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
3NT
4 Spades
5 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
4 Clubs
4NT
6 Clubs
|
Not a single one of the six East West pairs managed to reach the excellent contract of 6 Clubs on the above hand.
While East would ideally like to defend 3 Hearts doubled it is more practical for him to bid 3NT after the pre-emptive overcall from North since West may not co-operate with a takeout double if he passes.
The spotlight now turns to West. While he may have only 14 points he does have only a 5 loser hand and should make a suggestion of a slam contract by bidding 4 Clubs. If East does not wish to co-operate then East can sign off in 4NT which is unlikely to be at risk given West’s playing strength in the minors. Here East is delighted to cue-bid 4 Spades which agrees Clubs as trumps. West wheels out RKCB for Clubs and there are no problems in the play. (The only time there might be a problem would be if South held the King of Spades and a Spade was the opening lead from North at trick one).
3 Fit Jump – the essential tool in a competitive auction
Board 22 Monday 26 September – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
|
None
K109xx
xx
AJxxxx
|
|
J10xxxx
x
KQ109x
x
|
|
AK9xx
xxx
AJxxx
None
|
|
Qx
AQJx
x
KQ10xxx
|
|
From studying the results of the above hand I noted that not a single East West pair bid to 6 Spades and indeed two East West pairs defended 6 Clubs making for North South. This can only mean that none of the East West pairs were playing FIT JUMPS.
A fit jump is an extremely important bidding tool to have in your armoury and is a single jump in a new suit which in one bid shows four card support for partner’s suit and a good five card side suit. It can be made in any of the following circumstances:-
a) After the opposition double the opening bid
b) After the opposition overcall the opening bid
c) In response to partner’s overcall
d) Any jump in a new suit by a passed hand is a fit jump even with no intervention from the opposition thus Pass – Pass – 1 Heart – Pass – 3 Clubs would show five Clubs and four Hearts and a raise to at least 3 Hearts.
There are various ways in which the bidding might go but the start should be 1 Spade by East, an overcall of 2 Clubs by South and now despite the low point count West should jump to 3 Diamonds which is a Fit Jump showing at least four Spades and five Diamonds. It would usually imply at least nine points but where there is exceptional distribution this figure can be lowered provided that the quality of the side suit is good. (In other words if West had J10 to six Diamonds and KQ to five Spades he would not make a Fit Jump because the quality of the side suit Diamonds is too poor). North’s best bid after this start is to jump to 4 Spades as a splinter bid agreeing South’s Clubs. At this point East should realise that not only do his side possess a huge double fit in Diamonds and Spades but the opposition almost certainly have a huge double fit in Clubs and Hearts. East should cuebid 5 Clubs and now West can cue-bid 5 Hearts allowing East to bid 6 Spades over North’s 6 Club bid. (East should not in any way be tempted to double 6 Clubs because it is highly likely that one of his Aces will be ruffed as he knows that his side possess a minimum of 10 Diamonds.
Note that the absolute par on the hand is for North South to sacrifice in 7 Clubs against the making 6 Spades. Against 7 Clubs West has to lead the King of Diamonds (the only sensible choice since he knows that his side have at least eleven Spades) to defeat the contract.
Please also refer to July 2016 Tip No 3 for a similar example of a Fit Jump and to June 2013 Tip No 3 titled “Fit Jump by Advancer” which is an example of circumstance c) described above.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the October 2016 duplicates
1 Thoughtless opening lead
Board 9 Thursday 13 October – Vulnerability East West – Dealer North
|
None
KQxx
Axx
KJ10xxx
|
|
KJ9
J10xx
KJxxx
x
|
|
Axxxx
A98x
Q10x
A
|
|
Q10xxx
x
xx
Q98xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Club
5 Clubs
|
1 Spade
Pass
|
3 Clubs
Pass
|
3 Spades
Pass
|
At 7 out of 9 tables North South reached a contract of 5 Clubs (doubled at 3 of the 7 tables). However 6 of the 7 Norths were allowed to make the contract because East made a thoughtless opening lead. Clearly North has a very good distribution to jump to 5 Clubs over 3 Spades by West. Therefore North will not have more than one Spade. One danger of leading the Ace of Spades is that the King might be in the Dummy and immediately become established for the discard of a loser in one of the red suits. On this occasion the Spade lead allows Declarer to ruff and immediately play the King of Hearts to establish a Heart winner to deal with the Diamond loser prior to drawing trumps. Accordingly the correct opening lead is the Ace of trumps. On looking at the Dummy East will know that Declarer is void in Spades given West supporting Spades in the bidding. It is then completely clear to switch to a Diamond at trick two which leads to one down. While it is true that an opening Diamond lead at trick one would also defeat the contract that is very much the second best lead since a Diamond lead could easily allow Declarer to discard a loser on a different layout for instance:-
North ♠x♥KQxx♦Ax♣KJ10xxx
South ♠Q10xx♥x♦KJx♣Q98xx
Where a Diamond lead allows Declarer to win with the Ace and then finesse the Jack before discarding his singleton Spade on the King of Diamonds.
2 North’s shape an open book at trick six
Board 15 Monday 17 October – Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
|
A10x
KQxxx
x
xxxx
|
|
98xxx
xxx
K10x
Jx
|
|
KQxx
Ax
AJ98xx
A
|
|
J
J10x
Qxx
KQ10xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
3 Hearts
Pass
|
1 Diamond
Double
Pass
|
Pass
2 Clubs
4 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
4 Spades
|
Only one of the eight East West pairs managed to bid and make 4 Spades on this hand.
East opens 1 Diamond in fourth seat and South overcalls 2 Clubs. West is too weak to speak and now North should make a Fit Jump bid of 3 Hearts. As previously explained (refer to June 2013 Tip 3, July 2016 Tip 3 and September 2016 Tip 3) this shows four card Club support and five Hearts. East doubles 3 Hearts for takeout showing a very strong hand almost certainly with four cards in Spades. South goes to game in Hearts despite his low point count because of his singleton Spade and knowing that his side possess a double fit in both Hearts and Clubs. Note that to defeat 4 Hearts the defence would need to take a Club ruff which would dictate either a Club or Heart lead so that West can later gain the lead with the King of Diamonds to give East a Club ruff which is a somewhat unlikely defence.
West is delighted to now emerge from his slumbers with a bid of 4 Spades because he expects that his side have a nine card Spade fit and the Diamond holding of K10x will be of great value.
Against 4 Spades North should lead the King of Hearts (note that to lead the singleton Diamond would make things very easy for Declarer). Let us assume that Declarer allows the King to win the first trick and a second Heart is won with the Ace. Now the King of Spades is played from the Dummy and North wins with the Ace. A third Heart is then ruffed in the Dummy and the play of the Queen of Spades at trick five shows that North still has a trump winner. West should now build up a picture of North’s shape. The Fit jump bid of 3 Hearts showed five Hearts and four Clubs. North also has three Spades, therefore he has a singleton Diamond in a 3=5=1=4 shape. Accordingly Declarer cashes the Ace of Diamonds and then plays a low Diamond to the 10. North can win his 10 of Spades whenever he wishes but that is the third and last trick for the Defence.
3 Sharp pairs double would bring in +300.
Board 14 Thursday 27 October – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
|
KJxx
Ax
Kxx
Q1074
|
|
AQ1098x
Qxx
A
J98
|
|
x
KJ10xx
xxxxx
32
|
|
xx
xxx
QJ10x
AK65
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Double
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
Double
Pass
|
1 Spade
2 Spades
Pass
|
After South initially passes when West’s opening 1 Spade bid returns to him he can safely make a protective double with 10 points and only two cards in Spades. West might think that it is safe for him to bid 2 Spades but if he does so then North should double this for penalties at pairs. The fourth trump in North’s hand makes it highly likely that North can score a ruff as well as two natural trump tricks. The double should be penalties because the opposition have not found a fit. While at teams there would be an element of risk to this bid at pairs it is absolutely clear-cut because you expect to take a penalty of approximately 300 at least four times out of five and it is the frequency of gain which is important.
In order to achieve +300 North will probably open with the 4 of Clubs lead to South’s King. South then has a choice between playing the Queen of Diamonds or a trump. He should switch to a trump because he knows that West has three Clubs and in order for the Defence to later enjoy a third Club trick should North have the Queen then the trump must be removed from the Dummy. Declarer probably finesses the Queen losing to the King. Now North should then switch to Ace and another Heart. Declarer can win the second Heart and continue with Ace and another Spade. However North wins with the Jack of Spades, plays a second Club to South’s Ace in order to receive a Heart ruff with his last trump before cashing a third Club trick for +300.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the November 2016 duplicates
1 Jump Overcalls are STRONG after weak opposition opening bids
Board 21 Thursday 10 November – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
98xx
AQ10xxx
x
10x
|
|
KJ
xx
98xxx
K9xx
|
|
AQ10xxx
x
AJ
A8xx
|
|
x
KJxx
KQ10xx
QJx
|
|
Only two pairs out of seven managed to reach 4 Spades by East on this hand. Assuming that North opens with a weak 2 Hearts what should East bid? His hand is too strong to simply overcall 2 Spades with the attractive 6-4 shape and about 7 ½ tricks. Equally while one might consider doubling were South to raise to 4 Hearts East is not comfortable about bidding Spades at the four level.
Accordingly the correct call for East to make is to jump to 3 Spades. Note that YOU NEVER MAKE A WEAK JUMP OVERCALL AFTER A WEAK OPENING BID. Here 3 Spades implies a strong hand with at least six Spades. South bids 4 Hearts (only one down) and West can comfortably bid 4 Spades with the KJ of Spades and the King of Clubs. (The prevailing vulnerability prevents North South from sacrificing in 5 Hearts doubled because two down is 500 and in Eurovision Song Contest speak nul points.) The contract of 4 Spades needs either a 3-2 Club break or a singleton Queen, Jack or 10 in the North hand. Approximate odds of success = 68% + 3/5 of 14% = 76%.
2 24 point slam
Board 25 Wednesday 16 November – Vulnerability East West – Dealer North
|
xx
A109xx
Jxxxx
x
|
|
10xxxx
xxx
None
KQxxx
|
|
AKQJ9x
J
Axxx
A10
|
|
None
KQxx
KQ10x
Jxxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
2 Spades
4 Hearts
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
4 Diamonds
5 Clubs
Pass
|
Only one of the five East West pairs managed to reach the laydown slam on this hand.
After a 2 Club opening from East although West has an attractive hand he should start off with a waiting bid of 2 Diamonds because he lacks the traditional requirements for a positive response of an Ace and a King. When East bids 2 Spades then now the West hand is enormously powerful. The most descriptive bid is to jump to 4 Diamonds showing a singleton or void in Diamonds and four card Spade support. Now East cuebids 4 Hearts and West cuebids 5 Clubs. This is bound to be the King rather than a singleton in view of the earlier splinter in Diamonds. East jumps to 6 Spades and South needs to lead a Heart to prevent the overtrick.
3 Good game but don’t get too greedy for an overtrick
Board 12 Monday 28 November – Vulnerability North South – Dealer West
|
Axxx
x
AKJ109xx
x
|
|
xx
KJ10xx
9
AKxxx
|
|
KQJ10xx
x
xx
Q1087
|
|
x
AQxxxx
Qxx
J9x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Diamonds
3 Spades
Pass
|
2 Spades
Pass
Pass
|
3 Diamonds
5 Diamonds
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
|
Only one pair out of six managed to bid to 5 Diamonds.
When South raises his partner’s overcall the North hand has enormous playing strength. In such circumstances when the opposition have bid 2 suits North bids the suit in which he has a high honour to express an interest in game.
South is delighted to accept the invitation holding a singleton Spade, the Ace of Hearts and a high Diamond honour.
(As the cards lie North South can actually make 3NT. This is because the club pips are such that the suit is blocked in that only East can win the fourth round of Clubs. However it would be rather wild for South to try 3NT with such poor Clubs.)
Assuming the lead of a singleton Heart Declarer wins with the Ace and then plays Ace of Spades followed by trumping a Spade low in Dummy. He should then return to hand with a low Diamond to the King and trump the third Spade with the Queen of Diamonds making exactly 11 tricks for +600. Even if West does not peter in Spades it would be extremely unwise to try and ruff three Spades in the Dummy. This is because East West have only 19 points between then and yet East has bid freely at the two level in a higher ranking suit than opener with a hand which cannot contain more than 9 points. This would be hard to justify without six Spades. If South does get greedy and try to ruff three Spades in the Dummy then West will overruff the third round of Spades and can then underlead the Ace and King of Clubs so that East can play a trump resulting in only one ruff being taken in the Dummy for one down.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the December 2016 duplicates
1 Withhold the Ace of trumps on the first round
Board 25 Wednesday 14 December – Vulnerability East West – Dealer North
|
J108x
A10x
QJx
10xx
|
|
AKxx
KQJxx
Kxx
J
|
|
Qxx
xxx
xxx
A9xx
|
|
9x
xx
A108x
KQ8xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
1NT
2NT1
3 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
2 Spades
3 Clubs
Pass
|
1 Showing a bad hand after a reverse. It forces opener to bid 3 Clubs as East may wish to play in 3 Clubs if he has say:-
♠xx♥xx♦Jxx♣KQ10xxx
or 3 Diamonds if he has say:-
♠xx♥xx♦QJ10xxx♣Kxx
or 3 Hearts as on the above hand. Note that an immediate 3 Hearts over the reverse of 2 Spades should be played as game forcing.
The above hand is a very instructive one in the play.
Four out of five pairs correctly stopped in 3 Hearts on this hand. At pairs you should not bid borderline games. Say North opens with the Queen of Diamonds lead against 3 Hearts. South wins with the Ace and continues with a low Diamond. After winning with the King declarer should play the King of Hearts. If North takes his Ace immediately then Declarer can make a tenth trick. He does this by drawing a second round of trumps before playing on Spades. By so doing he is hoping that when the Spades break 4-2 (as expected) that the last trump is in the hand with four Spades. However if North holds up his Ace of Hearts on the first round then Declarer cannot make ten tricks. This is because if he continues with Hearts then North can play a third round preventing Declarer from ruffing the fourth round of Spades in the Dummy. So the moral is:- always be aware of the benefit of holding up the Ace of trumps on the first round on hands where Declarer wishes to draw exactly two rounds of trumps but does not wish to draw a third round.
2 1NT in response to a takeout double is a constructive bid
Board 22 Thursday 15 December – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
|
A10xx
Kxx
xx
10xxx
|
|
J9x
109xxxx
x
Kxx
|
|
KQ8xx
J
KJ9xx
Jx
|
|
x
AQx
AQ108x
AQ9x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1NT
Pass
|
1 Spade
Pass
Pass
|
Double
3NT
|
Pass1
Pass
|
1 The vulnerability makes bidding 2 Spades unattractive. Perfect defence would yield 800 against 2 Spades doubled.
I was mystified why only two out of seven pairs managed to reach 3NT. East should open the bidding with his shapely 5-5 distribution despite the low point count. South has a routine takeout double. North should respond 1NT. This promises a Spade stop and about 7 ½ to 10 points. It is not a dustbin bid. If North held a very weak hand he would have to bid 2 of a suit even with zero points. South then raises to 3NT knowing that the partnership possesses a minimum of 25 points.
In the play on a Spade lead North must hold up the Ace until the third round, discarding Diamonds from the Dummy. Then by playing on Clubs he will make a minimum of 9 tricks and 10 on perfect play.
3 Easy slam missed
Board 8 Thursday 22 December – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
J9
AKQxx
Kxxx
Kx
|
|
Q10x
xx
x
AQ10xxxx
|
|
xxxx
xx
10xxx
Jxx
|
|
AKxx
10xxx
AQJx
x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
3 Hearts
4 Diamonds
5 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
4 Clubs
4NT
6 Hearts
|
3 Clubs
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Only one pair out of eight managed to bid to 6 Hearts.
When North overcalls the pre-emptive opening bid South is far too strong to simply raise to game in Hearts. He might consider bidding an immediate 4NT RKCB for Hearts but this might get the partnership too high if for instance North has overcalled on a borderline ♠Qxx♥KJ98xx♦Kx♣Kx when there might be two Heart and one Club losers.
Therefore the correct course of action is for South to cue-bid 4 Clubs which agrees Hearts by inference and asks partner to cue-bid if suitable. North is delighted to cue-bid 4 Diamonds and now RKCB can be wheeled out. South can count 12 tricks in Hearts unless North has a singleton Club.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the February 2015 duplicates
1 Splinter bid paints the perfect picture
Board 18 Monday 16 February – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
|
xxxxxx
xx
xxx
xx
|
|
K10x
Jx
Jxx
Q9xxx
|
|
AJx
AKxxx
x
AK10x
|
|
Q
Q10xx
AKQ10xx
Jx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
Double
4 Diamonds
6 Clubs
|
2 Diamonds
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Clubs
4 Spades
Pass
|
None of the East Wests covered themselves in glory on this hand from the Monday duplicate. Not a single pair managed to reach the excellent 6 Club contract and half the field failed even to reach game !
East opens 1 Heart and South’s 2 Diamond overcall is passed back to him. At this stage the correct bid is Double because East has a shortage in Diamonds and support for both unbid suits. East would be happy whatever West bids even if West had strong Diamonds and chose to pass for penalties. West bids 3 Clubs and now the East hand has become hugely powerful. While West’s 3 Club bid does not promise more than four cards there is a high probability that he has five given that he has denied either four cards in Spades or three cards in Hearts. Accordingly East should now jump to 4 Diamonds as a splinter bid agreeing Clubs and suggesting the possibility of a slam. West is delighted to co-operate as he has a fifth trump and the King of Spades is a key card. Accordingly he cue-bids 4 Spades showing either the Ace or King and this is all the encouragement which East needs to jump to 6 Clubs. There are no problems in the play as after drawing trumps declarer should seek to establish the fifth Heart rather than having to worry about the whereabouts of the Queen of Spades. Result +920 to East West.
2 When a partnership has bid and supported two suits in an uncontested auction then 4NT is Roman Key Card in both suits – ie there are six keycards and two Queens
Board 13 Monday 16 February – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer North
|
AJx
KQ10x
K10xxx
x
|
|
10x
Jxx
x
QJ10xxxx
|
|
K9xx
xxx
xxx
Kxx
|
|
Q8xx
Axx
AQJx
Ax
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Diamond
2 Spades
3 Hearts
5 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
3 Diamonds
4NT
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
North opens 1 Diamond in and South responds 1 Spade. A rebid of 2 Diamonds by North would guarantee a six card suit (because if North has say a 2=4=5=2 distribution he would rebid 1NT). Therefore North’s correct bid is 2 Spades. Note that although the North hand is close to a 3 Spade bid in terms of losers you cannot give a double raise when holding only three trumps.
South now bids 3 Diamonds forcing. At this stage North should now bid 3 Hearts. This conveys two messages. Firstly that North has only three card Spade support and also strongly suggests that his shape is 3=4=5=1. Now South knowing of the likely singleton Club opposite is very close to slam. However because the partnership have bid and supported two suits it is logical that a jump to 4NT Roman Key Card should include the keycards in both Diamonds and Spades. Thus the King of Diamonds and the King of Spades are included in the responses:-
1st step 1 or 4 keycards
2nd step 0 or 3 keycards
3rd step 2 keycards no Queen of Diamonds or Spades
4th step 2 keycards plus one Queen
5th step 2 keycards plus two Queens
3 Asking for a Diamond control
Board 4 Thursday 19 February – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
AJ
AKJ
J9x
AJ9xx
|
|
Q1098
10xx
AQ10xx
x
|
|
xxxxx
x
Kxxx
xxx
|
|
Kx
Qxxxxx
x
KQ10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Club
2NT
3 Spades
5 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
3 Hearts
4 Clubs
6 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
North jumps to 2NT showing 18-19 over South’s response of 1 Heart. South now rebids 3 Hearts forcing (as in the modern style if South had a weak hand and wanted to sign off in 3 Hearts he would bid 3 Clubs as prelude to signing off). North now cue-bids 3 Spades and South co-operates in a possible slam venture by cue-bidding 4 Clubs. At this stage all that North is worried about is the Diamond position. Clearly he cannot bid Roman Key Card as if South shows zero keycards North will be none the wiser as to whether the defence can cash the first two tricks in Diamonds (even the first three tricks on a bad day). Accordingly North jumps to 5 Hearts. This asks partner to bid the slam if he has a Diamond control ie either a singleton, the King or the Ace. South is happy to oblige and West has to lead the Ace of Diamonds to prevent the overtrick.
This may be put down in the form of a rule:-
IN AN UNCONTESTED AUCTION AFTER A MAJOR SUIT HAS BEEN AGREED AS TRUMPS AND CUE-BIDS EXCHANGED IN TWO OF THE NON-TRUMP SUITS A JUMP TO THE FIVE LEVEL OF THE TRUMP SUIT ASKS PARTNER TO BID A SLAM IF HE CAN PREVENT THE OPPOSITION FROM TAKING THE FIRST TWO TRICKS IN THE FOURTH SUIT.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the March 2015 duplicates
1 Cue-bid by opener to create a game force
Board 19 Wednesday 4 March – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
|
KJ10xx
AJx
Qxxx
x
|
|
xx
KQx
A
AKJxxxx
|
|
AQx
10xxxx
Kx
10xx
|
|
xxx
xx
J10xxxx
Qx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Double
3NT
4 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
2 Spades
4 Clubs
6 Clubs
|
When East makes a negative double to show Hearts after North’s 1 Spade overcall West knows that his side belong in game at the very least. However he does not know whether the partnership will end up in Clubs, Hearts or Notrumps. Accordingly in such situations West should cue-bid the enemy suit to create a game force.
Over 2 Spades the most descriptive bid for East to make is to jump to 3NT which suggests that he has a double stop in Spades.
Over 3NT West has visions of slam but if partner’s Spades were say only QJxx then no slam would be available. To suggest a strong interest in slam West now continues with 4 Clubs showing a minimum of six Clubs. If East had only QJxx in Spades he would now sign off in 4NT. However he is delighted to cue-bid 4 Spades and now West can jump to 6 Clubs which basically only requires the Spade finesse through the overcaller. If of course East had the Jack of Hearts then the slam would be almost certain as on a Spade lead the Ace could be played and after drawing trumps and unblocking the Ace of Diamonds the losing Spade could be discarded on the King of Diamonds.
2 Gilt-edged 7 pointer
Board 1 Thursday 19 March – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer North
|
K10xx
xx
xxx
KJ10x
|
|
QJ
A109xx
xxxxx
x
|
|
A98xx
Q8xx
AK
Qx
|
|
xx
KJ
QJ10
Axxxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
3 Clubs
|
1 Spade
3 Hearts
|
2 Clubs
Pass
|
Double
?
|
Only two pairs out of seven managed to get to game in Hearts on this hand. It is likely that the other Wests having made a negative double of the 2 Club overcall by South then decided that they had done enough when East bid 3 Hearts.
However it is clearcut for West to go on to game. Why is this? Although West has only 7 points there are three very good things about his hand. Firstly he has a fifth trump, secondly he has a singleton Club and thirdly the QJ doubleton in Spades the first suit bid by East will be worth their weight in gold.
Say South cashes the Ace of Clubs before switching to the Queen of Diamonds. Declarer wins the Diamond and plays a Heart to the Jack and Ace. Now the winning Spade finesse is taken, the Diamonds are easily established and eleven tricks quickly result, +450 to North South.
3 Splinter eases way to slam
Board 23 Thursday 26 March – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
KQ9
Kxxxx
xx
Jxx
|
|
None
AQJ9
K108x
AK8xx
|
|
Axx
10x
AQ9xx
Q109
|
|
J10xxxxx
xx
Jx
xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
4 Spades
Pass
|
Only one pair out of eight got to 6 Diamonds on the above hand from the Swiss Pairs. In fact 7 Diamonds is almost certain to make but is not straightforward to bid. However there is absolutely no excuse for missing 6 Diamonds assuming that you are playing Splinter bids.
When East responds 2 Diamonds after North’s 1 Heart overcall West knows that the partnership is very close to slam. Accordingly having four card support for Diamonds and only a four loser hand West should jump to 4 Spades. This is a VOID SHOWING SPLINTER (since 3 Spades would show a singleton and agree Diamonds). The least that East can do over 4 Spades is to jump to slam in Diamonds as he has good trumps and the partial fit in Clubs is a great asset.
I noted that 7 Diamonds is not straightforward to bid. I think that the only way in which the Grand Slam might be reached is for East to bid 5 Clubs over 4 Spades. If East chooses this option then West can now visualize that any slow Heart loser will disappear on the established Clubs. Accordingly West would then bid 5NT – the old fashioned Grand Slam force. This would ask East to bid 7 Diamonds if he has any two of the top three trump honours (AK, AQ or KQ). Note that here 5NT is clearly the Grand Slam force and not the “Pick a Slam” use of 5NT which we have previously seen in March 2014 Tip No 3 and November 2014 Tip No 2 where more than one possible trump suit had been suggested in the previous bidding. On the hand above the void showing splinter of 4 Spades had unilaterally set Diamonds as trumps.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the April 2015 duplicates
1 Game still possible opposite a passed hand
Board 6 Monday 6 April – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
|
xx
Jx
J10xxxx
xxx
|
|
AQxx
K9xx
Q
K10xx
|
|
J108xx
Q
K98x
Axx
|
|
Kx
A10xxxx
Ax
QJx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
1 Spade
3 Diamonds
Pass
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
2 Hearts
4 Spades
|
East deals and passes and South opens 1 Heart. West cannot take any action holding a singleton Diamond and East now balances with 1 Spade. All the Wests in the Monday duplicate decided that as East was already a passed hand that there was no possibility of game and simply played in a part-score in Spades. However as West has only a six loser hand and the partnership has a nine card Spade fit he should not give up on game simply because East passed as Dealer. West starts by making an unassuming cue bid of 2 Hearts showing good Spade support and logically an interest in game even opposite a passed hand. East should co-operate by bidding 3 Diamonds showing his 5-4 shape because when he balanced with 1 Spade he might have had as few as 7 or 8 points and so could hardly be stronger in view of his original pass. This is all the encouragement which West needs to jump to game in Spades. With the Spade finesse working eleven tricks roll in for a score of 650 to East West.
For West to have an interest in game it is highly likely that his shape is either 4=4=1=4 or 4=5=1=3 or 4=5=3=1 to explain his interest in game opposite a passed hand. East thus knows that with his singleton Heart that the hands will fit together very well. This is because if West had for instance a 4=4=2=3 or 4=4=3=2 twelve count he would not be inviting game knowing that East has only 7 to 11 points.
2 Delayed signs of life
Board 6 Thursday 9 April – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
|
K9xx
Jxxxx
Jx
xx
|
|
x
Qx
xxx
KQJ10xxx
|
|
AQ10xx
K10x
Ax
A9x
|
|
Jxx
Axx
KQ10xxx
x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
Double
5 Clubs
|
2 Diamonds
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
4 Clubs
Pass
|
The East hand is too strong for a 15-17 No trump holding 17 points plus two 10’s and a five card major. Accordingly East should open 1 Spade. South overcalls 2 Diamonds. West should not bid 3 Clubs because a new suit at the three level is forcing to game and the last thing West wants to hear is for East to rebid 3 Spades.
Accordingly West should pass and East now reopens with a takeout double. What should West now bid ? If he bids only 3 Clubs this will end the bidding since East can hardly continue over a bid which might be made on say just J10xxx and very few points. West should therefore jump to 4 Clubs which suggests that he has a strong 6 or 7 card suit but was not strong enough to force to game on the previous round. Over 4 Clubs East is delighted to go to game. While it is possible to make twelve tricks in Clubs this would mean taking the Spade finesse into the overcaller and would risk making only 10 tricks if the finesse failed. Thus it would be poor play and eleven tricks are guaranteed on a Diamond lead simply by trumping the third Diamond in the dummy.
3 Vacant Spaces improves the odds of making slam
Board 7 Wednesday 22 April – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
xx
Kxx
AQJxx
A10x
|
|
KQ9x
xxx
xxx
xxx
|
|
Jx
QJ10xx
xx
Q9xx
|
|
A10xxx
Ax
K10x
KJx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2NT
4NT2
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
3 Diamonds1
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Showing a fit for Diamonds.
2 Balanced slam try not keycard
When South opens a 15-17 Notrump North might simply raise to 3NT. However this would be a lazy bid. Although North knows that the partnership does not possess enough points for a Notrump slam there is nevertheless still a chance of there being a slam available in Diamonds as North has a strong 5 card suit with 5 controls (Ace = 2 controls and King = 1 control). Accordingly North transfers into Diamonds by bidding 2NT.
Over a minor suit transfer if opener does not have a fit for the minor suit (a fit is defined as Queen to three or better) then he should bid the next step up ie 3 Clubs over 2NT or 2NT over 2 Spades if responder has shown Clubs. When opener has a fit he bids the minor suit shown directly.
Here South is delighted to show a fit for Diamonds by bidding 3 Diamonds rather than 3 Clubs. North now bids 4NT. This is quantitative showing a balanced slam try with only 5 Diamonds. (If North had an unbalanced hand he would bid a new suit showing shortage in that suit).
When North invites slam by bidding a quantitative 4NT then South’s first inclination might be to pass because he has a minimum 15 points. However in the same way that the North hand was much stronger than 14 points because of having 5 controls the South hand is similarly much strong than 15 points because of having 6 controls. Thus South should jump to slam in Diamonds. Note that a slam has been reached on a combined 29 count with two balanced hands largely because the North and South hands are so rich in controls. (Note that as a generalization you require a minimum of 10 controls to make a suit slam with two balanced hands and on the above hand there are 11 out of the 12 controls present).
The play is interesting. On a Heart lead the best line is to win with the Ace and immediately trump the third round of Hearts with the 10 of Diamonds. Trumps are drawn in three rounds, Declarer discarding a Spade and then Declarer ducks the first round of Spades. Assuming that East wins with the Jack and returns a Spade then Declarer wins the Ace and trumps the third round of Spades in the Dummy discovering that the suit has broken 4-2 as expected.
Declarer should now use the principle of Vacant Spaces to work out which way to take the Club finesse. At this stage Declarer knows that the distribution of the East hand was either 2=5=2=4 or 2=4=2=5. In the former case the odds of the Queen of Clubs being in the East hand are 4 to 3 and in the latter case the odds of the Queen of Clubs being in the East hand are 5 to 2. Thus the Club finesse is through East is not an even money bet but is 57% if East started with four Clubs and 71% if East started with five Clubs.
Refer also to Tip No 3 from September 2014 for another example of reaching a minor suit slam after a transfer with a balanced 5-3-3-2 hand also with good controls.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the May 2015 duplicates
1 Two Key Cards and a Void
Board 19 Tuesday 19 May – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
|
None
A10x
10xxxxx
AQ10x
|
|
KJxx
Qxxx
Jx
xxx
|
|
A98xx
J9xx
x
xxx
|
|
Q108x
Kx
AKQ9
KJ9
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
3 Spades
5NT
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
4NT
7 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
While those playing five card majors will obviously open 1 Diamond it is also often a good idea when holding 18-19 balanced and playing four card majors to open 1 Diamond when holding four Diamonds and a four card major and then jump to 2NT if partner bids the major in which you do not hold four cards. The above hand is a good example of why this is so.
Over 1 Diamond North should make a splinter bid of 3 Spades showing very good Diamond support (almost certainly five card support) and a singleton or void in Spades.
South’s first reaction might be to bid 3NT over the splinter as Q108x is a respectable holding opposite a singleton to play in notrumps. However as South has 16 working points outside Spades and it is highly probable that North has two keycards in view of his splinter bid South should immediately wheel out Roman Key Card Blackwood. North has two keycards but he also has a void. The way to show this is to bid 5NT. This is music to South’s ears. In view of North’s splinter he is almost guaranteed to have a Queen in the rounded suits (Clubs or Hearts) and South does not care in which suit the Queen lies so 13 tricks can be underwritten. Accordingly South jumps to the Grand Slam and the play does not present any problems.
Note that for those playing four card majors who choose to open 1 Spade they have a real headache what to bid when North responds 2 Diamonds because to jump to 4 Diamonds would show an unbalanced hand with at least five Spades and to bid 3NT to show the point count might end the auction.
2 When you know that you have an 8 card major suit fit divided 6-2 then you must play in the major not 3NT !
Board 5 Monday 25 May – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
109
AJx
J10xx
xxxx
|
|
AKxx
10x
AQ98x
K10
|
|
xxx
Q98xxx
Kx
Ax
|
|
QJxx
Kx
xx
QJ9xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Hearts
3 Clubs
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2NT
4 Hearts
|
The above hand graphically illustrates that when you have an eight card major suit fit divided 6-2 then you must always play in the major and not gamble on 3NT simply because you have honours in the unbid suits. Five of the eight East West pairs in the Monday duplicate played in 3NT and four of them deservedly went down on a Club lead. One North unwisely led a low Diamond which allowed this poor contract to make.
East will open 2 Hearts at the favourable vulnerability. If vulnerable then the suit quality would be somewhat dubious but is fine at Green or White.
West holding a good 16 points is interested in game and bids 2NT enquiry. East is happy to bid 3 Clubs showing a high Club honour and a maximum. Now West should jump to 4 Hearts because there is a much higher likelihood of making ten tricks in Hearts than nine tricks in notrumps.
On the likely Queen of Clubs lead from South to 4 Hearts this contract will make an overtrick due to the favourable location of the Jack of Hearts.
3 Extreme good fortune required
Board 13 Thursday 28 May – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer North
|
KQxx
A
QJxx
A107x
|
|
None
Q9xxx
976x
KQJx
|
|
109xx
J10xx
K10
xxx
|
|
AJxxx
Kxx
A8x
98
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Club
4 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
|
I found myself in a very poor 6 Spade contract on the above deal from the Swiss Pairs. Extreme good fortune was required to make the contract.
North raised South’s response of 1 Spade to game since the jury is split on whether it is a good idea to splinter when holding a singleton Ace. I felt that holding a fifth trump and having 5 controls (Ace = 2 controls, King = 1 control) that there was likely to be a good play for slam. I jumped straight to six as there was no need to use Roman Key Card since it was not possible for two keycards to be missing in view of North bidding 4 Spades. While one cannot criticize North’s bid of 4 Spades in the sense that as he has only five losers it is not unreasonable to go to game the hand does illustrate that 4-4-4-1 hands are never as good offensively as you might expect. For instance if North held for example a 4=1=3=5 hand say ♠KQxx♥A♦QJx♣AJ10xx then now slam would be a much better bet as you would have a good chance of establishing the Clubs to deal with any possible Diamond losers.
When the opening lead of the King of Clubs was made and the Dummy went down I realized that I was in a very poor contract. I won the Ace of Clubs and cashed the King of Spades discovering that the trumps were 4-nil. I unblocked the Ace of Hearts at trick three and then conceded my Club loser at trick four. As East had played upwards in Clubs West knew that the Queen of Clubs was not cashing and so had to continue with a red suit. Diamonds is a safer switch than Hearts in case Declarer’s Hearts were KJx(x) and you give Declarer a free finesse. So a Diamond switch (the seven) at trick five goes to the Queen, King and Ace. In order to have a chance of making the contract West will need to have four Diamonds since if the Diamonds are 3-3 there is no chance of a squeeze. At trick six a low Heart is ruffed in the Dummy. The remaining trumps are drawn at tricks seven to nine and at trick ten the King of Hearts is cashed. At trick 11 I was left with the last trump and 8x in Diamonds. West had 96 in Diamonds and the Queen of Clubs while the Dummy held the 10 of Clubs and Jx in Diamonds. When I played the last trump at trick eleven West had to surrender. If the threw the Queen of Clubs then the 10 in Dummy would be boss. So he threw the 6 of Diamonds and now the 10 of Clubs could be thrown from the Dummy. The last two tricks were thus made with the Jack and eight of Diamonds.
The next day when I looked at the hand records I discovered that Deep Finesse stated that while North can always make 6 Spades South on the other hand can be defeated in 6 Spades. It took a couple of minutes for me to understand that the reason for this is that if West had chosen to make his opening lead as the 7 of Diamonds (second highest from a bad suit) and then continued with Diamonds when he won his Club trick that this would destroy the communication in Diamonds necessary for the squeeze at trick 11 described above to operate.
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Points of interest from the June 2015 duplicates
1 Mini-Splinter points the way to slam
Board 10 Thursday 11 June – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
None of the five North South pairs managed to reach the excellent slam contract of 6 Hearts on the above hand. After North responds 1 Heart to South’s opening bid of 1 Club South has to decide what to say. While he might bid 3 Hearts showing 16 to 18 points including shape as he has 14 points with four card Heart support plus a singleton Diamond for which we should count 3 points once a trump fit has been found (total 17 points) there is a much more descriptive bid available. That bid is to make a MINI SPLINTER of 3 Diamonds.
A mini-splinter is where responder’s major suit is agreed by the opener jumping to the 3 level after a 1 Heart or 1 Spade response to the opening bid of 1 Club or 1 Diamond in a higher ranking suit to the one opened.
Opener promises either:-
1 A raise to at least the three level of partner’s with a singleton in the mini-splintered suit.
2 A raise to the three level with a void in the mini-splintered suit but insufficient points to splinter at the four level.
There are four such sequences:-
They are called mini-splinters because in each case responder can sign off in 3 of the major if he is minimum or has a bad holding in the mini-splintered suit. For instance in the above hand if North held ♠xxxx ♥Q10xx ♦KJx ♣Jx then he would sign off in 3 Hearts and the bidding would end in a part-score.
When South makes a Mini-Splinter of 3 Diamonds the North hand has enormous playing strength. However North cannot bid Keycard because he has a void and in any event there might be two losers in Spades if South has for instance:-
Accordingly North bids 4 Diamonds as a cue-bid showing the Ace (since it would be completely pointless to cue-bid a King opposite the known shortage in the South hand). South then cue-bids in Spades and North can then jump to slam in Hearts. Thus slam is reached on only 23 points between the two hands and even then the King of Clubs is superfluous to its success.
On a passive Jack of Hearts lead North should win in hand and then trump three Diamonds in the Dummy using Club ruffs as a means of transport each time. Even though the Diamonds split 5-3 the fourth Diamond is trumped with the Ace of Hearts and 12 tricks roll in : +1430 to North South.
2 Agreeing opener’s major suit after a 2NT opening
Board 15 Wednesday 24 June – Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
Only two pairs out of seven managed to get to the excellent 6 Spade contract on the above hand.
After the bidding starts 2NT – 3 Clubs – 3 Spades, responder holding four Spades has to be able to set Spades as trumps and investigate slam. FOUR HEARTS, THE OTHER MAJOR, IS AN ARTIFICIAL SLAM TRY SETTING SPADES AS TRUMPS. IF RESPONDER BIDS ANYTHING OTHER THAN FOUR HEARTS, EXCEPT A NON-SLAM TRY RAISE TO FOUR SPADES, RESPONDER DENIES FOUR-CARD SPADE SUPPORT. The use of the other major in this sequence is not needed as a natural bid.
When South shows a four card Spade suit in response to Stayman then the North hand is definitely worth a slam try with five trumps, a singleton, an Ace and nine points opposite a 2NT opener. The way to express this is to bid the other major at the lowest level ie 4 Hearts over 3 Spades. (If South had shown a four card Heart suit in response to Stayman then similarly 3 Spades by North would agree Hearts).
South holding a maximum with eight controls bids keycard and over the 5 Club response showing one Keycard asks for the Queen of trumps by bidding the next step 5 Diamonds. North holding the Queen of trumps then jumps to 6 Spades as he has no other King to show. There are no problems in the play and a score of +1460 to North South is soon entered.
Board 19 Monday 29 June – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
Only one pair out of eight managed to reach the excellent 5 Club contract on the above hand.
After South responds 1 Heart to the 1 Club opener West is too weak to make an overcall in Spades at red. North rebids 2 Clubs and South having a maximum pass bids 2NT implying a good 10 or 11 points.
North is very unhappy with notrumps and so he should now bid 3 Diamonds. This implies a very unbalanced hand but one which is limited by the failure to reverse earlier. In fact it is highly likely that it shows six Clubs and five Diamonds. This is because there would be an element of risk in bidding a higher ranking suit over 2NT with only a 6-4 shape because it would commit to playing in Clubs if South’s shape were exactly 4=5=2=2.
Over 3 Diamonds the South hand now looks very promising for playing in a Club contract. There is a known nine card fit in Clubs; South’s honour in Clubs will be of great value; Kx in Diamonds is a great holding in partner’s second suit since if North is missing the Queen South will be able to ruff the third round and finally the Ace of the unbid suit is ideal opposite shortage in the North hand (whereas KJ in Spades would be a very bad holding).
Accordingly South should jump to 5 Clubs. In the play if East opens with the King of Spades North would win with the Ace in Dummy discarding his losing Heart. A trump is then played to the nine and Ace. Spades are continued and declarer ruffs the second Spade. At this point Declarer should continue with King of Diamonds, Ace of Diamonds and ruff a Diamond with the Queen of trumps. This is in case the trumps are splitting 3-1 and one of the defenders originally held Jxxx in Diamonds. On this particular occasion the precaution is unnecessary but the technique is important.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the July 2015 duplicates
1 Transferring with weak 5-5 in the minors
Board 7 Monday 13 July – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
K109xx
Axx
xx
QJx
|
|
Axx
10x
AQxx
AKxx
|
|
x
xx
KJxxx
9xxxx
|
|
QJxx
KQxxxx
10x
10
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
|
2NT
Pass
|
Pass1
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
3 Diamonds
|
1 While some would open a weak 2 Hearts this is not ideal holding such a strong four card holding in Spades as a Spade contract might be missed.
When West opens a 15-17 no trump the East hand is very unhappy to play in no trumps holding 5-5 in the minors. Clearly he should transfer into a minor but which minor? East wants to ensure that the partnership end up in a minimum of an eight card fit.
The answer is that when holding a weak 5-5 in the minors you should always transfer into Diamonds by bidding 2NT. The reason is that as explained in Tip No 3 September 2014 when opener has a fit for the minor (defined as Qxx or better) he completes the minor suit transfer by bidding 3 Diamonds over 2NT (or 3 Clubs over 2 Spades if responder has transferred into Clubs). If opener does not have a fit for the minor then he simply bids the next step ie 3 Clubs over 2NT (or 2NT over 2 Spades if responder has transferred into Clubs). Therefore in this case if opener does not have a fit for Diamonds he will bid 3 Clubs and this will almost certainly result in the partnership playing in at least an eight card Club fit.
The play is straightforward and 10 tricks in Diamonds result when the Clubs split the expected 3-1. (A 2-2 split is 40% and a 3-1 split is 50%).
2 Minor suit Stayman after a 2NT opening
Board 7 Tuesday 14 July – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
J10xxxx
xxx
Jx
Kx
|
|
x
AQx
Q98xx
Jxxx
|
|
Ax
Kx
AKxx
AQ9xx
|
|
KQ9x
J109xx
10x
10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2NT
4 Diamonds
4NT
5 Hearts
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Spades
4 Hearts
5 Clubs
5NT
Pass
|
When responding to a 2NT opener if responder has at least 4-4 in the minors and slam-invitational values he should bid 3 Spades as minor suit Stayman asking opener to bid a four-card minor. If opener has a four card minor he bids it. Otherwise opener bids 3NT.
When East hears West bid 3 Spades he immediately knows that the partnership is probably headed for slam. He has a choice between bidding 4 Clubs or 4 Diamonds. You might think that as he has more Clubs that he should set Clubs as trumps. However there is a possibility of a Grand Slam and if opener sets Clubs as trumps he would never be able to find out about the Queen of Diamonds through Roman Keycard. However by setting Diamonds as trumps opener can find out about both the Queen of Diamonds and the King of Clubs.
Responder cue-bids 4 Hearts over 4 Diamonds showing a Heart control (Ace, King or singleton). Opener now bids RKCB for Diamonds. Responder now shows one keycard. Opener now needs to know if opener has the Queen of trumps before looking for a possible Grand Slam. Accordingly he bids the lowest non-trump suit to ask. In this case because trumps are a minor suit the 5 Heart bid has already committed the partnership to a minimum of a Small Slam. If responder does not have the Queen of trumps he would sign off in 6 Diamonds. However because he has the Queen of trumps he bids 5NT. This conveys the message that West has the Queen of Diamonds but no other King. If West had both the Queen of trumps and the King of Clubs he would bid 6 Clubs. If this were the case then East would then be able to jump to the Grand Slam in Diamonds. On this occasion on hearing West bid 5NT then East knows that the King of Clubs is missing and settles for the laydown Small Slam in Diamonds.
3 No room for science
Board 14 Wednesday 15 July – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
|
xxxx
Qx
x
A109xxx
|
|
AQ109xx
Kxx
xxx
Q
|
|
Kx
None
AKJ10xxxx
Kxx
|
|
J
AJ109xxxx
Q
Jxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
6 Diamonds
|
4 Hearts
Pass
|
4 Spades
Pass
|
There are times when the opposition crowd the auction to such an extent that there is no room for scientific exploration of possible slam and you simply have to bid what you expect to make.
South jumps to 4 Hearts over 1 Diamond with his strong eight carder and West bids 4 Spades with his strong six card suit. East has no room to explore and if he were to bid 5 Hearts this would be taken as a void showing cue-bid agreeing Spades. However holding eight Diamonds East should surely only want to play in Diamonds. In order for 6 Diamonds to be a good contract East only needs his partner to hold either of the black suit Aces and not to be void in Diamonds. Accordingly he should jump to 6 Diamonds.
Only two out of eight pairs managed to bid the Diamond slam. Moreover the two that did received a naïve Ace of Hearts lead from South and all thirteen tricks were made. The bidding was strongly suggestive of a Heart void in the East hand since East had not used RKCB. Therefore South should lead the unbid suit Clubs against 6 Diamonds rather than fruitlessly trying to cash the Ace of Hearts. This would prevent the overtrick and it is even possible that East West might have two losers in Clubs on some occasions.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the August 2015 duplicates
1 Slam universally missed
Board 4 Wednesday 5 August – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
AQ9
x
AK10xx
KQxx
|
|
xx
K1098xx
xxx
xx
|
|
J10xxx
AQJx
x
J10x
|
|
Kxx
xx
QJxx
A9xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Diamond
4 Hearts
4NT
6 Diamonds
|
1 Spade
Pass
Pass
|
2 Spades
4 Spades
5 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Not a single pair managed to reach the excellent 6 Diamond contract on the above hand.
The West hand is too weak to open a weak 2 Hearts at Amber. North opens 1 Diamond and after a 1 Spade overcall from East then South should bid 2 Spades to show a good high card raise to at least 3 Diamonds.
North can now accurately describe his hand and show an interest in slam by making a splinter bid of 4 Hearts. South is delighted to co-operate over the splinter bid because he has no wasted honours (King, Queen or Jack) opposite the splinter. Accordingly South cue-bids in Spades. This could be either the King or a singleton but is more likely to be the King in view of East’s overcall not being supported. North wheels out Roman Key Card to check that South does have one Keycard and jumps to 6 Diamonds over the reply.
For the slam to make it needs either a 3-2 club break (68 per cent) or West having a singleton 10 of Jack of Clubs (two fifths of 14 per cent). Total probability of success is therefore approximately 74 per cent.
2 Roman Key Card in two suits
Board 18 Wednesday 12 August – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
|
Axx
AK
AJ9
A98xx
|
|
Q109xx
Qx
10xx
QJx
|
|
xxx
109xx
KQxxxxx
None
|
|
KJ
Jxxxx
x
K10xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2NT
3 Hearts
4 Diamonds1
4 Spades2
6 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Diamonds
4 Clubs
4 Hearts
4NT3
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Roman Key Card in Hearts and Clubs
2 How many Queens (in Hearts and Clubs)
3 Zero
Not a single pair managed to reach the laydown 6 Clubs on the above hand.
North opens 2NT and South transfers into Hearts. Then after the transfer South bids his second suit which is a slam try showing at least five Hearts and four Clubs. Note that if South had the same point count but with only a 2=5=2=4 distribution then he would bid 3NT over 3 Hearts because it would be too ambitious to be looking for a slam holding ♠KJ ♥Jxxxx ♦xx ♣K10xx. At this point there is a good case for North simply jumping to 6 Clubs with all the Aces and five trumps. However if he wishes to bid the hand scientifically then he should bid 4 Diamonds. As explained in June 2014 Tip No 1 when after a 2NT opener responder transfers into a major and then bids a second suit at the four level the lowest off suit by opener is Roman Key Card for BOTH of responder’s suits.
South shows one Keycard and now the next step asks how many Queens South has in his two suits (Hearts and Clubs). The first step shows no Queens, the second step one Queen and the third step two Queens.
North signs off in 6 Clubs once South has denied any Queen. In fact in spite of missing the Queen of Clubs 7 Clubs requires only a 2-1 trump split which is a 78% chance. It is extremely difficult to bid a Grand Slam because neither side knows that the partnership possesses a 10 card fit in Clubs since from North’s point of view South might have made a slam try on say ♠KJ ♥Jxxxx ♦Kx ♣K10xx and South cannot know that North has five Clubs.
3 Lead the unbid suit !
Board 6 Wednesday 19 August – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
|
10xxx
xxx
AQ10
Axx
|
|
AQxx
xx
xxx
Kxxx
|
|
xx
109x
Kxx
Q10xxx
|
|
KJx
AKQJx
Jxxx
J
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
3 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
2 Diamonds
4 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
I was astonished to see that four out of six Wests made the opening lead of a trump on the above auction.
This makes declarer’s life very easy. Trumps are drawn in three rounds and a losing Diamond finesse is taken at trick four. A Club return is won in the Dummy with the Ace and a low Spade to the Jack and Queen follows at trick six. A second round of Clubs is ruffed at trick seven, the Diamonds are unblocked at tricks eight and nine. At trick ten a second Spade to the King and Ace follows. The third round of Clubs is ruffed at trick eleven and Declarer wins the last two tricks with the Jack of Diamonds and the established 10 of Spades.
There is absolutely no reason not to lead the unbid suit Clubs on this auction. Look how different things would have been on a Club lead in spite of the fact that trumps split 3-2.
Trumps are drawn in three rounds and a losing Diamond finesse follows at trick five. The second round of Clubs is ruffed with Declarer’s fourth trump and the two Diamond winners in the Dummy unblocked at tricks seven and eight. A Spade to the Jack and Queen follows at trick nine. At trick 10 a further Club lead takes out Declarer’s last trump and the Jack of Diamonds is cashed at trick 11. The Defence now take the last two tricks with the Ace of Spades and a winning Club. One down.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the September 2015 duplicates
1 Game universally missed
Board 7 Wednesday 16 September – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
Kxxxx
xx
xx
AQxx
|
|
A9xx
Qx
KQ10x
KJx
|
|
Jx
10xx
Jxx
10xxxx
|
|
Q10
AKJ98x
Axxx
x
|
|
All five North South pairs ended up in a Heart part score thus missing the excellent game.
South opens 1 Heart and West doubles. North bids 1 Spade and East passes.
At this stage it would appear that most of the South pairs simply rebid 2 Hearts. However the hand is too strong for this action. Equally with only 14 HCPs the hand is not really good enough to jump to 3 Hearts especially as it does not have the seven playing trick strength that such a bid would suggest. Accordingly South should simply rebid 2 Diamonds.
When as opener you rebid a second lower ranking suit after a one level response by responder you are showing anywhere between 11 and 17 points (occasionally 18 if the hand is not strong enough to insist upon game). Here North gives preference to 2 Hearts holding two cards in each suit and now South can make a game try of 3 Hearts. This shows a good hand with 6-4 shape (since responder’s preference to 2 Hearts does not promise more than two cards in Hearts). Over the invite North is delighted to raise to game holding nine points including an Ace and a King plus the doubleton in Diamonds.
In the defence West has a dilemma. If he opens with a trump in order to stop a Diamond ruff in the Dummy then he sacrifices any chance of the Queen of Hearts making a trick and Declarer will easily make 10 tricks with six Heart tricks, two Club tricks after finessing the Queen (which has at least a 70% chance of success on the bidding in view of West’s take out double) one Spade and one Diamond trick. Alternatively if West opens with the King of Diamonds then Declarer allows the King to win the first trick. On a Club switch the Queen is finessed and a Diamond discarded on the Ace of Clubs. The Ace of Diamonds is followed by the third round of Diamonds is ruffed in the Dummy. If Declarer now diagnoses the trump position he will make an overtrick. If instead he finesses the Jack of Hearts he will lose one Heart, one Spade and one Diamond making just ten tricks for +620.
2 Inferential count for the overtrick
Board 9 Monday 21 September – Vulnerability East West – Dealer North
|
A9x
Q10x
KQJ10xx
x
|
|
Kxxx
Ax
xx
K10xxx
|
|
QJ8xx
K
Axx
AJxx
|
|
10
Jxxxxxx
xx
Qxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Diamond
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
3 Clubs
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
4 Spades
|
Only three pairs out of eight managed to reach game in Spades for East West and of the seven pairs who played in Spades only four managed to make the overtrick which is a near certainty if they had bothered to count the North South hands properly.
West makes an unassuming cue-bid of 2 Diamonds after East overcalls. This promises a minimum of nine points with Spade support. East has a good hand but with the singleton King of Hearts it would be a little wild to jump to game in Spades so accordingly East bids his second suit. This is all the encouragement which West needs to bid game in Spades especially as he has a fourth trump.
South leads a Diamond which East wins with the Ace. At trick two the Queen of Spades is played. Let us assume that North allows the Queen to win before winning the second Spade with the Ace. North then cashes his Diamond trick at trick four before exiting with his last trump at trick five.
At trick six Declarer unblocks the King of Hearts and then trumps his third Diamond in the Dummy at trick seven on which South discards a Heart. At trick eight the Ace of Hearts is cashed. At this stage North is known to have three Spades, at least two Hearts and exactly six Diamonds. In other words he cannot have more than two Clubs and his shape is likely to be either 3=3=6=1 or 3=2=6=2. Conversely South’s shape will be either 1=7=2=3 or 1=8=2=2. Due to the fact that eight card suits are extremely rare beasts East should play North for 3=3=6=1 and when a low Club to the Ace at trick nine yields only low cards he should then confidently run the Jack of Clubs at trick ten for the overtrick.
3 Minor Suit Game missed
Board 10 Monday 28 September – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
Axx
x
Q10x
Q109xxx
|
|
KQx
K109xxx
xxx
J
|
|
10xxxx
QJ
J9xx
Ax
|
|
Jx
Axxx
AKx
Kxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Spades
3 Hearts
5 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
3 Clubs
4 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Only one pair out of eight managed to reach the laydown 5 Club contract on the above hand.
After a strong no trump from South then North transfers into Clubs. As explained in Tip No 3 from September 2014 if you complete the minor suit transfer by bidding 3 Clubs over 2 Spades (or 3 Diamonds over 2NT if responder has transferred into Diamonds) then you are showing a fit for responder’s minor. A fit is defined as Qxx or better. If you do not have a fit for responder’s minor then opener simply bids the next step ie 2NT over 2 Spades or 3 Clubs over 2NT.
When opener shows a fit for Clubs then 3 of either major by responder shows a shortage (singleton or void in that major). This highlights that opener cannot insist on playing in no trumps without a very good stop in that major. Here when responder shows Heart shortage opener knows that 3NT is unlikely to be the best contract holding only one stop but equally the hand is very suitable for playing in at least game in Clubs. Accordingly opener cue-bids 4 Diamonds showing the Ace of Diamonds and denying a control in Spades. Responder then signs off in 5 Clubs. 5 Clubs needs just a 2-1 trump break (78%) or if the Clubs are 3-0 then opener needs simply to guess who has the three trumps. Thus the chances of success are 78% + half of 22% = 89%.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the October 2015 duplicates
1 The 8 of Diamonds saves the day
Board 20 Thursday 9 October – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
Jxxx
xxxx
9
J10xx
|
|
Q10x
KJ10x
None
AKQxxx
|
|
A9xx
Ax
AQJ108xx
None
|
|
Kx
Qxx
K7xxx
xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
1 Spade
3 Diamonds
4 Diamonds
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
1 Heart
3 Clubs
3NT
4 Hearts
Pass
|
Only two pairs out of ten managed to reach the excellent 6 Diamond contract above.
West opens 1 Club and East responds 1 Diamond. Note that you never jump as responder when you have a two-suited hand. West rebids 1 Heart and now East bids 4th suit forcing. Now West should jump to 3 Clubs to show the strong six card suit and extra values. East repeats his Diamonds to show a good six carder and now West can bid 3NT with a stop in Spades. East is still interested in slam and continues with 4 Diamonds which implies that his suit is self supporting and can play opposite a singleton or void. Although West has a void in Diamonds it costs nothing to cue-bid 4 Hearts showing the King or Ace of Hearts (East knows that it is the King as he has the Ace). That is all the encouragement East needs to jump to 6 Diamonds. South has a difficult lead and is hardly likely to lead a Spade from Kx. Say he leads a Club Declarer should trump in hand and immediately play Ace of Diamonds followed by Queen of Diamonds. Although the Diamonds are 5-1 fortunately North has the singleton 9 of Diamonds so on a Club continuation Declarer wins in the Dummy discarding a Spade plays a Heart to the Ace and draws the rest of the trumps with the 8 of Diamonds proving the crucial card. Finally Declarer crosses to the King of Hearts and discards his remaining Spade losers on Dummy’s winning Clubs.
The odds of the Diamonds coming in are 3-3 break (36%) + 4-2 break (48%) + 5-1 break with the singleton being the 9 (1/6th of 15% = 2.5%). Total probability of success = 86.5%.
2 Breaking the Transfer with 2NT
Board 6 Thursday 15 October – Vulnerability East West – Dealer East
|
Axx
A9xx
AJx
KJ8
|
|
Qx
Qxx
Q98x
9xxx
|
|
KJ10
J108xx
10xx
A10
|
|
98xxx
K
Kxx
Qxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1NT
2NT
3 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
2 Hearts
3 Hearts
4 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Not a single pair managed to reach the excellent 4 Spade contract. Some pairs reached 3NT which would always be defeated on the lead of the fourth highest Heart from East but which should make if East makes the more normal lead of the Jack of Hearts. (On the Jack of Hearts opening lead North’s 9 of Hearts becomes a third guard in the suit and provided Declarer plays Spades to keep West off lead the contract cannot then be defeated).
However back to the bidding. When South transfers into Spades if North simply bids 2 Spades this will (or should) end the bidding. South should definitely not make a game try with a poor eight points at pairs and ten tricks would result for +170. However while most readers are familiar with the idea that when opener has four card support for responder’s major he should break the transfer by jumping to 3 of the major it is perhaps less well known that when you have a maximum 17 points with three card support and good controls in a balanced hand you should break the transfer by bidding 2NT. South now knowing that North has a maximum with three card Spade support wants to be in game but he first of all retransfers by bidding 3 Hearts and then raises 3 Spades to game.
4 Spades makes if:-
a) Trumps break 3-2 and the Clubs break 3-3
68% x 36% = 24%
b) Trumps break 3-2, Clubs do not break 3-3 and the Diamond finesse is working
68% x 64% x 50% = 21%
c) East may sometimes lead a Diamond at trick one from a holding which includes the Queen as with only Spades having been bid naturally he would have three suits to choose from and might not have a Heart holding which looks safe to lead from.
d) Either East of West has 109 of Clubs doubleton.
So in practice whenever Spades break 3-2 you want to be in game.
3 6 Diamonds – the play’s the thing
Board 21 Monday 26 October – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
AQ9xx
None
AKxx
AKxx
|
|
xx
KQ109xx
9
109xx
|
|
KJ10xx
Jxx
10xx
Jx
|
|
x
Axxx
QJxxx
Qxx
|
|
Only four out of 12 pairs managed to reach 6 Diamonds on the above hand. However of these four pairs three of them played it so carelessly that they failed to make the contract.
I will give two bidding sequences depending on whether West makes a WJO in Hearts.
With West silent
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
3 Clubs
4 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
3 Diamonds
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
With West bidding
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
Double
4 Hearts
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1NT
4 Diamonds
6 Diamonds
|
3 Hearts
Pass
Pass
|
Note that where West is silent that North should jump in Clubs not Diamonds because it keeps the bidding at a lower level. As 3 Clubs is game forcing South should simply bid 3 Diamonds which shows at least a 5 card suit and denies either three Spades or four Clubs. When North hears South bid Diamonds his hand is absolutely enormous. Rather than simply raise Diamonds he should jump to 4 Hearts which is almost certainly a void showing splinter showing either a 6=0=3=4 shape or 5=0=4=4 shape. With South holding a singleton Spade, good Diamonds and the Queen of Clubs (not forgetting his Ace of Hearts) this is all the encouragement which he needs to jump to the slam.
Where West makes a weak jump overcall then North doubles for takeout. South bids Diamonds and North cue-bids showing a hand too good to simply raise to game in Diamonds. Again for the reasons in the first auction South jumps to slam.
Let us assume that West makes the opening lead of the King of Hearts. South has three losers in Hearts and no losers in any other suit. Accordingly South needs only to ensure that he trumps two Heart losers in the Dummy in order to make 12 tricks. Let us go through the play trick by trick in order to see how 12 tricks are guaranteed with maximum safety. In fact as we shall see correct play actually leads to all 13 tricks being made on a squeeze against West.
Trick 1 – King of Hearts ruffed in the Dummy.
Trick 2 – The Ace of Diamonds is cashed to check that Diamonds are not 4-0.
Trick 3 – Low Diamond to the Jack (trumps are 3-1 the most likely break).
Trick 4 – Trump the second round of Hearts in the Dummy with the King of Diamonds.
Trick 5 – Low Club to the Queen.
Trick 6 – Cash the Queen of Diamonds discarding a Spade from the Dummy.
Trick 7 – Spade to Ace.
Trick 8 – Trump the second round of Spades.
Trick 9 – Low Club to the King.
Trick 10- Trump the third round of Spades.
On this trick West is squeezed. He is still to discard in the following position:
|
Q
None
None
Ax
|
|
None
Q10
None
109
|
|
KJ
J
None
None
|
|
None
Ax
None
x
|
|
If West throws a Club then South cashes the Ace of Hearts and makes the last two tricks with Ax of Clubs for 13 tricks. If West throws the 10 of Hearts then now South has two Heart winners and makes the last trick with the Ace of Clubs.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the November 2015 duplicates
1 Unusual 4NT overcall
Board 8 Tuesday 24 November – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
AJxx
x
AQxx
109xx
|
|
Q10xx
K10xx
10x
Jxx
|
|
xxx
AQJxxxx
Jx
x
|
|
Kx
x
Kxxxx
AKQxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
6♣ or 6♦
|
3 Hearts
Pass
|
4NT
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
West deals and passes and North should also pass because you should not open borderline 4-4-4-1 hands.
East pre-empts with 3 Hearts and South has to decide what to bid. It is not sensible to double for takeout because having only two cards in the unbid major South cannot cope with partner bidding Spades. Equally if South bids 3NT this would be natural showing 16+ points with a stop in Hearts.
However in the same way that a jump to 2NT over an opening bid at the one level shows 5-5 in the two lowest ranking unbid suits a jump to 4NT over an opening three level preempt shows a strong 5-5 in the two lowest ranking unbid suits. Here South is showing a good hand with 5-5 in the minors and a maximum of five losers on the losing trick count.
How should North reply to this? He is maximum for his original pass, he has four card support for both of South’s suits and he has two Aces. Accordingly he should jump to straight to slam in either Clubs or Diamonds. Even if South has six cards in one of the minors in a 1=1=6=5 or 1=1=5=6 shape it will make no difference in which minor suit North South should declare.
There are no problems in the play and a score of +920 results. (Even if South’s Spades were say Qx instead of Kx then the contract would just require the Spade finesse through the partner of the pre-emptor).
2 The Rule of 19 or the Rule of 20 is only a guide and should be used with discretion
Board 11 Tuesday 24 November
Even if a hand qualifies as an opening bid because it satisfies the Rule of 19 or the more conservative Rule of 20 that does not necessarily mean that it should be opened.
Consider Board 11:-
AKxx
Q98xx
J
Jxx
First of all we ignore the singleton Jack when calculating whether the hand is within the R19 or R20.
Thus the above hand is 19 (ten High Card Points plus nine cards in the two longest suits). However, if you open 1 Heart and partner responds 2 Diamonds, what on earth are you going to rebid? You cannot rebid 2 Spades because this would be a reverse showing at least 16 points after a two level response and to rebid the moth eaten Heart suit is to most minds gruesome. Accordingly you start off proceedings with NO BID ! ! !
However if we swop the Spades and Hearts round to give:-
Q98xx
AKxx
J
Jxx
Then you could just about open 1 Spade because if partner bids 2 Diamonds you can at least rebid 2 Hearts showing the 5-4 shape.
So the moral is make sure that you have a sensible rebid if partner responds in your short suit. If you have no sensible rebid then do not open.
This is a theme which I first mentioned back in October 2012 Tip No 1.
3 Expensive Sacrifice
Board 14 Monday 30 November – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
|
A9xxx
J10x
x
AKQx
|
|
QJ
xxx
109xxx
Jxx
|
|
x
AQ9
AKQJx
10xxx
|
|
Kxxxx
Kxxx
xx
xx
|
|
Four out of eight East West pairs unwisely sacrificed in 5 Diamonds on the above hand and when this was doubled they deservedly went three down for -500 for a shared bottom.
East opens 1 Diamond which is passed round to North who bids 1 Spade. East should then double this for takeout showing a good hand with short Spades because although partner has denied more than 5 points East West might still have a good part score available in Hearts or Clubs. Let us assume that South raises to 4 Spades (raising to the level of the fit non-vulnerable ie bidding to the three level with nine trumps and to the four level with ten trumps).
The spotlight now shifts to West. While he might consider sacrificing because his side also possess a likely ten card fit he does know that except in the unlikely event of East having the singleton King of Spades that his Queen Jack of Spades will be completely useless. In other words only his Jack of Clubs might be of any value (although not on this occasion). It is extremely unlikely that at equal vulnerability that 5 Diamonds doubled will escape for a lower penalty than 500 which at pairs is a disaster against 420 for 4 Spades making for North South.
Note that if we replace East’s 9 of Hearts with a small Heart then 5 Diamonds doubled would be even more expensive costing 800 on accurate defence losing one Spade, two Hearts and three Clubs.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the December 2015 duplicates
1 North dozes off
Board 2 Thursday 10 December – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
KQ10xx
Jxxx
xx
J8
Axx xx
xx AK10x
QJ10xxx AK
9x KQ106x
Jxx
Q9x
xxx
A7xx
North East South West
1 Club Pass 1 Diamond
Pass 2 Hearts Pass 3 Diamonds
Pass ?
On the above hand I ended up in the wrong game of 3NT instead of 5 Diamonds but was allowed to make it when North dozed off at trick four.
East correctly jumped to 2 Hearts in response to West’s response of 1 Diamond which was a game forcing jump shift showing a minimum of 18 points with at least five Clubs and four Hearts. I repeated my Diamonds to show a six carder and denying three Clubs and now East had to decide what to say for his third bid. He should have bid 4 Diamonds because the Ace and King is excellent support opposite a six card suit and he knows that West cannot have more than one stop in Spades as otherwise West would have rebid 2NT over 2 Hearts. However East chose to bid 3 Spades as fourth suit forcing and now West had no choice but to bid 3NT. The reason why 3NT is highly likely to fail is that on the expected Spade lead West’s entry to the long Diamonds will be immediately knocked out and unless West has the Queen of Hearts only two Diamond tricks will be made.
North opened with the King of Spades against 3NT. South unblocked the Jack (because North had promised at least KQ10xx). North continued with Spades and I won the third round of the suit. As the Diamonds were blocked it was pointless to play Diamonds at trick four so instead I turned my attention to the Club suit. As I was in my hand for the one and only time I needed North to have the Jack of Clubs. Accordingly I played the NINE of Clubs and North dozily followed with the EIGHT. I played small from Dummy and South ducked. I continued with my second Club at trick five and this went Jack, King and Ace. Now I had nine tricks with four Club tricks, two Diamond tricks, two Heart tricks and the Ace of Spades.
What is wrong with that you might ask. Well if North covers the nine of Clubs with the Jack on the first round of the suit then South’s SEVEN of Clubs is promoted to winning rank on the fourth round of the suit.
So the moral is that in Defence you must be careful not merely to cover honours with honours but to be alert to the occasions when it is essential to cover cards below the rank of honour.
A more common situation when the nine must be covered is as follows:-
AJ10x
Kx Q8xx
9xx
Here West must cover the nine with the King to promote East’s 8 to winning rank on the fourth round.
2 The Vanishing 5th Trick
Board 4 Monday 21 December – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
xxx
A10x
xxx
Axxx
Jxx AQ
Q8xx KJ9xx
AJx Qxx
J10x K9x
K109xx
x
K109x
Qxx
Assuming that East opens 1NT then West has a choice between inviting game via non-promissory Stayman or going straight to game in notrumps. If West chooses to use non-promissory Stayman then he has little choice but to raise the response of 2 Hearts to 3 Hearts. East should pass 3 Hearts because although he has a fifth trump he is minimum in points and it is not an asset to have six of his points as AQ doubleton of Spades.
Playing in Hearts there is no chance of making more than nine tricks as long as South does not make his opening lead in Diamonds. On a Spade lead Declarer loses the Ace of trumps, one Diamond and two Club tricks. On a Club lead Declarer loses the Ace of trumps, one Spade and two Club tricks (the Jack of Spades now being available to park the third round Diamond loser).
Alternatively let us suppose that West attaching due importance to the 10 of Clubs chooses to go straight to game in notrumps. Against this contract South will definitely lead the 10 of Spades (top of an interior sequence). Declarer wins with the Queen and plays the Jack of Hearts at trick two which North allows to win. A second Heart is played at trick three to the Queen and Ace on which South discards his low Diamond. At trick four North continues with a second round of Spades to Declarer’s Ace. It would appear that the Defence are now going to make five tricks with three Spade tricks plus the Heart and Club Aces but appearances can be deceptive. East now continues with three more rounds of Hearts. South can discard his two low Clubs on the third and fourth round of Hearts but on the final round of Hearts at trick seven South has to discard from ♠K9x ♥None ♦K109 ♣Q. What can he throw? If he throws the nine of Diamonds then Declarer can make three Diamond tricks. Accordingly he will probably throw the Queen of Clubs. However at trick eight Declarer now finesses the Jack of Diamonds and then at trick nine endplays South by exiting with the Jack of Spades from the Dummy. On the run of the Spades Declarer now throws all his Clubs from both hands (one Club having already been discarded from the Dummy on the fifth Heart) and at trick twelve South is endplayed from the K10 of Diamonds round to Declarer’s Queen with Ace and a small Diamond in the Dummy. The Ace of Clubs vanishes into thin air for the Defence !
3 Patterning out the shape helps to reach slam
Board 18 Wednesday 23 December – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
KQx
AKxxx
Ax
xxx
J9 10xxx
Qxx 109x
109x xx
AQxxx K109x
Axxx
Jx
KQJxxx
J
North East South West
Pass 1 Diamond Pass
1 Heart Pass 1 Spade Pass
2 Clubs Pass 2 Diamonds Pass
3 Diamonds Pass 3 Hearts Pass
4 Diamonds Pass 4 Spades Pass
4NT Pass 5 Spades Pass
6 Diamonds Pass Pass Pass
Only two pairs out of nine managed to reach slam on the above hand.
North employs fourth suit forcing after South rebids 1 Spade. It is definitely correct for South to emphasize the strength of the Diamonds by bidding 2 Diamonds in response to fourth suit forcing. North is now interested in a slam in Diamonds holding 16 points with six controls (Ace = 2 controls, King = 1 control) so he raises to 3 Diamonds. South should now bid 3 Hearts. This is patterning out his shape ie he must be 4=2=6=1. North now knows that there is no danger of losing two Club tricks and so bids 4 Diamonds hoping that South can cue-bid the Ace of Spades. This he duly does and now Roman Key Card is wheeled out leading to the excellent slam. Assuming that the Defence start off with a Club lead then the second round of Clubs is ruffed. Trumps are then drawn in three rounds. Declarer can now establish the Hearts (even assuming the most likely 4-2 split). Should the Hearts prove to be 5-1 then the contract will still make if the Spades split 3-3 or if the hand with five Hearts holds four Spades then he will be squeezed when the last trump is drawn (for instance if the West hand were originally ♠10xxx ♥Q109xx ♦xx ♣KQ and the East hand were ♠J9 ♥x ♦109x ♣A109xxxx).
Suppose we make the South hand somewhat weaker say ♠AJxx ♥Qx ♦K98xxx ♣x then now South should give a simple preference to 2 Hearts in response to the fourth suit forcing bid of 2 Clubs rather than emphasize such a threadbare six card suit.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the January 2014 duplicates
1 Raising responder or bidding a new suit
Board 20 Thursday 23 January – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
AKxx
97xx
Jxx
xx
|
|
x
KQ10
AK98x
J9xx
|
|
xxx
J8xx
Qx
AKQx
|
|
QJ109x
Ax
10xx
10xx
|
|
In the Swiss Pairs not a single pair managed to reach the best contract of 5 Clubs. Several ended in 4 Hearts which is a very precarious contract and although makeable on the above layout would frequently go down if the Ace of Hearts was in the four card trump holding and not the doubleton.
West opens 1 Diamond and East responds 1 Heart. As West has a minimum hand he must raise Hearts immediately to 2 Hearts. This is because if he instead bids 2 Clubs and partner now bids either 2NT or 3 Clubs then he would like to then bid 3 Hearts at his third bid. However you cannot follow such a course of action because TO BID TWO SUITS AND THEN SHOW DELAYED SUPPORT FOR RESPONDER’S FIRST SUIT SHOWS A GOOD HAND.
After a 2 Heart rebid by opener responder should then try for game by bidding 2NT showing a balanced hand with only four cards in Hearts. Now West is able to bid 3 Clubs at his third bid. This logically shows a weak 1=3=5=4 hand whereas if he were stronger he would have bid 2 Clubs immediately. East can now go straight to game in Clubs as he knows that with nothing wasted in Spades (three small opposite a singleton is good) then game must be a near certainty.
This may be put down in the form of a rule:-
When holding a 1=3=5=4 distribution if partner responds 1 Heart or 3=1=5=4 if partner responds 1 Spade then as opener you must raise the major suit immediately if you are in the range 11 to 14 points. If you are 16+ you can bid 2 Clubs and then subsequently support the Major. You will note that if you have 15 points you will have to use your judgement as to whether to follow the conservative or more aggressive action.
The above Tip is similar to Tip 2 from August 2012 although that was concerned with how to re-bid when holding 4=3=5=1 or 4=3=1=5 distribution after partner responded 1 Heart to a 1 Minor opening.
The odds of 5 Clubs making are exceptionally good. The contract will make if either:-
1 The Clubs break 3-2 = 68 per cent
or
2 If the Clubs are 4-1 then Declarer will need Diamonds 3-3. The play would be for the second round of Spades to be trumped followed by a low Diamond to the Queen. The third round of Spades is then trumped and trumps drawn. If a 4-1 break comes to light then there is no chance of enjoying any Heart tricks and that is why the Diamond break is then essential. The probability of (2) is 4-1 trump break x 3-3 break in Diamonds ie 28 per cent x 36 per cent = 10 per cent.
Total probability of 5 Clubs making = (1) plus (2) = 78 per cent.
2 Trial Bid for Slam
Board 17 Tuesday 28 January – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade1
3 Diamonds2
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Spades
4 Diamonds
Pass
|
|
None
AJxxx
xx
J10xxxx
|
|
QJx
Q9xx
KJxx
xx
|
|
AK9xxx
None
AQ9x
AQx
|
|
108xx
K10xx
10xx
Kx
|
|
1 Although East has game in his own hand better than 2 Clubs
2 Trial bid
Although East is close to game in his own hand and could open 2 Clubs experience tells that with such a powerful three suiter that it is better to open at the one level and hope that the bidding does not end there. West has a choice between 1NT and 2 Spades but the latter is clearly preferable with three good trumps and a doubleton Club.
East could now make a wild jump to slam but if we swop West’s red suits round giving him KJxx in Hearts and J9xx in Diamonds (since East has the Queen) then this would not be a sensible choice. Instead he should make a trial bid. A trial bid is a bid in a new suit showing a minimum of three cards and the message behind the trial bid is that responder needs to have help in the trial bid suit either high honours or a shortage to accept. In most situations a trial bid is simply for game but here East’s trial bid is for slam.
West is happy to accept the trial bid but rather than make a lazy jump to 4 Spades the most descriptive choice is to bid 4 Diamonds which says to partner “I have a maximum with a top Diamond honour”. This is all the encouragement which East needs to jump to Slam. Note that East does not need to ask for the Queen of trumps since it is likely that responder will either have four trumps in which case there is a 10 card fit or otherwise the Queen in a three card holding to accept the trial bid in such an encouraging way.
The play is fairly straightforward. A Heart lead is ruffed and a low Spade to the Queen follows disclosing the four nil break. A losing Club finesse is then taken at trick three. A Club is returned and the third round of Clubs is then ruffed in the Dummy (South may ruff in front of the Dummy but this will make no difference). Assuming that South does not do so then at trick six the Jack of Spades is cashed and at trick seven a second Heart is ruffed and the remaining trumps drawn. Result +980.
3 Embarrassing Loss
Board 1 Wednesday 29 January – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
Q10
AKQxx
xx
AKQx
|
|
Kxxxxx
109
xx
xxx
|
|
J9xx
Jxxx
Ax
10xx
|
|
A
xx
KQJxxxx
J98
|
|
It was very amusing to look at the score sheet for this board. Only one pair out of nine reached the correct contract of 6 Diamonds which was a trivial make losing only to the Ace of trumps. Four pairs reached 6NT three of them played by North! Those Norths must have opened 2NT despite this being a wholly inappropriate choice with the hand being so lopsided with eighteen of the twenty points in the two long suits. A Spade lead defeated this inelegant contract by several tricks.
The correct auction is:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Heart
3 Clubs
4 Diamonds
4NT
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
3 Diamonds
4 Spades
5 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
After a more sensible opening of 1 Heart South bids 2 Diamonds. North makes a high level reverse of 3 Clubs which is forcing to game and usually showing at least 16 points. South should rebid 3 Diamonds which denies three card Heart support and implies a very strong six or seven card suit.
North now has to decide what to say over 3 Diamonds. As he has already shown his 5-4 shape in the rounded suits and as he does not have a Spade stop the best bid is to raise to 4 Diamonds setting Diamonds as trumps. Now South cue bids a control in Spades allowing North to use RKCB. South owns up to two keycards and the Queen of trumps and North signs off in 6 Diamonds.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the February 2014 duplicates
1 Slam rarely bid
Board 24 Wednesday 19 February – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
x
Ax
AK10xx
AJ108x
|
|
Qxx
J109x
9x
xxxx
|
|
J10xx
Qxxx
xx
KQx
|
|
AKxxx
Kxx
QJ8x
x
|
|
Only 2 out of 6 pairs bid to 6 Diamonds on the above deal. In fact the grand slam is a very good contract but is difficult to reach with confidence. (Even if the KQ of Clubs are in the four card holding all thirteen tricks are made with careful play – The Heart lead is won in the Dummy with the King and Ace of Clubs and a Club ruff follow. A low Heart to the Ace follows at trick four and a second Club ruff at trick five. Now the Jack of Diamonds to the Ace and a third Club ruff at trick seven. Now Ace of Spades and a Spade ruff allow trumps to be drawn and declarer does not even need to make use of the King of Spades !)
A sensible auction to the small slam is:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Diamond
2 Clubs
3 Clubs
4NT
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
2 Hearts
4 Diamonds
5 Clubs
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
The key bid here is that after South bids 4th suit 2 Hearts and hears opener show 5-5 in the minors that South should jump to 4 Diamonds with such strong trump support and the excellent controls in the majors.
2 Work out the only chance and play for it
Board 1 Thursday 20 February – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
No Declarer who reached 3NT on this deal worked out what the only chance to make the contract was and played on that assumption.
|
KQxx
AKx
K
Q9xxx
|
|
Ax
xxx
9xxx
KJ108
|
|
J109xx
QJ109
xxx
A
|
|
xx
xxx
AQJ10x
xxx
|
|
There are two possible ways to get to game depending on whether East overcalls in Spades or passes.
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Club
1 Spade
2 NT1
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
2 Clubs
3 NT
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Club
1 NT2
Pass
|
1 Spade
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 NT
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Showing a good hand of about 17-18 points either 4=2=5=2 or 4=3=1=5. (If the latter then responder will have to hope that Diamond is singleton King!)
2 Showing a sound Spade stop and a good 17 to 19 points
The opening lead against 3NT was the Queen of Hearts. Assuming that the Diamonds break 4-3 then Declarer has eight winners, five Diamonds (obviously overtaking the King with the Ace on the first round), two Hearts and one Spade. There is no chance of making any tricks in Clubs because by the time that any Club might become established the Defence are certain to make at least five tricks. Therefore in order to make a ninth trick the only chance is for West to have started with either the singleton Ace of Spades or doubleton Ax.
Accordingly Declarer wins the first trick with the King of Hearts and immediately plays the King of Diamonds overtaking with the Ace in the Dummy. The Queen, Jack, 10 and the fifth Diamond then follow on which Declarer discards two Clubs, one Heart and one Spade. At trick seven a low Spade to the Queen follows which wins the trick. Now a second Spade is played and the Ace appears on the second round giving the ninth trick with the Ace of Hearts as entry to the second Spade trick.
Yes this is a very fortunate lie of the Spade suit but it is the only chance to make the contract and therefore the hand must be played on the basis that such a fortunate distribution exists.
3 Passive lead defeats game
Board 9 Thursday 20 February – Vulnerability East West – Dealer North
|
J10x
Qxxx
Jxx
K97
|
|
843
KJx
KQxx
Jxx
|
|
97xx
None
1087
AQ8xxx
|
|
AKQ
A109xxx
A9x
10
|
|
South opens 1 Heart in third seat, North gives a single raise and South goes straight to game as his sixth trump makes the hand too strong for a trial bid in Diamonds.
With only the trump suit having been bid West should seek maximum safety in his opening lead. Accordingly he should lead his middle Spade intending to play MUD (Middle – Up – Down). On a Spade lead Declarer will probably play the 10 of Clubs at trick 2 covered by the Jack, King and Ace. Provided that East now returns a Diamond the contract is certain to be defeated (selecting the 10 to make it clear that he can contribute nothing to the establishment of any Diamond tricks). West can win the Queen of Diamonds at trick three and exit safely in either black suit to wait for his trump trick and second Diamond trick.
Note that if the opening lead is the King of Diamonds (which was selected at three out of the six tables) that the contract makes comfortably as now declarer only loses one Heart, one Diamond and one Club trick.
So the moral is that providing there is no indication from the bidding that an attacking lead is required you should make the lead which is least likely to give away a trick. Here it was clear to be passive as no suits had been bid apart from trumps.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the March 2014 duplicates
1 Extreme care needed
Board 8 Thursday 20 March – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
K
AQ9xxx
9x
KQxx
|
|
xx
x
KQJ10xxx
Axx
|
|
10xxxx
KJx
8x
J10x
|
|
AQJ9x
10xx
Ax
9xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Heart
4 Hearts
|
1 Spade
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
Pass
|
1 Diamond
Pass
Pass
|
Four pairs bid to a contract of 4 Hearts on the above hand but none of the four were successful in making the contract. West opens 1 Diamond as he is far too strong for a pre-emptive opening especially not vulnerable. North overcalls 1 Heart and East bids 1 Spade showing a five card suit. South makes an unassuming cue-bid showing at least nine points with Heart support and North should now jump to game with his strong 6-4 shape and only five losers.
The opening lead is a Diamond. Declarer’s priority is clearly to discard the Diamond loser on a Spade winner in the Dummy. Accordingly the Ace of Diamonds is played at trick one followed by the Ace of Spades unavoidably crashing the King, followed by the Queen of Spades discarding the second Diamond.
With the Diamond loser now attended to Declarer has to keep the losers in the rounded suits (Hearts and Clubs) to three. In such situations it is nearly always correct to play the side suit (Clubs) before the trump suit (Hearts) as it may be necessary to trump a Club in the Dummy.
Accordingly at trick four a low Club is played to the King which wins. This is very illuminating because now if Declarer takes the trouble to count the points outstanding he knows that the Heart finesse must be wrong ! Why is this? Well as East bid 1 Spade he is likely to have five points and yet it looks as if he has no points in Diamonds and only the Jack of Clubs. Therefore he must have the King of Hearts in order to begin to justify his 1 Spade bid. Therefore at trick five Declarer plays the Queen of Hearts from hand (just in case West has the singleton Jack). East must win with the King and he continues with a second Diamond which is trumped. Now at trick seven Declarer plays a second Heart towards the 10 in the Dummy. East can win the Jack but the 10 of Hearts is now a crucial entry in order to cash the Jack of Spades and then play a second Club from the Dummy and thus lose just only one Club trick and two trump tricks.
The moral is that it is absolutely essential to plan the play on the basis of the bidding (or lack of it) as it will often indicate that a key finesse cannot possibly be working.
2 Asking for third round control
Board 5 Tuesday 25 March – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
J9x
KJxx
x
Q109xx
|
|
Axxx
A
KJ10xxx
Jx
|
|
x
xx
AQxxx
AKxxx
|
|
KQ10xx
Q109xxx
x
x
|
|
After North passes and East opens 1 Diamond some Souths overcalled 2 Diamonds as a Michaels cuebid showing at least 5-5 in the major suits. As North South were vulnerable and North was already a passed hand the words of the great Terence Reese come to mind with his oft used expression “Careless talk costs lives”. The chances of North South buying the contract were extremely low and by making a Michaels cuebid it is actually much easier for East West to reach the Grand Slam in Diamonds.
The most descriptive bid for West to make over 2 Diamonds is to jump to 4 Hearts. This cannot possibly be natural after South has advertised at least five cards in Hearts but is a splinter bid suggesting a void or singleton Ace of Hearts. As East has control of Spades he can go straight to 4NT RKCB. West now bids 5 Diamonds (0 or 3 keycards) clearly 3 in this instance. East knowing that all the keycards are present is now only interested in whether West has third round control of Clubs. Accordingly be bids 6 Clubs which says to West “Please bid a Grand Slam if you have third round control of Clubs”. Third round control can either be the Queen or a doubleton. West is happy to oblige and jumps to the Grand Slam with the play presenting no problems.
Without the overcall of 2 Diamonds it is much harder to reach the Grand Slam since a jump to 4 Hearts opposite a 1 Diamond opener would be natural if South does not advertise having both majors and East West might well settle for reaching 6 Diamonds.
3 Slam in three suits
Board 30 Thursday 27 March – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
|
xxx
K109xxxx
Q
xx
|
|
Kxx
None
A98xx
AQ8xx
|
|
AQJ9
Qx
KJx
J9xx
|
|
xxx
AJxx
10xxx
K10
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
2NT
3 Diamonds
4 Clubs
6 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
3 Clubs
3 Spades
5NT
Pass
|
East opens 1 Spade playing strong notrump. West having 5-5 in the minors should first of all bid his higher ranking suit 2 Diamonds. East rebids 2NT showing 12 to 14 and now West has a choice between showing his second suit Clubs and bidding 3 Spades to show three card Spade support. It is better to show the second suit as the Spade support can be shown later. Over 3 Clubs East clearly cannot bid 3NT as he has no Heart stop but equally he does not want to raise to 4 Clubs because it takes the bidding beyond 3NT if partner has half a stop in Hearts so he should temporize with a bid of 3 Diamonds. Now West introduces his three card Spade support and East can now support the Clubs. The West hand has now become incredibly powerful. As East does not have a Heart stop and has shown support for both Diamonds and Clubs a Small Slam is likely to be a very good bet. However West has no idea whether the slam should be in Spades, Diamonds or Clubs. In such circumstances a jump to 5NT without going through 4NT says to partner “We are going to slam but I am not sure in which denomination it should be played. Our previous bidding has suggested playing in more than one denomination. Please pick a slam” On this occasion East should bid the slam in Clubs which is the safest proposition although at pairs there is also a case for gambling on playing in Spades on the 4-3 fit. Happily the fortunate lie of the North South cards means that all thirteen tricks are made whether playing in Spades, Diamonds or Clubs. I have calculated the probability of 6 Clubs making as being approximately 68 per cent and would be even higher if the 10 of Clubs were present in the East hand.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the April 2014 duplicates
1 Exclusion Key Card a.k.a Voidwood
Board 7 Tuesday 22 April – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
None
AKQx
KJxxx
J10xx
|
|
AQxx
J98xx
Qxx
x
|
|
1098xxx
10xx
109
xx
|
|
KJx
x
Axx
AKQxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Diamond
5 Spades
7 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
3 Clubs
5NT
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
When South jumps to 3 Clubs over North’s response of 1 Diamond North can be almost certain that a slam in Clubs is on the cards. However it is no use using ordinary Key Card Blackwood as the Ace of Spades in the South hand is of absolutely no use to North. Consequently North should jump to 5 Spades. This inexplicable jump to the five level shows a void in that suit and asks partner to show how many key cards he has OUTSIDE that suit. With 0 or 3 keycards he bids one step up – 5NT – with one keycard he bids two steps up – 6 Clubs – and with two keycards he bids three steps up – 6 Diamonds.
Here South responds the first step showing 3 keycards (he cannot have zero after his jump to 3 Clubs) and North can now jump straight to the Grand Slam in Clubs. Note that there is no need to ask about the Queen of trumps as there is a known 10 card fit and the odds of bringing in the suit even if the Queen were to be missing is 89 per cent as only Qxx offside will cause any problems.
Some of you might ask the question how will the bidding go if West overcalls 1 Heart. The correct auction is now:-
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
3 Spades
4 Hearts
6 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
4 Diamonds
4NT
7 Clubs
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
|
where 3 Spades is a splinter bid, 4 Diamonds and 4 Hearts are cue-bids. Now when South bids 4NT RKCB North jumps to 6 Clubs to show 1 or 3 keycards and a void (which can only be in Spades after the earlier splinter).
2 Accepting the invitation with minimum points
Board 2 Wednesday 23 April – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
|
10xx
J98xxx
KJ
10x
|
|
AQxx
xx
xxxx
AJx
|
|
Kx
AKQ
AQ
Q97xxx
|
|
J98x
10x
10xxxx
K8
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2NT
3 Diamonds
6NT
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
3 Clubs
4NT
Pass
|
Only one pair out of eight reached 6NT on the above hand because the other seven pairs failed to appreciate the power of a six card suit.
East opens 2NT, West employs Stayman and then bids a quantitative 4NT over the 2 Diamond denial. Although East has a minimum 20 points he should accept the invitation because of the six card Club suit. Although there is a small possibility that the hand is off the Ace and King of Clubs this is unlikely and whenever the long Club is opposite Ace to three or better then the slam is a good bet.
On West’s actual Club holding the slam is actually 95% certain to make and would only go down when South holds all four outstanding Clubs (a 5% chance).
To illustrate the principle suppose we change West’s Clubs from AJx to Axx. What is the probability of the contract making now? The contract will now make when the outstanding Clubs are:-
A) 2-2 = 40%
B) North having three Clubs = 25% (one half of the 3-1 breaks)
C) North having a singleton King = 6.25% (one quarter of the 3-1 breaks in the South hand)
Giving a total probability of 71.25% which is excellent odds to justify bidding a slam.
3 Change of Trump Suit for Slam
Board 16 Tuesday 29 April – Vulnerability East West – Dealer West
|
AQx
Kxx
xxx
AKxx
|
|
1098xx
xxx
Qxx
xx
|
|
Kxx
Jx
KJ109x
xxx
|
|
Jx
AQ109x
Ax
QJ109
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1NT
2 Hearts
3 Hearts
6 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
3 Clubs
4 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
North opens a strong no-trump and South transfers into Hearts. South now shows his second suit by bidding 3 Clubs.
This gives North a problem. He has a dilemma between bidding 3 Hearts or raising to 4 Clubs. At this stage North does not know the extent of South’s ambitions on the hand. If South is simply bidding on a 5-5 nine count to explore whether the hand should be played in no-trumps or a suit contract then the hand should be played in Hearts eg if South has ♠x ♥AQxxx ♦xx ♣QJxxx. This is especially true at Pairs scoring when making ten or eleven tricks in Hearts will score better than eleven tricks in Clubs.
However if South has a stronger hand with 14 plus points (which is the minimum recommended to make a slam try on a balanced 2=5=2=4 distribution) then a slam is quite possible. Therefore the bid which keeps both possibilities in play so to speak is to temporize by bidding 3 Hearts.
Over 3 Hearts South is now able to cue-bid 4 Diamonds showing the Ace or King of Diamonds and an interest in slam.
Over 4 Diamonds North can now visualize a slam but should jump to 6 Clubs rather than use keycard for Hearts because as a rule a 4-4 trump fit almost always produces one more trick than a 5-3 fit.
The above hand aptly demonstrates this principle. On a Diamond lead to 6 Hearts the contract is dependent on the Spade finesse which fails and so 6 Hearts will not make. However on a Diamond lead to 6 Clubs after drawing trumps and discarding two of Dummy’s Diamonds on the Heart winners the Spade finesse is taken for the overtrick and not the contract.
|
|
|
|
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the May 2014 duplicates
1 When both opponents have bid a suit a bid by the 4th player of one of the opposition suits should be played as natural
Board 13 Tuesday 20 May – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer North
|
x
QJ10xx
Kx
KJ9xx
|
|
AKQ10x
Kx
x
Axxxx
|
|
Jxx
Axx
Q10xxxx
x
|
|
9xxx
xxx
AJ9x
Q10
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Spades
Pass
|
1 Spade
Pass
Pass
|
2 Spades
4 Spades
|
North opens 1 Heart a routine Rule of 20 opener. South responds 1 Spade and the focus turns to West. Many years ago it was recommended that the best course of action was to pass and to come to life later on. However this has now gone firmly out of fashion and it is best for West to bid 2 Spades. This would usually show a good 6 card Spade suit in view of Spades being bid on the right of West but with a very strong 5 carder it is acceptable to bid with 5 on this occasion. East may be tempted to pass but with three trumps headed by an honour, the Ace of Hearts and a singleton Club he is well worth a raise to 3 Spades. West is happy to go to game with his five loser hand and attractive 5-5 shape.
The best lead for the defence is the singleton trump. Normally a singleton trump is a bad lead but since South is known to have four Spades on the bidding it is unlikely to do any damage. West must be careful to win in hand with the 10. He then plays Ace of Clubs and a Club ruff. A low Heart to the King and a further Club ruff with the Jack of Spades follows. He thus makes 10 tricks with seven trump tricks, two Heart tricks and one Club trick.
2 Where is the Queen of Clubs ?
Board 24 Thursday 22 May – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
xx
AQJxxxx
x
A10x
|
|
AK98xx
10x
xxx
?x
|
|
QJxx
9
AKxx
?xxx
|
|
x
Kxx
QJ109x
KJxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
3 Hearts
Pass
|
4 Spades
Pass
|
5 Hearts
|
2 Spades
Pass
|
North South quickly brush aside the weak two opener from West and reach a contract of 5 Hearts.
At first glance it might appear that the contract depends on locating the Queen of Clubs but as the play develops you will see that this is not the case.
East leads the King of Diamonds (usual to lead the King from Ace King against contracts at the four level or higher). When West plays low it is more likely that the singleton lies with North than with West so East now switches to the Queen of Spades. West should overtake this with the King and return a trump. Declarer wins in hand and trumps his second Spade in the dummy. Now the second round of Diamonds is trumped and a low Heart to the King follows as East discards a Spade at trick six. At trick seven a third round of Diamonds is trumped but the Ace of Diamonds has not appeared.
At this point Declarer should stop to work out West’s distribution. West is known to be exactly 6=2=3=2 and therefore East is known to be 4=1=4=4. The position of the Queen of Clubs is now irrelevant because Declarer plays out his remaining trumps from tricks eight to ten. At trick ten East in order to keep the Ace of Diamonds has to come down to a doubleton Club. The Queen of Diamonds is now discarded from the Dummy. The last three tricks are made with the Ace, King and Jack of Clubs, with the Queen of Clubs certain to fall and it does not matter whether it originally lay with West or East.
3 Safety Play in Diamonds almost 97%
Board 17 Tuesday 27 May – Vulnerability White – Dealer North
|
xx
KJ9xxx
x
Jxxx
|
|
AK10
Q
AKQxx
Qxxx
|
|
Jxxx
A10x
109
AK109
|
|
Qxxx
xxx
Jxxxx
x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Hearts
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Hearts
6 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Double
5NT
Pass
|
North opens a weak 2 Hearts which is passed round to West who doubles. Over the double East bids 3 Hearts. As those readers who have received my notes on Lebensohl will know this bid shows an opening hand with a Heart stop and exactly four cards in the other major Spades.
How should West respond to East’s cue-bid ? Clearly the partnership have enough points for slam to be in the offing but it is not clear in which denomination they might belong. The modern bid in these circumstances is for West to jump to 5NT saying to partner “please choose a slam”. Over 5NT East looking at his chunky four card holding in Clubs and the Ace of Hearts chooses to play in 6 Clubs which West is delighted to pass holding Queen to four trumps. (Note that even if West’s clubs were only QJx rather than Qxxx then 6 Clubs would still be a very good contract with the Heart ruff providing an extra trick even with a 4-3 fit.)
The play is very interesting. If trumps break 3-2 then 12 tricks are guaranteed since Declarer would be certain to make five trump tricks, four Diamond tricks, two Spade tricks and one Heart trick. However after winning the Ace of Hearts at trick one and playing a Club to the Queen followed by a second Club to the Ace the bad news arrives in the form of a 4-1 break with surprisingly the weak two bidder being the defender with four cards. At this point North is known to have started with 10 cards in Hearts and Clubs and so therefore there is a significant danger that the Diamonds will break 5-1.
The correct play at trick four is therefore to run the 10 (or 9) of Diamonds. If this wins then Declarer can then trump a Heart in the Dummy, finesse against the Jack of Clubs and on the last trump South has to discard in front of the Dummy from ♠Qxx ♦Jxxx. If South discards a Spade then Declarer discards a Diamond from the Dummy. If South discards a Diamond then Declarer discards the 10 of Spades from the Dummy. In either case all thirteen tricks are made resulting in a score of +940 to East West.
If the 10 of Diamonds loses to the Jack in the North hand then now North will return a third trump. A Heart will then be trumped in the Dummy and now East will seek to enter hand to draw the last trump by playing a second Diamond to the 9 (or 10). Thus if North has won a trick with the singleton Jack of Diamonds the contract will be defeated. When the Diamonds are 5-1 the odds are 5 to 1 that the Jack is in the five card holding. Thus the odds of North having a singleton Jack of Diamonds is one sixth of 14.5% (the odds of a 5-1 break) = 2.4%. The only other scenario to consider is the possibility of a 6-nil Diamond break which is 1.5%. If the Diamonds are 6-nil and North ruffs the first round of Diamonds then Declarer will now need to finesse in Spades to make the contract. Thus on the 6-nil breaks half the time Declarer will succeed and half the time he will fail.
Therefore the failure rate of the safety play in Diamonds is 2.4% plus 0.75% which is only 3.15%.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the June 2014 duplicates
1 When after a 2NT opener responder transfers into a major and then bids a second suit at the four level the lowest off suit by opener is Roman Key Card for BOTH of responder’s suits.
Board 7 Thursday 12 June – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
Axx
10x
xx
xxxxxx
|
|
KJ9xx
xxx
AJxx
x
|
|
Qxx
AKJx
K10x
AKQ
|
|
10x
Qxxx
Q9xx
Jxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2NT
3 Spades
4 Hearts
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
3 Hearts
4 Diamonds
5 Clubs
Pass
|
When West bids 4 Diamonds he is making a slam try showing five cards in Spades and at least four cards in Diamonds. Over four-of-a-minor, opener needs to be able to sign-off, support responder’s major, bid keycard for responder’s major and bid keycard for responder’s minor. There is only one method to accomplish all of the above. After responder bids four-of-a-minor, opener with a minimum, bids four of responder’s major to show three or four-card support or bids five of responder’s minor with support for the minor. Opener bids 4NT to deny a fit for either of responder’s suits. Opener bids the lower off-suit (non-trump suit) as keycard for BOTH of responder’s suits. Since there are two trump suits, there are six keycards, four Aces and two Kings. There are also two Queens.
The responses are:-
1st step 1 or 4 keycards
2nd step 0 or 3 keycards
3rd step 2 keycards no Queen of Diamonds or Spades
4th step 2 keycards plus one Queen
5th step 2 keycards plus two Queens
Thus in the example West responds to the keycard bid of 4 Hearts by bidding 5 Clubs the third step to show 2 keycards and no Queen. This is sufficient for East to bid 6 Spades.
In the play let us assume that the opening lead is a low Club to the Queen. Declarer plays a low Spade to the Jack and Ace at trick two and North returns a trump at trick three. The last trump is drawn at trick four. Declarer should then seek to combine his chances in the red suits by trying to ruff out the Queen of Hearts. Accordingly at trick five he plays a low Heart to the King and cashes the Ace of Hearts at trick six. At tricks seven and eight the King and Ace of Clubs are cashed discarding one Heart and one Diamond from the Dummy. At trick nine the third round of Hearts is ruffed in the Dummy but the Queen has not yet appeared. Now the last trump is cashed at trick ten on which Declarer discards his low Diamond. This actually squeezes South who in order to keep the Queen of Hearts is forced to come down to only two Diamonds. In the three card ending the Dummy has AJx in Diamonds while Declarer has K10 of Diamonds and the Jack of Hearts. A low Diamond to the King at trick eleven and a second Diamond at trick twelve then shows up the Queen. However note that even if South had started off with 9xxx in Diamonds rather than Q9xx then Declarer would drop the Queen of Diamonds offside at trick twelve because he knows that South’s last card is the Queen of Hearts.
2 Using Dummy’s long suit as a substitute for drawing trumps
Board 11 Thursday 26 June – Vulnerability White – Dealer South
|
K109xxx
xx
Jxx
Jx
|
|
xxx
KQJx
K10xxx
Q
|
|
None
Axxxxxx
AQxx
Kx
|
|
AQJx
None
x
A10xxxxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
Pass
Pass
|
3 Hearts
6 Hearts
Pass
|
1 Club
4 Spades
6 Spades
Double
|
1 Diamond
5 Hearts
Pass
|
East’s bid of 3 Hearts is a “fit jump” showing four card Diamond support and at least five Hearts. While South might be tempted to double 6 Hearts holding two Aces he should respect the fact that East has bid 6 Hearts freely and almost certainly has a void to bid the slam. East opens with the Ace of Diamonds and continues with a second Diamond reducing the Dummy to three trumps. At tricks three and four Declarer plays Ace and another Club to establish the long suit in the Dummy. At trick five East plays the Ace of Hearts which is ruffed with the Jack of Spades in the Dummy. At trick six the Queen of Spades is cashed. On this trick the three nil trump break is disclosed. South is left with only the Ace of trumps while West still has two trumps. However Declarer now uses the now established Clubs as a means of drawing trumps. As soon as West trumps one of the established Club winners North will overtrump and then draw the last trump by playing a low Spade to the Ace in the Dummy to then enjoy the remaining Club winners. Alternatively if West refuses to trump the winning Clubs then all of Declarer’s losers in the red suits will be discarded. Thus the contract goes just one down for minus 100 which is a terrific result against 6 Hearts making.
3 Slam universally missed
Board 27 Monday 30 June – Vulnerability White – Dealer South
|
Axxx
A10x
AK9xx
x
|
|
Q109xx
Kxx
xxx
Qx
|
|
Kxx
xxxx
Jx
109xx
|
|
J
QJx
Q10x
AKJxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Diamond
2 Spades
3 Hearts
4 Diamonds
4NT
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
2 Clubs
3 Diamonds
3NT
4 Spades
5 Clubs
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Not a single North South pair out of the ten tables managed to bid to a slam in Diamonds on this hand. In fact a Grand Slam is makeable but I doubt that the odds would justify bidding the Grand.
South rebids 2 Clubs guaranteeing a six carder and North shows his second suit Spades. At this point I can only guess that all the Souths in question foolishly bid No trumps at this stage. However as North has shown a strong hand with at least five Diamonds and four Spades it is much more important for South to show the excellent Diamond support holding two honours in the suit. North now bids the 4th suit and now South bids No trumps to admit to a Heart stop. North is still interested in a slam and takes 3NT out to 4 Diamonds. Now South cuebids four Spades showing either the King or a singleton. Over 4 Spades North could probably jump to 6 Diamonds but he goes through the motions of RKCB to check that partner has one keycard before doing so.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the July 2014 duplicates
1 The convention with no name !
Board 16 Wednesday 16 July – Vulnerability East West – Dealer West
|
AKJ98xxx
Qx
Ax
x
|
|
x
Jxx
KQJxx
KQJx
|
|
xx
10xx
109xxx
xxx
|
|
Qx
AKxxx
x
A10xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
4 Diamonds
5 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
4NT
7 Spades
|
1 Diamond
Pass
Pass
|
Not a single pair managed to bid to 7 Spades on the above hand in the Wednesday Duplicate which has 13 top tricks even discounting the Diamond ruff.
The key to getting there is to have in your armoury a convention which to the best of my knowledge has no name. If your right hand opponent opens 1 Club or 1 Diamond then a jump to the FOUR LEVEL in that minor shows a very strong jump to four in either major.
On this hand South knows that North has Spades and therefore bids RKCB to find out whether partner has two or three keycards in Spades before choosing between a small or a grand slam.
If South had a much weaker hand and was unsure which major suit his partner was showing he would simply bid 4 Hearts as a “pass or correct bid”.
2 Game universally missed
Board 15 Thursday 24 July – Vulnerability North South – Dealer South
|
QJ9xx
xx
J10x
10xx
|
|
10x
KQJxx
xx
QJxx
|
|
xx
Axxxx
Qxxx
Ax
|
|
AKxx
x
AKxx
K98x
|
|
South opens 1 Club, West overcalls 1 Heart and North passes. At the favourable vulnerability East has a choice between making an unassuming cue-bid of 2 Clubs showing Heart support and at least 9 HCPs or bidding 4 Hearts. Given the vulnerability it is perhaps more attractive to go straight to game.
Looking at the score sheet all the East West’s were left to play unmolested in Hearts either at the three or four level. However South should not have subsided over 4 Hearts but should instead have doubled for takeout. The reason why the double should be for takeout and not penalty is that over 100 hands it is far more likely for South to wish to compete with a strong hand and not more than a singleton Heart rather than make a penalty double when the opposition have theoretically shown a 10 card Heart fit. On those rare occasions when South does have a penalty double of 4 Hearts he should simply pass.
When South doubles 4 Hearts for takeout then North is delighted to bid 4 Spades as the Double of 4 Hearts guarantees a minimum of three cards in Spades (the unbid major) and usually four. North has no wasted honour in Hearts (whereas if he had for instance Kx in Hearts he might well choose to defend) and his minor honours in Clubs and Diamonds will definitely be pulling their weight.
4 Spades makes comfortably. If the Defence start off with two rounds of Hearts then Declarer can ruff high in the Dummy draw trumps ending in hand then play a Club to the 9 and Jack. Whichever minor suit West now plays only three tricks will be lost.
3 Bidding out the shape to diagnose the perfect fit
Board 13 Tuesday 29 July – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer North
|
x
Axxx
xxx
AKQJx
|
|
KQJx
KQx
xxx
xxx
|
|
Axxxx
J109x
xx
10x
|
|
10xx
xx
AKQJx
xxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Club
1 Heart
3 Diamonds
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
3 Clubs
5 ♣ or 5 ♦
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
It is quite unusual to play at the game level in a minor suit with only eight trumps but the above deal is a good example of such a hand.
When North rebids 1 Heart this can be assumed to show at least five Clubs (the only exception to this hypothesis would be if North were specifically 4=4=1=4). South should then jump to 3 Clubs showing around 10 or 11 points with at least three Clubs. Over 3 Clubs North’s first instinct might be to pass but as he has very pure values he should bid out his shape by bidding 3 Diamonds. By so doing North is highlighting the fact that he is very short in Spades almost certainly 1=4=3=5. South can now visualize that the hands fit perfectly because as South has no wasted honours in Spades – apart from the Ace any other honours would be completely useless opposite a singleton Spade in the North hand – and should now jump to game in a minor. He could bid either 5 Clubs or 5 Diamonds. 5 Diamonds has a slight edge because on a black suit lead to 5 Diamonds it is possible to make 12 tricks whereas regardless of the opening lead to 5 Clubs only 11 tricks can be made.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the August 2014 duplicates
1 The 2NT Scramble – to find an 8 card fit
Board 24 Tuesday 19 August – Vulnerability White – Dealer West
|
xx
A9x
AKJx
AJ9x
|
|
AQxx
KQxxxx
None
Kxx
|
|
10xx
10xx
xxxx
Qxx
|
|
KJ9x
J
Q109xx
10xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1NT
Pass
?
|
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
Double
|
1 Heart
2 Hearts
Pass
|
West opens 1 Heart and North overcalls 1NT with 17 points and a stop in Hearts. South passes because with only 7 points the chances of game are low and at pairs it is not sensible to look for borderline games.
When West rebids 2 Hearts on his attractive 6-4 shape South now doubles for takeout. How should North respond to this?
When South Doubles 2 Hearts his distribution could be any one of the five possibilities listed below:-
a) 4=1=4=4
b) 4=2=3=4
c) 4=2=4=3
d) 4=1=5=3
e) 4=1=3=5
In the case of a) it will not matter which minor suit North bids in response to the takeout double. However in examples b) to e) if North guesses wrong then the partnership will end in a 7 card fit instead of an 8 or 9 card fit. How can North ensure that the partnership end up playing in at least an 8 card fit?
The answer is that North bids 2NT which is called a Scrambling 2NT bid. North cannot be bidding 2NT to play since if his Hearts were so strong he would pass the Double for penalties. Instead the 2NT bid denies four cards in Spades and asks partner to choose the minor suit himself.
In response to the 2NT Scramble South bids 3 Diamonds which is passed out. There are no problems in the play (finessing twice in Clubs) and 10 tricks result for a score of +130.
2 Plan the Defence in the Bidding !
Board 11 Wednesday 20 August – Vulnerability White – Dealer South
|
KJ10x
K
KJ10xx
xxx
|
|
Q
AQJxxx
xx
109xx
|
|
xx
109xxxx
AQxx
A
|
|
A987xx
None
xx
KQJxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
4 Spades
|
?
|
1 Spade
|
3 Hearts
|
When North jumps to 4 Spades after West’s weak jump overcall in Hearts East’s initial reaction might be to bid 5 Hearts. However that would be both a lazy and a very shortsighted bid. Why is this?
East knows that it is almost certain that North South are going to play the hand in 5 Spades. Therefore he must ensure that the Defence gets off to the best start against this contract. (While it is true that East West can actually make 6 Hearts with the Diamond finesse working that is impossible to bid). Hence East should bid 5 Diamonds over 4 Spades. Now while it is theoretically possible that this might be passed out that is extremely unlikely and in any event because East West are not vulnerable there is no danger attached to this course of action because seven down undoubled in 5 Diamonds is only -350.
Over 5 Diamonds from East this will not deter South from bidding 5 Spades. However now a Diamond lead from West will result in East winning the first three tricks with the Queen and Ace of Diamonds followed by the Ace of Clubs. Already that is one down. When East now continues with a third round of Diamonds South now has a difficult decision whether to trump the third Diamond with an intermediate Spade or with the Ace. If he guesses wrong he will now go three down as he will also suffer a Club ruff at trick five. So East West get a plus score of either +100 or +300.
Note that if East bids a lazy 5 Hearts then now West might start off with the disastrous lead of the Ace of Hearts as happened at three of the eight tables in the Wednesday Duplicate. This is ruffed, trumps are drawn ending in the Dummy and a low Club to East’s bare Ace leaves East endplayed at trick five and one of the Diamond losers now goes up in smoke. Result +450.
SO IN A COMPETITIVE AUCTION YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A LEAD DIRECTING BID ESPECIALLY WHEN NON-VULNERABLE. Note that if East were already a passed hand that 5 Diamonds would agree Hearts.
3 Transfer starts route to slam
Board 2 Monday 25 August – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
|
A
A109xx
Qxxx
Kxx
|
|
Q9xxx
QJx
Jxx
xx
|
|
K10xxx
x
10xx
J9xx
|
|
Jx
Kxxx
AKx
AQ10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 Diamonds
3 Spades
4 Spades
5 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 NT
3 Hearts
4 Clubs
4 NT
6 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Only one pair bid to the almost certain small slam in Hearts on the above hand. North starts off by transferring when South opens a strong no trump. South should break the transfer because he has four trumps. He can either do this by jumping to 3 Hearts showing four trumps or an alternative treatment would be for South to bid 2 Spades which is best played as showing a small doubleton in Spades and a maximum with four Hearts. North now cuebids 3 Spades over 3 Hearts. South cuebids 4 Clubs and now North repeat cuebids in Spades to show second round control and at the same time of course it denies either first or second round control of Diamonds. That is enough for South to put in place RKCB and settle for a small slam when he discovers that the Queen of trumps is missing. There are no problems in the play and a score of +1430 results.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the September 2014 duplicates
1 Slam on 24 points
Board 2 Wednesday 3 September – Vulnerability North South – Dealer East
|
AJ87x
A10x
854
Ax
|
|
Qx
Qxxxx
K
Jxxxx
|
|
K10xxx
xxx
3
KQxx
|
|
x
KJ
AQJ109762
10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Spade
3 Hearts
4 Diamonds
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
2 Hearts
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
3 Diamonds
3NT
4 Hearts
Pass
|
1 Heart
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Only one pair bid to the almost certain 6 Diamond contract with only 24 points in the combined hands. Note that even if West had started with Kx in Diamonds that on a passive Club lead Declarer could generate a third Heart trick thanks to the 10 of Hearts in the Dummy to discard the Club loser.
When South rebids 3 Diamonds showing at least six cards in Diamonds and a non-minimum hand North should realise that holding three Aces and three trumps that there is a possibility of a slam. He starts the ball rolling by bidding the opposition suit to get more information from South. South bids 3NT showing a stop in Hearts. North now confirms that he is interested in a Diamond slam by supporting Diamonds. Although South only has 11 points he should be delighted to co-operate given that he has an eight card Diamond suit. South’s 4 Heart cue-bid is clearly showing the King (since North has the Ace) which is all the information which North needs to justify jumping to slam.
If the Defence start off with the best lead of a Club then the Ace of Clubs wins the first trick. Trumps are drawn and rather than trying for the overtrick by taking a Heart finesse through the overcaller (which you would have to do if there were a trump loser) Declarer should seek to develop the Spades. The Ace of Spades is played at trick three followed by a Spade ruff (but not with the 2 of Diamonds). The Queen drops from West on the second round. The six or seven of Diamonds is now played to Dummy’s eight of Diamonds. At trick six the Jack of Spades is covered with the King and ruffed but again not with the 2 of Diamonds. At trick seven the carefully preserved 2 of Diamonds is played to the 5 in the Dummy and the eight of Spades is played from the Dummy. There is now a ruffing finesse against East’s 10 of Spades. Assuming East covers with the 10 then this is ruffed and finally the Dummy is entered with the Ace of Hearts and the winning seven of Spades is played on which the losing Club is discarded for the overtrick. Score 1390 to North South.
2 Introduction to the Kokish Relay after a 2♣ Opener
When players are first taught how to bid very strong balanced hands after a 2 Club opening bid they are taught that:-
2♣ – 2♦ – 2NT shows 23 or 24 balanced and
2♣ – 2♦ – 3NT shows 25 to 27 balanced
The problem with the latter bid is that to jump to 3NT showing 25 to 27 points makes life very difficult for responder if he has an unbalanced hand as he has to start to describe his hand at the four level.
It is for this reason that for well over 10 years many good players have added the 2 Heart Kokish relay to their bidding toolbox.
Board 20 Tuesday 9 September – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer West
|
10x
xx
QJxxxx
xxx
|
|
AK
AKQx
A109
KQxx
|
|
Jxxxx
Jx
x
AJ10xx
|
|
Q9xx
109xxx
Kxx
x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds
2 Spades2
3 Hearts
4 Clubs
4 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
2 Hearts1
2NT
3 Spades
4 Diamonds3
7 Clubs
|
1 and 2 Kokish relay
3 RKCB for Clubs and Spades
The Kokish Relay was invented by the Canadian International, Eric Kokish. After the bidding starts 2C – 2D then a rebid of 2H by the opener is artificial and requests that the responder bids 2S. After this start a 2NT rebid by opener shows 25+ points (no maximum) and is game forcing even if responder has zero points. The principle is that with a huge balanced hand worthy of game, opener does not have to eat up bidding space by jumping to 3NT. He can Puppet to 2S (via 2H) and then bid 2NT. Responder can use Stayman and Transfers in the usual way after the Kokish relay.
What does opener do with an actual Heart suit? The answer is that he bids something other than 2NT ! If he repeats his Hearts it shows 6+ Hearts. If he bids a new suit, it shows that suit and Hearts. So for example, 2♣ - 2♦ - 2♥ - 2♠ - 3♣ shows 5+ Hearts and 4+ Clubs. It cancels the message of the Kokish relay. In other words if opener bids anything other than 2NT it is natural and the 2 Heart bid becomes natural.
Using this method 2♣ - 2♦ - 3NT would show a running minor something like:-
♠Ax ♥Ax ♦AKQJxxx ♣Kx
So on Board 20 above West with his 25 point rock crusher rebids 2 Hearts after the 2 Diamond waiting bid. This forces responder to bid 2 Spades after which opener can clarify whether he has a balanced rock crusher or a single suiter with Hearts or a two suiter with Hearts and another suit. When West rebids 2NT this shows 25 plus points and is completely game forcing. East now transfers into Spades and over the 3 Spade completion of the transfer he bids 4 Clubs. This is a second suit showing at least five cards in Spades and four cards in Clubs.
When responder bids 4 Clubs West wants to bid RKCB. As explained in Tip 1 June 2014 “When after a 2NT opener responder transfers into a major and then bids a second suit at the four level the lowest off suit by opener is RKCB for BOTH of responder’s suits”. (This is because if opener bids 4NT over 4 Clubs this would of course be a sign off denying either three cards in Spades or four cards in Clubs.)
Responder shows one Keycard in the black suits and now West with his monster nine controls and the Queen of Clubs can make a practical jump to the Grand Slam in Clubs. If responder has only four cards in Clubs he will surely have the Queen of Spades to make a slam try while if he has five Clubs you can practically count 13 tricks.
3 Minor Suit Transfer with only five cards
Board 14 Monday 29 September – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
|
xx
AKx
K1098x
Axx
|
|
Qxxxx
J9x
Jx
J109
|
|
J10xx
10x
xxx
Kxxx
|
|
AK
Qxxxx
AQx
Qxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
2 NT
4 NT
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 NT
3 Diamonds
6 NT
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Not a single pair managed to bid beyond game on the above hand from the Monday Duplicate. In fact a Grand Slam is available with both Hearts breaking 3-2 (68%) and the Diamonds coming in for five tricks (85%). The odds of the Grand Slam making are thus approximately 0.68 x 0.85 = 58%.
However while it is almost impossible to bid a Grand Slam nevertheless good bidding does allow a Small Slam to be reached which has approximately a 95% chance of success. 6NT is only likely to fail when Diamonds do not come in and Hearts are not 3-2 ie failure is 0.15 x 0.32 = 5% failure rate. When South opens a Strong No Trump North should start off by bidding 2NT – Transfer to Diamonds. This is because although North only has 14 points he has fantastic controls – 6 in total (counting two controls for an Ace and one for a King). As a generalization balanced slam hands invariably require a minimum of 10 controls between the two hands. If the responder is weak then a minor suit transfer ought to show a six card suit. However when responder is strong then it is sufficient to have only a five card suit in order to begin to show the nature of responder’s hand.
Over the 2NT transfer bid opener has a choice between bidding 3 Clubs or 3 Diamonds. Although some partnerships play it the other way round I would strongly recommend that if you complete the minor suit transfer ie by bidding 3 Clubs over 2 Spades or 3 Diamonds over 2NT then opener is showing a fit for responder’s minor. A fit is defined as Qxx or better. If you do not have a fit for responder’s minor suit then opener simply bids the next step ie 2NT over 2 Spades or 3 Clubs over 2NT to convey the message “I do not have a fit for your minor suit”. In the above hand South bids 3 Diamonds in response to the Transfer of 2NT to say “I like Diamonds”. North now makes a Quantitative bid of 4NT saying “I have a balanced slam try with no singleton”. South is happy to accept and as there is unlikely to be any advantage in playing in Diamonds due to the balanced nature of both hands South should jump to 6NT. Thus by diagnosing the good 5-3 Diamond fit together with North’s control rich hand then it is possible to bid to slam with only 31 points between the two hands.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the October 2014 duplicates
1 Exclusion Key Card + Asking for 3rd round Club control on same hand !
Board 26 Monday 27 October – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
10xxx
x
QJxx
10xxx
|
|
AQxx
Q109x
Kx
Qxx
|
|
KJx
AKxxx
None
AKJxx
|
|
xx
Jxx
A109xxxx
x
|
|
North East South West
1 Heart Pass 2NT
Pass 5 Diamonds Pass 5 Spades
Pass 6 Clubs Pass 7 Hearts
Pass Pass Pass
Only one pair managed to even reach a small slam on the above hand and nobody reached the Grand Slam which is effectively 100%.
Although East has a very powerful hand with only four losers on the losing trick count it is still best to start off with a simple 1 Heart opener as the chances of the bidding dying at this level are very remote. West has a routine Jacoby 2NT response showing four card Heart support and at least the values for game.
At this point it is pointless for East to use ordinary RKCB as he has a void in Diamonds. Consequently East should jump to 5 Diamonds. As previously illustrated in Tip 1 April 2014 this inexplicable jump to the five level shows a void in that suit and asks partner to show how many key cards he has OUTSIDE that suit. With 0 or 3 keycards he bids one step up – 5 Hearts – with one keycard he bids two steps up – 5 Spades.
Here West responds the second step showing one keycard. At this point East might gamble on 7 Hearts but if partner’s Clubs are three small this would be a poor contract. In such circumstances when all the keycards are present (the Ace of Diamonds not being required in this instance) the bid of a new suit at the six level asks responder “Please bid a Grand Slam if you have third round control of this suit”. Over 6 Clubs West is delighted to jump to 7 Hearts. Refer to Tip 2 March 2014 for another example of this.
2 Jumps to 3 of a Minor after partner opens 1NT
Board 5 Wednesday 29 October – Vulnerability North South – Dealer North
|
Ax
K109xx
AKx
Jxx
|
|
J10xxx
Qxx
Jxx
xx
|
|
KQxxx
xxx
xx
xxx
|
|
x
AJ
Q109xx
AKQ10x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1NT
3 Spades1
5 Diamonds
6 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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3 Diamonds
4NT2
5NT
7♦ or 7NT
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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1 Sets Diamonds as trumps
2 RKCB for Diamonds
The above hand is a great example of playing the modern three level responses to 1NT which I first learnt in 2005 when I started studying five card majors as played by the American Steve Robinson.
After a 1NT opening a jump to 3 Clubs shows 5-5 in the minors invitational ie 7 – 9 points. A jump to 3 Diamonds shows 5-5 in the minors game forcing with possible interest in slam.
Over 3 Diamonds if opener is very strong in the majors and has no interest in playing in a minor suit then he bids 3NT. If opener wishes to set Clubs as trumps he bids 3 Hearts while if opener wishes to set Diamonds as trumps he bids 3 Spades. The beauty of this is that responder knows which trump suit has been agreed. Here South goes straight to RKCB for Diamonds and on hearing of three Keycards opposite then bids 5NT to announce that all the keycards are present. North bids 6 Hearts to show the King of Hearts. Thus North has shown 14 of his 15 points through Keycard. South has a choice between playing in 7 Diamonds or 7NT. If North only has two small Clubs there might be some advantage in playing in Diamonds rather than No Trumps so one might bid 7 Diamonds at teams but gamble on 7NT at pairs.
The odds of the Grand Slam making are approximately 85% (all 3-2 breaks = 68% plus 4-1 breaks with either ♦Jxxx or ♦xxxx or ♦J on right = 16.8%)
Only one pair out of eight reached the Grand Slam in the Wednesday Duplicate.
3 Easts hang your heads in shame
Board 10 Wednesday 29 October – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
QJ10
Kxxx
xx
Q108x
|
|
9432
A9xx
Ax
xxx
|
|
A6
10
KQ9xx
AKJxx
|
|
K875
QJxx
J10xx
9
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
2 Clubs
3 Clubs
3NT
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
2 Diamonds
3 Spades
|
Four pairs managed to reach 3NT on the above hand but all four misplayed it and so went down.
Note that despite having 17 points East should only rebid 2 Clubs because a jump to 3 Clubs would be game forcing and East is not strong enough to insist upon game when partner has only promised 6 points.
As West has a good 8 points he gives a false preference to 2 Diamonds to allow for East being strong enough to make a third bid. When East now bids 3 Clubs this shows a strong 5-5 (at least 16 points) and an interest in game. West should now co-operate but cannot bid 3NT as he has no stop in Spades the unbid suit. Accordingly he bids 3 Spades to which East is happy to bid 3NT.
The opening lead is the 5 of Spades. East must win the first trick because a switch to Hearts would be most unwelcome. In addition it is important to appreciate that even if South has craftily led his 5th highest Spade from KQ875 that the presence of the 9 in the Dummy means that the suit is certain to be blocked and the defence will be unable to take four Spade tricks.
Declarer has a choice between playing on Diamonds or Clubs. It is correct to play on Clubs for two reasons. Firstly you have an eight card fit rather than a seven card fit and secondly if the Diamonds are breaking they will still be breaking if you are forced to revert to Diamonds later in the play.
At trick two the Ace of Clubs is cashed in case South should have a singleton Queen. Then Dummy is entered with the Ace of Diamonds and a Club finesse of the Jack taken which wins. However although a 4-1 break is disclosed this is of no concern provided that when Declarer continues with the King of Clubs at trick five and another Club at trick six he must be careful to discard a Heart and not a Spade from the Dummy. The defence continues with Spades but even if Spades are 5-2 they cannot cash four Spade tricks as previously observed and so 9 tricks are made with four Club tricks, three Diamond tricks and the major suit Aces.
I would strongly recommend that those Easts who failed to distinguish themselves should buy copies of two excellent books written by the American author Eddie Kantar titled Take All Your Chances at Bridge published in 2009 and Take All Your Chances at Bridge 2 published in 2011. Each book has 100 hands which give excellent advice on how declarer should combine his chances to best effect to maximize the chances of success.
By playing on Clubs you will only do down if Declarer’s LHO has Queen to four Clubs and the Diamonds do not break 3-3. The odds of the Clubs coming in for four tricks are:-
3-2 break = 68%
4-1 onside = half of 28% = 14%
Singleton Queen onside = 1/5 of 14% = 2.8%
Total Probability of Clubs coming in = 84.8%
When Clubs do not come in then if the Diamonds are 3-3 you will also make ie 15.2% x 36% = 5.4%
Thus the total probability of making the contract is 90.2%.
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TIPS FOR NOVEMBER 2014 |
TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the November 2014 duplicates
1 Rightsiding the slam
Board 13 Wednesday 5 November – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer North
|
xxx
Qxxxx
J
Qxxx
|
|
AKJx
Jx
AQ10xxx
A
|
|
Qxx
K10
K9x
KJxxx
|
|
10xx
A98x
xxx
109x
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Club
1NT
3 Diamonds
4 Hearts
5 Clubs
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Diamond
2 Spades
4 Diamonds
4NT
6NT
|
While 2 pairs managed to bid 6 Diamonds this would be the wrong contract if the defence were able to take 2 Heart tricks on the occasions when the AQ lies over the K or if the opening leader held the Ace and found an inspired underlead of the Ace which in practice would mean that the defence would make the first two tricks.
East rebids 1NT over West’s 1 Diamond response. West now reverses into 2 Spades showing at least five Diamonds and four Spades. East supports Diamonds. West is close to slam but cannot bid RKCB as there might be two losers in Hearts. Accordingly he makes a slam try of 4 Diamonds inviting East to cuebid a Heart control. When East obliges West now checks that partner has at least one keycard before jumping to slam. However he chooses the slam in Notrumps rather than Diamonds in order to protect East’s King of Hearts if his one keycard is the King of trumps. There are no problems in the play and a score of 1440 quickly results.
2 When opener makes a game try after his major suit opening has been supported if responder is very strong in the game try suit he should raise it rather than just jumping to game in the major to convey the message that he is suitable for a possible slam
Board 14 Wednesday 5 November – Vulnerability White – Dealer East
|
xx
Axxxx
KJ9x
Jx
|
|
Q109
xx
Qxx
KQxxx
|
|
AKJxxx
Q
Ax
A109x
|
|
xx
KJ10xx
10xxx
xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
3 Clubs
5NT1
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Spades
4 Clubs
6 Clubs
|
1 Pick a slam in Spades or Clubs
After the opening 1 Spade has been raised by West then East could simply jump to game. However much better is for East to make a trial bid of 3 Clubs. West would initially assume that this is just a try for game. However rather than jump to 4 Spades it is much more descriptive for West to raise the trial bid to 4 Clubs. This conveys the message that in accepting the game try that West has a very strong Club holding so that if East’s ambitions were actually towards slam rather than just towards game he is eminently suitable. Over 4 Clubs East now jumps to 5NT. This conveys the message “please pick a slam” ie West is being asked to choose between playing in 6 Spades or 6 Clubs. [Refer to March 2014 Tip 3 for another example of 5NT being used in this way]. On the actual hand there are 12 tricks in either denomination. However West should probably choose to play in Clubs. This is because if we make the East hand slightly weaker with a 5=1=3=4 shape ie ♠AKJxx ♥x ♦AJx ♣A109x then now 6 Clubs will always make subject to trumps not being 4-nil while 6 Spades will be at the mercy of the Diamond finesse.
3 24 point slam
Board 7 Wednesday 26 November – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer South
|
x
AKJ98xx
QJx
xx
|
|
AQ10x
Q10xxx
x
AQx
|
|
K9xxx
None
AKxxxx
10x
|
|
Jxx
x
xxx
KJxxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Diamonds1
3 Spades
5 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Heart
2NT
4 Clubs
6 Spades
|
1 Although East has only 10 points as he has only 5 losers he should treat his hand as game forcing and respond in his longest suit first.
Over the response of 2 Diamonds West has to decide what to rebid. While it may not be ideal to rebid 2NT with a singleton Diamond the alternative of rebidding such a moth-eaten 5 carder in Hearts is quite gruesome so accordingly 2NT is without a doubt the least of evils. East now shows his Spades. Over 3 Spades then West could hardly be stronger for a Spade contract so he makes a cuebid of 4 Clubs which agrees Spades and shows a control in Clubs. East might jump to 6 Spades over 4 Clubs but in case West has cuebid holding something like ♠QJxx ♥AQxx ♦xx ♣KQx where 6 Spades would rather embarrassingly lose both black suit Aces then it is safer for East to invite slam in Spades by jumping to 5 Spades. West is delighted to accept with such powerful trumps. There are no problems in the play and all thirteen tricks are made when the Club finesse works and the Diamonds break 3-3.
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TIPS FOR IMPROVERS
Points of interest from the December 2014 duplicates
1 Textbook elimination not recognised
Board 10 Thursday 18 December – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer East
|
10
Jxx
KQJ10xx
10xx
|
|
AKJxx
xxx
x
AJxx
|
|
Qxxxx
AQ9
A
KQxx
|
|
xx
K10xx
xxxxx
xx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
1 Spade
4NT
6 Spades
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
4 Diamonds
5 Diamonds
Pass
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Only 3 pairs out of 8 managed to bid to 6 Spades and those that did failed to appreciate that the presence of the 9 of Hearts in the East hand made the contract 100% once nobody had trumped the opening Club or Diamond lead.
Normally when responder makes a splinter bid the opener would sign off if he also held a singleton in the splintered suit. However as East has 17 points he is strong enough to use RKCB because in the unlikely event of West only having one keycard if he has say ♠AJxxx ♥KJx ♦x ♣J10xx you can still stop safely at the 5 level. Here when West bids 5 Diamonds it is clearly 3 keycards rather than zero and so bidding a slam is marked.
Assuming a neutral ie non-Heart lead then trumps are drawn, Diamonds and Clubs are eliminated from the two hands ending in the Dummy. This just leaves trumps in both hands and the Heart suit of xxx in the Dummy opposite AQ9. At this point Declarer can lay down his cards and claim the contract. Why is this? The answer is that the 9 of Hearts makes it impossible for the Defence to make two tricks in Hearts provided that when a small Heart is played from the Dummy East simply covers the card that North plays. Assuming that North plays low then East plays the 9 of Hearts losing to South’s 10. At this point South can either return a Heart from the King into East’s Ace Queen or he can conceded a ruff and discard with the same result of 1430 to East West. Alternatively if North plays second hand high with the Jack then East plays the Queen and South on winning with the King is now endplayed from 10x into Declarer’s A9. Note that it is correct defence for North to rise with the Jack of Hearts on the first round. This is because if East’s Hearts were only AQ8 (giving South K109) then this would prevent East from ducking the first round cheaply to South and would defeat the contract.
2 Asking for third round control
Board 13 Thursday 18 December – Vulnerability Amber – Dealer North
|
Q109xx
xx
Qxx
KQJ
|
|
AK
KQJxxx
K109x
A
|
|
xx
Axxx
AJx
10xxx
|
|
Jxxx
x
xxx
xxxxx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
2 Diamonds
3 Hearts
4 Diamonds
5 Hearts
6 Hearts
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
2 Clubs
2 Hearts
3 Spades
4NT
6 Diamonds
|
West has a routine 2 Club opener because even though he only has 20 points he can almost guarantee game in his own hand. East could bid 2NT as a positive response but the modern style is to start off with a waiting bid of 2 Diamonds on all hands without a strong 5 card suit even if you do have an Ace and a King.
West now introduces his Heart suit and East sets Hearts as trumps. West cue-bids 3 Spades and East cue-bids 4 Diamonds which following the Italian style of cue-bidding denies holding either the Ace or King of Clubs. West bids RKCB and on hearing of 2 Keycards opposite in now only interested in whether East has third round control of Diamonds. The way to find out this information is by bidding 6 Diamonds. This asks East to jump to the grand slam if he has either the Queen of Diamonds or a doubleton Ace. East does not have either of these two holdings so he signs off in the small slam. Please also refer to March 2014 Tip No 2 for another example of asking for third round control.
In the play after drawing trumps declarer has a pure guess as to which defender has the Queen of Diamonds in order to see whether he makes an overtrick.
3 Delayed co-operation
Board 3 Tuesday 30 December – Vulnerability East West – Dealer South
|
KQx
None
AK10x
AK108xx
|
|
109x
AJxx
Qx
Q9xx
|
|
Jxxx
109xxx
xxx
x
|
|
Axx
KQxx
Jxxx
Jx
|
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
West
|
1 Club
3 Hearts
4 Hearts
6 Diamonds
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
Pass
1 Diamond
3NT
4 Spades
Pass
|
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
When North makes a splinter bid of 3 Hearts this agrees Diamonds and shows a singleton or void in Hearts with a possible interest in slam. At this point if North is showing a singleton in Hearts then South’s hand is not very suitable for slam because the King Queen of Hearts is not a good holding for slam purposes opposite a singleton and South’s Heart stop is reasonable to play in no trumps. In addition as South has such poor Diamonds he cannot envisage a slam at this stage.
However when North bids 4 Hearts over South’s sign off of 3NT this now confirms that the splinter bid was a void rather than a singleton and South now has to reconsider. As he has already discouraged by bidding 3NT he must now co-operate in North’s slam ventures by cue-bidding 4 Spades. As North holds the King of Spades he knows that South is cue-bidding the Ace. This is all the encouragement which North needs to jump to slam in Diamonds. North should not investigate the possibility of a grand slam because he knows that South’s Diamonds are probably quite weak.
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