Hand of the week
At a recent online session at Oxford Bridge Club, North picked up the following hand:
- ♠ QJ94
- ♥ -
- ♦ KT9642
- ♣ 832
After a pass by RHO, what should N do? Its tempting to pre-empt with 2♦ but is that wise with a 4-card spade suit and a 7-loser hand? On the day, four Norths opened 2♦, and the other four passed. One drawback of the 2♦ opening is that, when S responds 2♠, N does not know whether S has an opening hand. As a result, those who opened 2♦ ended in a range of contracts 2♠, 3N, 4♠ and 6♠. Where N passed on the first round, and S opened 1♠, three Ns responded 3♠, and all three pairs ended in 4♠. At one table, after S opened 1♠, N revalued his 7-loser hand, and jumped straight to 4♠. This looks very much like a sign-off but S with 4 losers made a slam try with a cue bid of 5♣. N cue bid 5♥, and S jumped to 6♠. A cross-ruff then brought home 12 tricks on a combined 24 count.
For further details, see hand 16 here: OBC Morning Pairs, 10 April 2023.
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