Transfer Break

20th May - Board: 18 N/S Vul. Dealer East

	North: S 9 6 H Q J 10 8 D Q 9 7 2 C K Q 5
West: S K J 10 3 2 H 2 D A J 5 C J 8 7 6		East: S A Q 7 5 H A 6 4 D K 8 3 C 10 4 3
	South: S 8 4 H K 9 7 5 3 D 10 6 4 C A 9 2

When partner transfers after an opening of 1NT by you it is normal to do as you are told and just complete the transfer. However there are situations when it might be right to show that you have a maximum within your no-trump range with good four card support in the transfer suit, and you can do this either by jumping to the three level in the known suit or by bidding a worthless doubleton at the three level if you happen to possess one. (This makes it easier for the responder to know whether the hands are fitting well or not.) The hand above was on the borderline for breaking the transfer but it worked out well in practice, even though perhaps it shouldn’t.

W N E S

1NT No

2H No 3S No

4S All Pass

Can you see that if East had a club less and a red card more, then a bid of 3C – showing a worthless doubleton – would have led to an excellent game. As it was against 4S South led a low diamond and declarer rightly played low from dummy. After all there was no rush to take the finesse, but North fell from grace by playing the queen and not the nine, and ten tricks were now easy. If the nine is played then South can play another diamond when in with the ace of clubs and the game would fail. And if South had failed to lead a diamond initially then declarer always has time to set up the thirteenth club for a diamond discard.