8th July – Board 22: E/W Game. Dealer East
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North:
S Q
H K 6 5 4 3
D J 10 7 3
C Q 6 5
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West:
S A 10 5 3
H Q J 2
D A 9 8 5
C 10 9
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East:
S 9
H A 10 9 8 7
D K 2
C A K 8 7 2
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South:
S K J 8 7 6 4 2
H none
D Q 6 4
C J 4 3
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Not many interesting boards last Thursday I thought, although the hand detailed above could have proved so. Defensive bidding is all about making life difficult for the opposition and anything less than a 3S overcall by South is, I’m afraid – er – wet. The vulnerability is perfect and you take away so much bidding space. Nevertheless I think the auction should continue to a slam via the route shown, no doubt much to North’s delight. (Note that East will think clubs are trumps. At least for a while.)
West
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North
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East
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South
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1H
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3S
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3NT
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No
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4C
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No
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4NT
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No
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5C
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No
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6H
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All Pass
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Of course the heart impletion in the North hand is too awful to contemplate and the slam should make easily. On a spade lead, say, you simply win in dummy and play three rounds of clubs, ruffing the third round high – not caring if it gets over-ruffed. If the clubs had broken 4 -2 then you simply ruff a fourth round high and just concede a trump loser. The bad trump break cannot hurt you, as North cannot force declarer by playing another spade.
Should West really be pushing for slam? With just 11 points and 8 losing trick, he might feel that he has already stretched his hand to cope with the preemptive overcall. Or does the 4C call by East show overwhelming slam interest?
ReplyDeleteYes, the 4C call is definitely a try for better things. Otherwise he would just leave 3NT and certainly not look for a minor suit game in preference. And the West hand has so many good points. Two aces and two honours in opener's main suit. In fact if I only had one bid to make over 4C it would be 6H. As it is West can afford the luxury of using grown up Blackwood.
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