8th July – Board 13: Game all. Dealer North
|
North:
S K Q 10
H A 6 5 4
D A Q 9 6 4
C K
|
|
West:
S 9 7 6 5
H 10 8
D 5 3
C A J 10 6 2
|
|
East:
S A J 8 4 3
H Q J 9
D 8 7 2
C 9 8
|
|
South:
S 2
H K 7 3 2
D K J 10
C Q 7 5 4 3
|
|
The need for aggression - but in a nice way! – is paramount at all times, and this principle is highlighted in the deal shown above. North has an obvious opening bid and East should wade in with an overcall, just about right even vulnerable. It might look as though South should bid 2C now, but that is wrong. Why? Because if West barrages with a 3S bid it is very difficult for N/S ever to comfortably find their heart fit. Instead South should make a Sputnik or negative double to get the hearts into play. Now when West bids 3S, North, with his 5-loser hand, can happily bid the heart game. In case you are worried about bidding 3S with such a weak hand don’t be. The bid is not in any way encouraging, for with a good hand in support of spades West could bid 2D, an unassuming cue bid. Generally speaking when partner is know to have a five-card suit you just bid to the level of the fit, with a weakish hand. So West has four spades, his partner has five making nine trumps in all, so West bid to make nine tricks. What could be simpler!
West
|
North
|
East
|
South
|
|
1D
|
1S
|
Dbl
|
3S
|
4H
|
All Pass
|
|
The play should present no problem. At one table where I was watching declarer played three rounds of trumps, which was unnecessary. After the ace and the king have been played East has a master trump which is bound to make. So there is not much point in declarer wasting two of his own trumps to remove it.
Though Hearts might seem the right contract, am I right in thinking that there are 3 losers in 4H - two Aces and a trump - thus making 3NT by North in fact a better contract since 10 tricks seem assured?
ReplyDeleteWell you should certainly lose three tricks in the heart game - although at least one pair emerged with eleven tricks. I imagine you would make ten tricks in 3NT on a spade lead but maybe not on an inspired club lead by East. Bidding is so geared up to finding the major suit fit however that sometimes alternative contracts get missed out. Of course in a teams game it wouldn't matter a jot - which is one of the reasons I haven't played pairs for about twenty years.....
ReplyDelete