Perfect Timing

19th August – Board 17: Love All. Dealer North.

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

Everyone likes to crossruff but sometimes you have to be a bit careful about what to ruff first, because danger might come from an unexpected source.

West	North	East	South
	1S	No	No
Dbl	2D	3H	No
4H	End

The above sequence would seem to be about right, with West having a reasonable fourth in hand double. (Remember in this ‘protective’ position you need only have about nine points or so.) South is likely to lead a low spade and at a couple of tables at least declarer ruffed a spade in dummy before ruffing diamonds in hand. The upshot of all this was that when declarer ruffed the fourth spade South had a chance to discard a diamond and could overruff the next diamond. However if declarer plays the ace of diamonds followed by a diamond ruff immediately then game will be easy with three ruffs in each hand, the ace of spades and the ace of diamonds and the top two trumps.

Feelings Of Guilt

19th August – Board 14: Love All. Dealer East.

	North: S none H J 2 D A Q 9 8 7 3 2 C Q 10 5 2
West: S K 9 H A Q 6 5 D K C A K 8 6 4 3		East: S A Q 10 7 6 5 4 3 H K 4 3 D 10 4 C none
	South: S J 8 2 H 10 9 8 7 D J 6 5 C J 9 7

What would you – or did you – open that East hand? I think there are three candidates in 1S, 4S and pass and would probably opt for the 4S preempt although being aware that it is a bit good. Why is that? Well if you take away all the high cards in the minors from the West hand but leave the same shape then 6S is still a good bet and nobody would dream of bidding on. And if you leave the West hand alone and take away the king of hearts from the opener then 6S is still huge. Anyway the slam should easily be reached after East opens 4S with the use of everybody’s favourite convention.

West	North	East	South
		4S	No
4NT	No	5D	No
6S	End

Abandoning Ship

12th August – Board 20: Game All. Dealer West.

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

The Losing Trick Count is a wonderful tool for letting you bid lots on low-pointed hands albeit with tons of distribution, but sometimes things go the other way. There are several misconceptions about the LTC and one is that if you don’t open you must have eight losers or more. Not true I’m afraid. Look at the West hand above – it has seven losers but anyone over the age of 25 wouldn’t open it because it will not be useful unless there is a fit with partner. And if you find one then you can treat is as you would an opener. Another misconception is that a hand with just three aces is bad news. Well three aces are more than useful, especially in an unbalanced hand, so much so that you can deduct a loser for what is called ‘overall control.’ Which makes the East hand above a six-loser hand. I think the bidding should go:

West	North	East	South
No	No	1H	2D
2S	No	4S	End

The 2S bid should be treated as forcing, even by a passed hand, and because of this it would be hard for East to make up a hand where game wasn’t odds-on. As happened at more than one table game wasn’t reached because East abandoned ship too soon, and twelve tricks were made with little sweat.

Transfer Worries

12th August – Board 6: Game All. Dealer East.

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

The hand above didn’t cause any great worries as far as I am aware but it did lead me to wonder how those people sitting North dealt with their hand. At one table the bidding went:

West	North	East	South
		No	1NT
No	2H	No	2S
No	4H	No	4S
End

As it was ‘obvious’ that North had five hearts I was a little surprised that South chose to play in the suit with less trumps until enquiry told me that there was concern that the 4H bid might be a self-agreeing splinter, in other words looking for a spade slam with a singleton heart! After all North could, I suppose, bid 3H and then 4H with the hand in question. This remark caused me to look up my own system notes and in the sequence above I play, apparently, 4H as - a splinter! Oh dear. But then I do have some other sophistication which those system lovers amongst you can adopt, and those system haters can just ignore. This is what we do:
1NT – 4D is a hand which is 5-5 in the majors but with no slam interest.
1NT – 2C – 2D – 4C/D is a hand which is 5-5 in the majors but with one or none in the minor bid, and is looking for a slam in one of the majors. Of course if partner bids one of the majors in response to Stayman then you can splinter anyway.
But if you want to keep it simple I don’t blame you. It’s just that with the proliferation of new ideas even the simplest looking sequences can resemble a trap for the unwary.

All Things Considered

5th August – Board 8: Love. Dealer West.

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

Looking at the two hands shown above wouldn’t you think that everyone would play in 3NT? Yet mysteriously the contracts ranged from five clubs making with an overtrick, to four hearts either making plus one or going down, to four spades minus two. One pair did reach 3NT but with a dodgy sequence I thought. Why on earth wouldn’t it just go like this: -

West	North	East	South
No	1H	No	1S
No	2NT	No	3H*
No	3S**	No	3NT
End

* South is just asking if partner’s 2NT rebid contains a five-card heart suit, and if so to prefer 4H to 3NT. South will obviously only have three cards in support or he would have raised immediately. The bid is of course forcing to game.
** In similar fashion opener denies having five hearts but in turn is asking if his partner has a five-card spade suit, in which case the correct contract would be 4S. Again North would only have three card support because he would have raised immediately if he had more.

The play in 3NT is interesting on a diamond lead. With only eight tricks on top it would appear that the fate of the contract depends on a successful finesse in either spades or hearts, but declarer can combine his chances to some extent by playing off the ace and king of hearts first. If the queen of hearts is doubleton in either hand then there is no need for a finesse at all. As it happens the contract is essentially declarer proof.

Double Trouble

5th August – Board 7: Game All. Dealer South.

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

It was heartening to see that at every table but one – where South mysteriously forgot to open – the contract was 1NT doubled, after the simplest of auctions.

West	North	East	South
			1NT
Dbl	All Pass

The double is strictly for penalties and although partner can take-out they would really only do so if they were very weak but with a long suit. Similarly for the partner of the opener who on this occasion can only grin and bear it. The results ranged from two down, which seems about right, to making with an overtrick, but I can only assume in this latter case that the defence panicked, as so often happens when defending a doubled contract. Surely West would start with the four of clubs, and although this gives declarer an extra trick, the rest of the suit can easily be established due to declarer’s poor impletion. Declarer would probably play the queen of spades next, ducked by West, and it is imperative in these situations that East should give a count signal by playing the two. Remember that LO-Hi shows an odd number in the suit, HI-LO an even number. Anyway West would know to win the third round and knock out the ace of clubs. A small diamond from declarer would let West back in, who could cash his clubs and exit with the queen of hearts. (West knows that declarer started with eight points in the black suits and cannot have both the top two hearts.) So in all declarer would make two spade tricks, a heart and two club tricks for -500. Opponents of the weak no-trump can sneer, but in the long run its preemptive value makes it a winning gambit, although I have to say that those of us have been playing for far too long tend to play a strong no-trump when vulnerable……