Its Own Reward

28th July – Board 5: N/S Vul. Dealer North.

Now and again a textbook play comes along and while in the books they always work in reality virtue sometimes has to be its own reward. I don’t know whether you would feel up to opening that North hand or not and I only would if I was allowed to bid 1NT if partner responded 1H. Not ideal but that’s what they do these days. Anyway East would doubtless overcall with a number of hearts, two or three depending on his mood, and South would almost certainly close proceedings with a bid of everyone’s favourite contract.

West	North	East	South
	1C	2H	3NT
End

Assuming West leads a spade declarer can see that he not only needs to make a bundle of club tricks but that he cannot afford to lose two in the process. If the suit divides 3-3 the odds are even whether you should play low to the ten or low to the queen after cashing the ace first. However if they divide 4-2 then you can only cater for East holding doubleton jack, and you do that by cashing the ace and then leading towards the queen. It is true that if East holds doubleton king it is better to lead low towards the ten but you still would have to lose a trick to the jack. As you can see the correct line leads to an incorrect result which might suggest that perhaps North shouldn’t open after all.

Too Hard

28th July – Board 8: Love All. Dealer West.

Some hands are just too hard to bid to the par contract but that doesn’t mean you should be a million miles away. On the hand shown below South should have tried to adopt a strategy which indicated he had a strong two-suiter, even if that meant biding his time for a while. I know the auctions were many and varied but something approximating to the following could not be criticised:

West	North	East	South
1NT	No	2C	No
2H	No	No	4H
No	5C	No	5D
End

1NT is a sensible opening bid with the hearts too awful to wish to repeat but it does give his partner a problem. One solution might be to transfer to clubs in whatever way is available but I think a better idea would be to bid Stayman, aiming to pass a response in a major but to remove 2D to 3C. South should lurk as 2C is forcing but when 2H comes back to him he should come clean by bidding 4H, surprising everyone no doubt but clearly showing a two-suiter with spades and a minor. North would bid 5C in the expectation that his partner held spades and clubs and South would remove to 5D. It might seem a huge gamble but the reality is of course that North needs very little to make game viable. And as you can see a slam is cast iron, but that is just too hard.

Ashes To Ashes

21st July – Board 7: Game All. Dealer South.

South must have thought Christmas had come early when he opens 1C and hears his partner respond 1S after an overcall of 1D by West. A slam looks possible but his ardour is somewhat dampened when East bids 4H, and especially so when his 4S bid is doubled and fails by three or four tricks…..

West	North	East	South
			1C
1D	1S	4H	4S
Dbl	End

Not of course that any of that actually happened although I certainly think it should. That 4H bid by East may look odd but with such a good fit for partner and without needing much in the way of heart support I think it’s a standout. 4H is cold as it happens despite losing two trumps and so for that matter is 5D. But the penalty gained from doubling 4S is greater than any successful game call.

Space-Age Acol

21st July – Board 13: Game All. Dealer North.

Any strong hand with five spades and four in another suit can be difficult to bid if partner responds 1NT to the opening bid of 1S. For this reasons many people play that a rebid of 2C by opener in this sequence shows at least 16 points with an unspecified four-card suit on the side. In reply responder bids 2S with three-card support and a minimum, 2D with a minimum without three spades or five hearts and 2H with a minimum and five hearts. With a maximum 1NT bid of 8 or 9 points responder bids 3S with three-card support, 2NT without three spades or five hearts and 3H with five hearts. As a corollary after an opening bid of 1S has received a response of 1NT then 2H/2D are limited with less than 16 points. Of course if opener has a limited hand with five spades and four clubs then he has to pass 1NT…..

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

In this auction South has shown a hand with sixteen points or more with five spades and four hearts while North has shown eight or nine points without three spades or four hearts.

In reality 3NT is not a good contract but with the jack of spades falling in three rounds and the diamond suit being as benign as it possibly could there are nine tricks available. If South chose to rebid 2H then North would have to pass as his partner could have a complete minimum.

Textbook Triumph

14th July – Board 9: East/West Game. Dealer North.

Sometimes a hand comes along that could be taken directly from any bridge textbook and the featured hand is a case in point. I wonder whether any of the players on Thursday found it?

West	North	East	South
	No	No	No
2D	No	2H	No
2NT	No	3NT	End

I hope no players opened that West hand 2NT! It is too good by miles. With three tens, a nine and a five-card suit it must be worth upgrading to 2D, or 2C if you are not playing Benji. I think it is right to rebid 2NT though because if you rebid 3D partner could – would – be stuck in finding the only making game of 3NT. (After 2NT I would actually bid 3C on that East hand in an effort to find a 5-3 spade fit, but it’s close.) North will probably lead a low spade and declarer should see that the contract is safe as long as he can make four diamond tricks. In such situations always expect the worst, and while just banging out the two top diamonds would bring home the bacon it is not the right thing to do. As long as diamonds are no worse than 4-1 the game is secure. Win the first spade in hand and cash the ace of diamonds. Then lead low towards the jack. If North started with a four-card suit he is restricted to just making the queen, while if he shows out on the second diamond declarer plays the jack from dummy losing to the queen in the South hand. But now he can win the spade return in dummy and take a marked diamond finesse against the ten. As usual virtue would have to be its own reward.

Two-Edged Sword

14^th July – Board 20: Game All. Dealer West.

Preemption is an exciting and integral part of the game but sometimes it can backfire when the opponents are forced into making an early decision. And that’s exactly what happened on the hand shown below.

West	North	East	South
No	3S	3NT	End

Left to their own devices E/W would almost certainly play in 4H which would stand little chance due to the terrible trump break. However after North starts proceeding with a three-level preempt East has to choose what action to take. It would be feeble to pass and to double risks missing out on the most likely contract to succeed – namely 3NT. After all, without an independent spade stopper West can hardly bid no-trumps. If South leads a heart the contract is trivial but on a spade lead declarer has to be a bit careful. He cannot afford to duck – although North just might only have a six-card suit – in case of a club switch. (Just imagine how sick you would feel if you ducked the opening lead and North switched to the jack of clubs.) However after running the diamonds declarer will play on hearts, possibly with the aim of end-playing South to lead away from his ace of clubs. As it happens North shows out on the first heart lead and the play of the hand becomes trivial.

Horror Show

7^th July – Board 7: Game All. Dealer South.

The gremlins were at work again on the hand shown below and what must have caused both West and East to have a fair degree of optimism at the outset soon changed to nightmarish horror. Not that either player did anything wrong…..

West	North	East	South
			1D
3C	No	4H	End

The above auction is one that I think should happen, but I am not aware that it ever actually went like that. 3C would be just about right for an intermediate jump overcall and I can see little point in East doing anything other than insisting on playing in his suit. (If I have an eight-card suit then that suit is going to be trumps!) Of course 4H is a hopeless contract compounded even more so by the bad trump break. One or two people were doubled in 4H or 5C and they can consider themselves to be unlucky. Which is more than can be said for the pair that bid and made 3NT! I know, I know. I was there and I saw it, but still I do not believe it.

Moysian Fit

7^th July – Board 21: North/South Game. Dealer North.

Although it is something we usually strive to avoid, now and again we have to be content to play in what might be a Moysian fit, that is to say with just a 4-3 fit in the trump suit. The hand shown below is a case in point but when you come to think of it how else can the bidding go but as shown?

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

West is not good enough in high-card strength to bid his clubs at the two-level and East is certainly not good enough to reverse into 2H. Rebidding that ghastly diamond suit just cannot be right so the only alternative is to support partner. In any event East does not know that his partner only has a four-card suit so should not be feeling any pangs of guilt or doubt. Even on a trump lead it is easy to come to eight tricks via a cross-ruff and any slight slip from the defence will lead to an overtrick.

Delicate Picture

30th June – Board 1: Love All. Dealer North.

I’m not sure any pair reached the top spot of 6S on the hand shown below but a well-controlled auction with a little bidding theory should get there.

West	North	East	South
	1D	No	1S
No	2H	No	3C
No	3S	No	4S
No	4NT	No	5D
No	6S	End

Once North has reversed it should be obvious to South that game values are present and as a reverse is only forcing for one round after a one-level response South should resist the impulse to bid just 2NT as that might be passed. 3NT is nearer the mark but misses out on the superior 4S if partner happens to have three card support, so why not find out by bidding 3C – fourth suit forcing and game–forcing to boot – to see what partner will do? Opener will paint a delicate picture and show secondary support for spades and I imagine South will bid game there but North should not be satisfied. With his five-loser hand he will surely invoke everyone’s favourite convention and even with just the one key-card opposite there must be a play for a slam. In fact as long as declarer doesn’t panic there are an easy twelve tricks available. A trump lead would be best for the defence but whatever line declarer chooses he is almost bound to succeed as long as he plays on the diamond suit at some time before attempting a heart finesse one way or the other.

Something In Reserve

30th June – Board 22: Game All. Dealer East.

If as responder you intend to make more than one bid then it is correct to bid your suits in the normal way, that is to say you should bid your longest suit first. It is only when you intend to pass if your partner makes a minimum rebid in his suit that you should prefer bidding a four card major to a five card minor.

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

It is perfectly in order to respond 2C on the hand shown above because as responder you aim to bid again. East is close to reversing with 2S but is not quite good enough since a reverse after a two-level response is forcing to game. Sometimes it is better to have something in reserve. However that East hand becomes enormous when partner shows the other major and a splinter bid of 4D looks appropriate, showing a raise to game in spades with a singleton or void diamond. West might be tempted to bid on but the queen of diamonds looks wasted and the trump suit is too fragile to suggest further action other than a bid of 4S. South should lead a trump as both East and West have shown distributional hands but declarer can easily prevail by cross-ruffing his way to ten tricks.