23rd February – Board 18: North/South Vul. Dealer East.
Any pair who reached 5C on the featured deal can rightly feel pleased with their effort, with the lure of the no-trump game a trap to be avoided at all cost.
West
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North
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East
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South
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|
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1C
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No
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1H
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No
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1S
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No
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2D
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No
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3C
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No
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4C
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No
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4S
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No
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5C
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End
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|
|
There are several things to note in the bidding. First East is worth an opening bid but South is not really worth an overcall. At adverse vulnerability it is fraught with danger and if West ends up as declarer you do not want partner to lead a spade from Ax or Kx. It might also encourage North to get too involved, expecting as he might better values in his partner’s hand. Over 1S West should introduce fourth suit forcing as neither a 2H nor a 3H rebid would be forcing in any way and game certainly needs to be reached once partner has opened. Over 3C it might be tempting to bid 3NT, but that would fail even on a diamond lead if South won and switched to a spade – not so unlikely as it happens, in an attempt to stop declarer from getting at dummy’s club winners. Having introduced 4thSF 4C also becomes forcing and is in effect a slam try, but once partner denies a diamond control West should sign off in game. Essentially the game requires either the ace of diamonds to be well placed, or no diamond lead when a diamond from hand can be thrown on a top heart from dummy.
I know we only reached 2H, but did most players reach 3NT in this one? Would you say that more often than not holding King to 3 diamonds in this situation is not enough to bid 3NT, or is it that partner's second bid of clubs overrides your possible diamond stop?
ReplyDeleteI just think 3NT is too premature and might not be right in any case. Once East has shown, presumably, six clubs and four spades a slam looks viable. Indeed if East had the ace of clubs and not the jack then 6C would be a good bet.
ReplyDelete