Hard and Soft

Hard and Soft.

28th September – Board 5. North/South Game. Dealer North.

Bridge parlance has it that queens and jacks are ‘soft’ values while aces and kings are ‘hard’. The following hand will demonstrate why.

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

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

It’s a close call as to whether to bid 3H over 2S but I think the winning line is to pass. At the table South bid 3H and North raised to game, an action which I thought was justified holding three aces, but of course the game was hopeless. Now give South the ace of diamonds instead of his two queens and it’s a different story with all his high cards being hard and now 4H is where you want to be.