Awful Irony

9th May – Board 14: Love All. Dealer East.

How would you feel if the opponents bid freely to 3NT and you – not on lead – held something like: S xx H xxx D AKQJxx C xx? Partner of course won’t lead a diamond unless you do something about it and the standard way is to double, essentially asking partner to find an unusual lead, which is often his shortest suit. Using that sophistication would have led to a certain amount of frustration on the following hand:

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

West	North	East	South
No	No	1NT	No
3NT	Dbl	End

North would probably double the final contract hoping that partner was short in spades and could find a spade (or heart) lead, but the awful irony is that South would probably be deflected from doing the right thing and lead a diamond whereupon a delighted declarer would rattle off the first ten tricks. 

Eavesdropping

3rd Jan – Board 2: N/S Vul. Dealer East.

Listening to the bidding made by the other side should be an absolute essential to ensure the best defence but quite often autopilot takes over. Sitting West on the hand shown below what would you lead to 3NT after the bidding shown. And why?

Sitting West you should try and build up a picture of declarer’s hand, so what do you know? Well South has at least eight cards in spades and diamonds and unless he is precisely 4-1-4-4 he will have five diamonds and probably two or three clubs, but he must have the king because of that 3NT bid. So it would not be unreasonable to kick off with the ace of clubs, which would be greeted with enthusiasm by partner and would certainly lead to the failure of the contract assuming you follow up with the queen. I would like to say I would have found that lead but I wouldn’t. I would have led a heart, knowing declarer is short there, and in truth that might work out well if declarer plays low from dummy and East switches to a club. But if declarer rises with the ace and clears diamonds then the defence is impotent because East will never gain the lead and declarer will come home with four spades, two hearts and four diamonds. The one suit I would never lead is spades because that can only ever be helping declarer, although many defenders would look no further than their longest suit.

Some Comfort

16th August – Board 13: Game All. Dealer North.

Although we all like to think that bridge is a game of pure skill there is an awful lot of luck involved at times. On the hand shown below North/South should have no trouble reaching game, but notice that South does well to raise 1♠ to 2♠ and not bid 1NT. The reasons for this are many, the main one being that when partner opens 1♠ he will either have at least a five-card suit or fifteen points – or both! And 2♠ is a lot more preemptive than 1NT, cutting out as it does West’s ability to wander in at the two level.

So where does the luck come in? Well the success of this contract depends entirely upon the opening lead. If East tries for a quick kill he will open up with the ace of clubs, obtain encouragement and a smile from partner, and play another to the king whereupon he will obtain a third round ruff. And the ace of diamonds will provide a one trick set. On the other hand any other lead will enable declarer to draw trumps and set up two club tricks, making in all six spades, two hearts and two clubs. So where does the comfort come in then? Well even if 4♠ is defeated a bitter declarer can always point out that 4♥ is cold the other way!