No Justice

27th June – Board 19: East/West Vul. Dealer South.

Sometimes the ‘best’ bid can turn out badly leaving the perpetrator nursing a strong sense of injustice. That certainly happened on the hand shown below.

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

West	North	East	South
			3C
No	No	Dbl	No
4C	No	4H	End

The pre-empt is more or less sound for once as is East’s take-out double even though the shape of the hand is not altogether text-book. With an opening hand himself and a major fit somewhere West should find out the best strain by bidding 4C and East will close proceedings with a bid of 4H. Played from the East hand South will surely lead his singleton spade, won by North who returns a low spade indicating that he wants a switch to the lower rank suit – clubs. In this way the defence merrily take the first five tricks for a two trick defeat and indeed it would have been even worse if South had started with a club lead and North switched to spades. At some tables however West merely bid 3H over his partner’s double, an outrageous underbid surely, although this was raised to 4H an equally outrageous overbid. However played from the West side the likely lead of the D10 gives declarer an easy path to ten tricks. As an aside West might pass the double for penalties or even try 3NT, going to show how awkward pre-empts can be. 

Poor Recompense

23rd May – Board 9: East/West Vul. Dealer North.

When partner preempts you should always maintain the barrage if you can, especially at favourable vulnerability.

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

West	North	East	South
	3D	No	5D
Dbl	No	???

Just look at that South hand. With four-card trump support in a weak hand and at the right colours 5D should be a stand out bid after partner preempts. What can poor West do? The ubiquitous double is the answer, neither fish nor fowl, and East does well to pass and not bid 5H. It’s true that East/West can make 5S but nobody is going to bid that so a paltry 300 is the only reward  - poor recompense for the vulnerable game. Against me they did even better. South did pass the preempt and as West I had a problem. If I doubled I feared partner would bid 4H and 4C was just too feeble to be considered. So I bid 3NT, which while it would have been slaughtered on the actual layout is not a bad contract, needing as it does just for the queen of clubs to make an early appearance. However South bid 4D and I doubled that for just 100, partner doing well yet again by remaining silent and not bidding 4H.

Each Way Bet

16th May – Board 9: East/West Vul. Dealer North.

Possibly the most exciting hand last Thursday was the following when South was forced into making a difficult decision.

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

West	North	East	South
	3D	No	4H
4S	No	No	5H/Dbl?
End

North is on the strong side for a preempt perhaps but those jacks don’t look very appealing and trying to keep the opposition out of the auction is always a good idea. South has an obvious 4H bid but West should really not be silenced and 4S looks a good each way bet when it might easily make opposite very little or prove to be a cheap sacrifice against a vulnerable game the other way. To my mind the most difficult decision is South’s but it is hard to criticise bidding one more for the road. West will lead the king of spades but must not panic when in with the ace of hearts. Although in a different layout it might be right to switch to clubs here that would be fatal and West should cash his spade winner and play a third round. With declarer unable to reach dummy the king of clubs will prove to be the setting trick.

No Swing

9th May – Board 12: North/South Vul. Dealer West.

East could approach the treatment of his hand in different ways but ultimately whatever route he chose would most likely make no difference at all.

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

West	North	East	South
No	1H	Dbl	4H
Dbl	No	4S/No?	End

East has a close choice initially between a simple overcall and a double and the latter just about gets my vote in that it leads the way open to finding a possible diamond slam. Against that of course you don’t want to be left playing in 1S….Whatever you do South should pre-empt to 4H and West should double to show some general values. You might think that if East chooses to pass the double an 800 penalty would ensue but it is not as simple as that. Without second sight East will cash his top spades and then be endplayed. 

He will either have to concede a ruff and discard or cash an ace, thus promoting the king of that suit in declarer’s hand. On the other hand if he chooses to bid 4S he will make all thirteen tricks due to both minor suit finesses working. Indeed 6S is a good contract but hard to bid with any degree of certainty. Take away the ten of clubs and the jack of diamonds from West’s hand and the slam is virtually impossible and although bidding has come a long way it is just not that precise. So there you have it – 500 against 510, or no swing.

Much Better

25^th April – Board 7: Game All. Dealer South.

Having seen a hand where you definitely should not preempt we now see one where you definitely should.

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

West	North	East	South
			3H
3S	No	4S	End

Here the suit is virtually self-supporting making the preempt a good bet and while West might come in with 3S it is by no means certain. Of course if he doesn’t I dare say East will be there with a 4D call and now West can introduce his major. Maybe the preempt has not had a devastating effect but it has made life difficult while at the same time being relatively safe. That makes it a good bid in my book.