I had a difficult slam decision in the first match of the Sunday swiss teams at the Marin sectional.
At favorable vulnerability, Bob, as dealer, opened 1C and I responded 1S with this hand.
♠ AJ10xxx
♥ AKx
♦ x
♣ 9xx
Partner rebid 2C and I had to manufacture a forcing bid, so I bid 2D. (Some pairs play this bid as artificial and forcing so they can handle just this type of situation. We didn't have that specific agreement, but have decided to add it.)
Now Bob made a key bid: a jump to 3S. This should show a good hand (within the constraints of his previous bidding) with 3 card spade support. Now I have a serious decision to make.
I review the bidding and try to picture partner's hand: at least 6 clubs and 3 spades. I note that I certainly have the red suits covered. I consider whether we would be safe at the 5-level if a blackwood bid didn't elicit the response I hoped for. I have 7 losers, but my long spades, red suit controls and partial fit in clubs convince me to move toward slam.
In response to 4NT, Bob bids 5S, showing 2 key cards plus the queen of trumps, and I bid 6. LHO, after asking about my diamond bid, leads the king of diamonds.
♠ KQx
♥ Jx
♦ Ax
♣ KQ8765
♠ AJ10xxx
♥ AKx
♦ x
♣ 9xx
At first glance, this slam looks pretty good. As long as there is not a terrible layout in the club suit (RHO holding AJ10, A10x or the like) it should come home.
I win the ace of diamonds, play ace and king of hearts and ruff a heart high. I now draw trumps and lead a club to the king with the ace winning on my right. (I am careful to leave the diamond on the board in case the club king wins and I need a way back to my hand to lead clubs a second time.) RHO returns a diamond which I ruff. When I eventually lead another club, the jack is played on my left as clubs break 2-2.
Plus 980 was worth 11 IMPs as the opponents didn't bid the slam. Note Bob's jump to 3S which encouraged me to look for slam. Be on the lookout for opportunities to make descriptive bids to help partner.
See you at the table!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Jennbridge: Scrambling at IMPs
We entered the last round of the Sunday Swiss teams at the Marin sectional in third place, close behind the first and second place teams who were playing each other. If we could score a big win and the other match was fairly close, we could win. We kept up our part of the bargain by a near-blitz and sored up 19 victory points. Unfortunately one of the top two teams trounced the other so we ended up in 2nd place--1 victory point away from the win.
This hand from the last match had me worried. At unfavorable vulnerability in first seat I passed.
♠ 10
♥ AQx
♦ Qxx
♣ QJxxxx
Bob opened 1S and I responded 1NT, forcing. He now jump shifted into 3D. I bid 3NT which ended the auction. The ace of clubs was led.
♠ AKxxx
♥ Kx
♦ AKxxx
♣ 10
♠ 10
♥ AQx
♦ Qxx
♣ QJxxxx
I could see immediately that 6 diamonds would be a good bet. I lost the top 2 clubs and scored up 660. I was relieved to learn that not only did the opponents fail to bid 6D which would have caused us to lose 12 IMPs, they got to the terrible contract of 6NT which caused us to gain 13 IMPs!
Whew. We discussed the various ways we could have bid the diamond slam, but the singleton club is the key and it is hard to diagnose.
********************
Here is a fun hand from an earlier match.
♠ KJx
♥ KQ98xx
♦ 10xx
♣ x
None vul., in first seat I opened 2H and all passed. I got the ace of diamonds lead and saw this:
♠ A10x
♥ void
♦ QJxx
♣ KQxxxx
♠ KJx
♥ KQ98xx
♦ 10xx
♣ x
Sigh. Not too promising. The first order of business is to false-card in the diamond suit and hope for a spade shift. Therefore I discourage in diamonds. (If the opponents are playing upside down signals, I play a high diamond; with standard signals I would play a low one.) I got the spade shift I was looking for as RHO played the queen and I won the king. I next led my club to the king which won! Good--now I'm in the position to scramble some tricks--the only thing you can do with a hand like this.
I ruffed a club back to my hand, led a spade to the board, ruffed another club, led another spade and ruffed a third club, as LHO started with 4. I now have 7 tricks and am entitled to at least 1 more heart trick. I exited with a diamond and in the end game I actually scored 2 more hearts as the heart ace was on my right. Plus 140 was good for 5 imps as our teammates defended 2 hearts correctly and beat it.
Look for ways to score your low trumps when you're scrambling for tricks.
See you at the table!
This hand from the last match had me worried. At unfavorable vulnerability in first seat I passed.
♠ 10
♥ AQx
♦ Qxx
♣ QJxxxx
Bob opened 1S and I responded 1NT, forcing. He now jump shifted into 3D. I bid 3NT which ended the auction. The ace of clubs was led.
♠ AKxxx
♥ Kx
♦ AKxxx
♣ 10
♠ 10
♥ AQx
♦ Qxx
♣ QJxxxx
I could see immediately that 6 diamonds would be a good bet. I lost the top 2 clubs and scored up 660. I was relieved to learn that not only did the opponents fail to bid 6D which would have caused us to lose 12 IMPs, they got to the terrible contract of 6NT which caused us to gain 13 IMPs!
Whew. We discussed the various ways we could have bid the diamond slam, but the singleton club is the key and it is hard to diagnose.
********************
Here is a fun hand from an earlier match.
♠ KJx
♥ KQ98xx
♦ 10xx
♣ x
None vul., in first seat I opened 2H and all passed. I got the ace of diamonds lead and saw this:
♠ A10x
♥ void
♦ QJxx
♣ KQxxxx
♠ KJx
♥ KQ98xx
♦ 10xx
♣ x
Sigh. Not too promising. The first order of business is to false-card in the diamond suit and hope for a spade shift. Therefore I discourage in diamonds. (If the opponents are playing upside down signals, I play a high diamond; with standard signals I would play a low one.) I got the spade shift I was looking for as RHO played the queen and I won the king. I next led my club to the king which won! Good--now I'm in the position to scramble some tricks--the only thing you can do with a hand like this.
I ruffed a club back to my hand, led a spade to the board, ruffed another club, led another spade and ruffed a third club, as LHO started with 4. I now have 7 tricks and am entitled to at least 1 more heart trick. I exited with a diamond and in the end game I actually scored 2 more hearts as the heart ace was on my right. Plus 140 was good for 5 imps as our teammates defended 2 hearts correctly and beat it.
Look for ways to score your low trumps when you're scrambling for tricks.
See you at the table!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Jennbridge: Benefit of Balancing
It was a good day at the club as Larry Hansen and I held all the cards, bid and made nearly all our games and a slam, and posted a 71.8% game. Here is a hand we defended.
♠ KQx
♥ Qx
♦ J9xxx
♣ 10xx
While I was looking at this uninspiring collection, RHO opened 1D, LHO bid 1H and RHO rebid 1NT. The bidding went pass, pass to partner who balanced with 2C. The bidding went pass, pass again and LHO thought for a while and bid 2NT.
Partner's bid got me off to the best lead of a club. In with a diamond, I returned a club and declarer couldn't come to 8 tricks. Down 1 was a tie for top. Nearly half the field scored 120 which could happen, especially if I made the unfortunate lead of a diamond. Larry held 8-10 points including QJxxx of clubs and the ace of spades.
Don't be afraid to balance. It can pay off in more ways than one: you can buy the contract and improve the score, or you can get partner off to the right lead if you defend.
See you at the table!
♠ KQx
♥ Qx
♦ J9xxx
♣ 10xx
While I was looking at this uninspiring collection, RHO opened 1D, LHO bid 1H and RHO rebid 1NT. The bidding went pass, pass to partner who balanced with 2C. The bidding went pass, pass again and LHO thought for a while and bid 2NT.
Partner's bid got me off to the best lead of a club. In with a diamond, I returned a club and declarer couldn't come to 8 tricks. Down 1 was a tie for top. Nearly half the field scored 120 which could happen, especially if I made the unfortunate lead of a diamond. Larry held 8-10 points including QJxxx of clubs and the ace of spades.
Don't be afraid to balance. It can pay off in more ways than one: you can buy the contract and improve the score, or you can get partner off to the right lead if you defend.
See you at the table!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Jennbridge: 2 on Defense
It was a good day at the club as Larry Hansen and I held all the cards, bid and made nearly all our games and a slam, and posted a 71.8% game. Here are a couple of the few hands we defended.
1.
♠ KQ10x
♥ K87x
♦ xxx
♣ xx
I passed, LHO opened 1 club, partner jumped to 2S and RHO bid 3H. I bid 3S, LHO bid 4H and all passed. I led the king of spades and saw this dummy:
Declarer continued with a heart to my king and, with only the 9 of hearts on the board I saw that I would be entitled to a second trump trick if I forced the dummy to ruff. I therefore played another spade and we scored a spade, 2 hearts and a club. Beating the contract was worth 83% of the matchpoints.
Always take note of the spots, or intermediate cards, particularly in the trump suit!
2.
♠ KQx
♥ Qx
♦ J9xxx
♣ 10xx
While I was looking at this uninspiring collection, RHO opened 1D, LHO bid 1H and RHO rebid 1NT. The bidding went pass, pass to partner who balanced with 2C. The bidding went pass, pass again and RHO thought for a while and bid 2NT.
Partner's bid got me off to the best lead of a club. In with a diamond, I returned a club and declarer couldn't come to 8 tricks. Down 1 was a tie for top. Nearly half the field scored 120 which could happen, especially if I made the unfortunate lead of a diamond. Larry held 8-10 points including QJxxx of clubs and the ace of spades.
Don't be afraid to balance. It can pay off in more ways than one: you can buy the contract and improve the score, or you can get partner off to the right lead if you defend.
See you at the table!
1.
♠ KQ10x
♥ K87x
♦ xxx
♣ xx
I passed, LHO opened 1 club, partner jumped to 2S and RHO bid 3H. I bid 3S, LHO bid 4H and all passed. I led the king of spades and saw this dummy:
| ♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ — | |||||||||||
♠ 6 ♥ 10 9 x ♦ A K x x ♣ A x x x x |
| ♠ — ♥ — ♦ — ♣ — | |||||||||
| ♠ K Q 10 x ♥ K 8 7 x ♦ x x x ♣ x x | |||||||||||
Larry played the nine of spades which, looking at the singleton spade in dummy, I interpreted as a suit preference for diamonds. I duly shifted to a diamond and declarer won the ace on the board. He called for the 10 of hearts, partner followed with the queen and declarer won the ace. Although I had noted the heart spots when I saw the dummy, I now inspected them even more closely.
Always take note of the spots, or intermediate cards, particularly in the trump suit!
2.
♠ KQx
♥ Qx
♦ J9xxx
♣ 10xx
While I was looking at this uninspiring collection, RHO opened 1D, LHO bid 1H and RHO rebid 1NT. The bidding went pass, pass to partner who balanced with 2C. The bidding went pass, pass again and RHO thought for a while and bid 2NT.
Partner's bid got me off to the best lead of a club. In with a diamond, I returned a club and declarer couldn't come to 8 tricks. Down 1 was a tie for top. Nearly half the field scored 120 which could happen, especially if I made the unfortunate lead of a diamond. Larry held 8-10 points including QJxxx of clubs and the ace of spades.
Don't be afraid to balance. It can pay off in more ways than one: you can buy the contract and improve the score, or you can get partner off to the right lead if you defend.
See you at the table!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Jennbridge: A Tough Hand from the Vanderbilt Semifinals
Watching the Vanderbilt on BBO is always interesting. It is possible to see great plays and also amazing blunders by the top experts playing in these matches. In the finals, amazingly, there was a hand where both pairs bid to a grand slam missing the ace of trumps! I won't write about that hand, which no doubt will be discussed in all the bridge magazines.
Here is a hand from the semifinals that presented a challenge in both bidding and play. At the table I was watching, Michael Kamil held it. In third seat, he held::
♠ AKQJT8
♥ J
♦ void
♣ QJT985
Partner dealt and opened 1 Heart. He replied 1 Spade. Partner now jump shifted to 3 Diamonds. What do you bid? Kamil made the interesting bid of 5 Spades. This bid was likely never discussed, but a likely meaning is that he is asking partner to bid slam if he has a control in clubs, the unbid suit. Partner duly bid 6 Spades with:
♠ void
♥ AQT765
♦ AQT98
♣ A7
♠ AKQJT8
♥ J
♦ void
♣ QJT985
This auction cried out for a club lead, which was duly made. Now, how should he play it?
There are three possible lines: (1) duck; (2) win the ace and play another club; (3) win the ace, ruff a red card and draw trumps, then knock out the king of clubs.
If you try line (3), you succeed whenever spades are 4-3. You can draw trump in 4 rounds, play a low club to knock out the king, and can ruff a red card and use the long clubs. You also succeed if RHO has the stiff king of clubs when spades are 5-2. However, if spades are 5-2 and the king of clubs doesn't fall, you cannot get back to your hand to use the clubs because you will have used all your trumps.
If you try line (1), you succeed whenever LHO has the king of clubs, whether spades are 4-3 or 5-2. You will also succeed when RHO has Kx or Kxx of clubs when spades are 5-2. This line loses when the opening lead is a singleton, as you will go down immediately with a ruff. If so, and trumps are 4-3, then line (3) would succeed while this line fails.
Line (2) is inferior to either of the other lines, since you will go down whenever either hand holds Kxx no matter how spades split.
It is hard in the heat of battle to calculate the odds here. Kamil actually chose (3), unwilling to go down right away, and went down when the full deal was:
If he had chosen either (1) or (2), he would have succeeded.
At the other table, Geoff Hampson reached 6 Spades on a different auction and got a heart lead. On this lead, the play was easy. He ducked the heart, losing to the king, and eventually was able to draw trumps and throw all his losing clubs on dummy's hearts and ace of diamonds.
Good luck!
Here is a hand from the semifinals that presented a challenge in both bidding and play. At the table I was watching, Michael Kamil held it. In third seat, he held::
♠ AKQJT8
♥ J
♦ void
♣ QJT985
Partner dealt and opened 1 Heart. He replied 1 Spade. Partner now jump shifted to 3 Diamonds. What do you bid? Kamil made the interesting bid of 5 Spades. This bid was likely never discussed, but a likely meaning is that he is asking partner to bid slam if he has a control in clubs, the unbid suit. Partner duly bid 6 Spades with:
♠ void
♥ AQT765
♦ AQT98
♣ A7
♠ AKQJT8
♥ J
♦ void
♣ QJT985
This auction cried out for a club lead, which was duly made. Now, how should he play it?
There are three possible lines: (1) duck; (2) win the ace and play another club; (3) win the ace, ruff a red card and draw trumps, then knock out the king of clubs.
If you try line (3), you succeed whenever spades are 4-3. You can draw trump in 4 rounds, play a low club to knock out the king, and can ruff a red card and use the long clubs. You also succeed if RHO has the stiff king of clubs when spades are 5-2. However, if spades are 5-2 and the king of clubs doesn't fall, you cannot get back to your hand to use the clubs because you will have used all your trumps.
If you try line (1), you succeed whenever LHO has the king of clubs, whether spades are 4-3 or 5-2. You will also succeed when RHO has Kx or Kxx of clubs when spades are 5-2. This line loses when the opening lead is a singleton, as you will go down immediately with a ruff. If so, and trumps are 4-3, then line (3) would succeed while this line fails.
Line (2) is inferior to either of the other lines, since you will go down whenever either hand holds Kxx no matter how spades split.
It is hard in the heat of battle to calculate the odds here. Kamil actually chose (3), unwilling to go down right away, and went down when the full deal was:
Vanderbilt Semifinals
| North Deals None Vul | ♠ — ♥ A Q 10 7 6 5 ♦ A Q 10 9 8 ♣ A 7 | ||||||||||
♠ 5 2 ♥ 4 2 ♦ K J 7 6 3 2 ♣ 6 3 2 |
| ♠ 9 7 6 4 3 ♥ K 9 8 3 ♦ 5 4 ♣ K 4 | |||||||||
| ♠ A K Q J 10 8 ♥ J ♦ — ♣ Q J 10 9 8 5 | |||||||||||
| West | North | East | South |
| 1 ♥ | Pass | 1 ♠ | |
| Pass | 3 ♦ | Pass | 5 ♠ |
| Pass | 6 ♠ |
| 6 ♠ by South |
If he had chosen either (1) or (2), he would have succeeded.
At the other table, Geoff Hampson reached 6 Spades on a different auction and got a heart lead. On this lead, the play was easy. He ducked the heart, losing to the king, and eventually was able to draw trumps and throw all his losing clubs on dummy's hearts and ace of diamonds.
Good luck!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Jennbridge: Great Plays
We kibitz the Vanderbilt in order to "be there" when great plays take place. Did you see this hand last night?
North-South reached a seemingly cold slam and Bob Hamman led the ace of hearts. Zia found an ingenious way to defeat it!
--------------------------
He threw the heart king under the ace, looking for all the world like he started with a singleton heart. Now when Hamman continued hearts, the declarer, not unreasonably, ruffed with the ace, promoting Zia's jack!
See you at the table!
Vanderbilt round of 16
| Board 50 North Deals None Vul | ♠ 10 9 8 6 4 2 ♥ Q 10 4 ♦ A K Q 4 ♣ — | ||||||||||
♠ J 7 5 ♥ K 6 ♦ 10 9 8 6 ♣ K 8 7 6 |
| ♠ — ♥ A J 9 8 7 5 3 ♦ J 7 ♣ A 9 4 3 | |||||||||
| ♠ A K Q 3 ♥ 2 ♦ 5 3 2 ♣ Q J 10 5 2 | |||||||||||
| West | North | East | South |
| Zia | x | Hamman | x |
| Pass | 4 ♥ | Dbl | |
| Pass | 5 ♠ | Pass | 6 ♠ |
| 6 ♠ by North |
North-South reached a seemingly cold slam and Bob Hamman led the ace of hearts. Zia found an ingenious way to defeat it!
--------------------------
He threw the heart king under the ace, looking for all the world like he started with a singleton heart. Now when Hamman continued hearts, the declarer, not unreasonably, ruffed with the ace, promoting Zia's jack!
See you at the table!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Jennbridge: Kibitz Vanderbilt
Live from Louisville, kibitz the Vanderbilt on Bridgebase starting Wed., March 16 at 10:00 a.m. The action will continue through the finals on Sunday, March 20.
(We would have been there but we opted instead for a short, fun trip to Scottsdale to see the SF Giants in spring training!)
See you at the table!
(We would have been there but we opted instead for a short, fun trip to Scottsdale to see the SF Giants in spring training!)
See you at the table!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Jennbridge: A Collaboration (Strip & EP) ***
Bob and I collaborated on an interesting hand at IMPs recently. He put me in a good contract and I had to bring it home. He'll describe the bidding: On the first hand of the evening I dealt, with both vulnerable, and held:
♠ AKx
♥ void
♦ AQ87xx
♣ KJxxx
I opened 1 diamond. LHO bid 1 heart, Jenn bid 2 clubs, and RHO bid 3 hearts, preemptive. Wow, this is just getting interesting! Both sides seem to have big fits. I bid what I thought we could make: 5 clubs. Now, almost before my 5 club bid hit the table, LHO slapped a 5 heart bid on the table. This was passed back to me. What now?
From the table action, LHO surely was void in clubs and had a lot of hearts. Jenn could have doubled but didn't, so she probably didn't have much in hearts. Since we had voluntarily bid a vulnerable game, and since one of the opponents had preempted, Jenn's pass was probably forcing. Well, should I double or bid 6 clubs? I had 2 defensive tricks, but I couldn't be sure we had another. So while we probably would defeat 5 hearts, we might not. And if the cards were right for us, we might even make 6 clubs. So I decided the IMP odds favored bidding. [If neither 5 hearts or 6 clubs makes, we can be +200 or 500 vs -100 if I double. If 5 hearts makes and 6 clubs fails, we are -850 vs -100. If 6 clubs makes, we are +1370 and it hardly matters whether or not 5 hearts makes.] So I pressed on to 6 clubs. Everyone passed and a heart was led.
♠ AKx
♥ void
♦ Q87xx
♣ KJxxx
♠ xx
♥ xx
♦ A9x
♣ A10xxxx
By Jenn: While Bob was deliberating over 5H, I was worrying that I should have doubled. His bid of 6 clubs was a surprise. What a nice 21 point slam! I ruffed the heart opening lead and paused to plan the play.
I could only lose 1 diamond and, on the bidding, RHO probably had the diamond king. My best chance for not losing more than one trick was to arrange an endplay.
I drew trumps in two rounds (LHO holding Qx), ruffed my last heart and played the ace and king of spades and ruffed a spade. Here were the remaining cards:
♠
♥ void
♦ Q87xx
♣ J
♠
♥
♦ A9x
♣ 10xx
I had eliminated the major suits and set the stage. I now led a low diamond from my hand and when LHO played the 6, I covered it with the 7, effectively ducking the trick to RHO. This should do it. If she returns a diamond I'll duck it and hope the queen wins.
Instead, endplayed, she returned a heart. I discarded my losing diamond and ruffed on the board. The match was off to a great start. Plus 1370 gained us 15 IMPs as our counterparts collected 200 in 5 hearts doubled.
Bob has the last word on the play: This play seems best as it seems to combine technical and psychological considerations as LHO, not an expert, would find it hard to duck from Kxx smoothly and would never find a duck from Kx. Possible lines are low from the queen, low from the ace or ace first. [With the actual holding of KJ on your right, any line would have succeeded.]
See you at the table!
♠ AKx
♥ void
♦ AQ87xx
♣ KJxxx
I opened 1 diamond. LHO bid 1 heart, Jenn bid 2 clubs, and RHO bid 3 hearts, preemptive. Wow, this is just getting interesting! Both sides seem to have big fits. I bid what I thought we could make: 5 clubs. Now, almost before my 5 club bid hit the table, LHO slapped a 5 heart bid on the table. This was passed back to me. What now?
From the table action, LHO surely was void in clubs and had a lot of hearts. Jenn could have doubled but didn't, so she probably didn't have much in hearts. Since we had voluntarily bid a vulnerable game, and since one of the opponents had preempted, Jenn's pass was probably forcing. Well, should I double or bid 6 clubs? I had 2 defensive tricks, but I couldn't be sure we had another. So while we probably would defeat 5 hearts, we might not. And if the cards were right for us, we might even make 6 clubs. So I decided the IMP odds favored bidding. [If neither 5 hearts or 6 clubs makes, we can be +200 or 500 vs -100 if I double. If 5 hearts makes and 6 clubs fails, we are -850 vs -100. If 6 clubs makes, we are +1370 and it hardly matters whether or not 5 hearts makes.] So I pressed on to 6 clubs. Everyone passed and a heart was led.
♠ AKx
♥ void
♦ Q87xx
♣ KJxxx
♠ xx
♥ xx
♦ A9x
♣ A10xxxx
By Jenn: While Bob was deliberating over 5H, I was worrying that I should have doubled. His bid of 6 clubs was a surprise. What a nice 21 point slam! I ruffed the heart opening lead and paused to plan the play.
I could only lose 1 diamond and, on the bidding, RHO probably had the diamond king. My best chance for not losing more than one trick was to arrange an endplay.
I drew trumps in two rounds (LHO holding Qx), ruffed my last heart and played the ace and king of spades and ruffed a spade. Here were the remaining cards:
♠
♥ void
♦ Q87xx
♣ J
♠
♥
♦ A9x
♣ 10xx
I had eliminated the major suits and set the stage. I now led a low diamond from my hand and when LHO played the 6, I covered it with the 7, effectively ducking the trick to RHO. This should do it. If she returns a diamond I'll duck it and hope the queen wins.
Instead, endplayed, she returned a heart. I discarded my losing diamond and ruffed on the board. The match was off to a great start. Plus 1370 gained us 15 IMPs as our counterparts collected 200 in 5 hearts doubled.
Bob has the last word on the play: This play seems best as it seems to combine technical and psychological considerations as LHO, not an expert, would find it hard to duck from Kxx smoothly and would never find a duck from Kx. Possible lines are low from the queen, low from the ace or ace first. [With the actual holding of KJ on your right, any line would have succeeded.]
See you at the table!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Jennbridge: Two Problems
Here are a couple of hands played in tournaments lately. The first is from the Santa Clara regional.
Bid this hand with me--vulnerable at IMPs against 3 world champions and a competent client:
♠ KQxx
♥ K
♦ AQxx
♣ Q765
I opened 1 club, Bob responded 1 heart, I bid 1 spade and he rebid 2 hearts. What now?
I figured his two heart bid was rather wide-ranging, and if he were at the top of his range we might have a game. So I bid 2NT. He raised to game and the 10 of clubs was led.
♠ 10x
♥ Qxxxxx
♦ K10
♣ KJ8
♠ KQxx
♥ K
♦ AQxx
♣ Q765
We had 25 points between us and this looked to be a suitable game. The lead was friendly enough, but there was plenty of work to do to come to 9 tricks.
The jack of clubs held and I immediately led a spade to the king which held. A club toward the board produced the 9 on my left and the king won. I decided to lead a heart to the king (the defensive carding indicated that the hearts were probably 3-3) and LHO won the ace.
A diamond was returned which went to the jack and queen and I led another club. LHO won the ace (clubs were 3-3) and started thinking. I now have 8 tricks (1 S, 1 H, 3 D and 3 C) and have chances for 9. My entries are getting tangled, however, and some soft defense would be most welcome.
At last LHO returned a diamond which I won on the board, cashed the queen of hearts and led a spade toward my hand again. RHO won with the ace, cashed her good heart and the rest of the tricks were mine.
Chances are the opponents could have set up a spade trick to beat me, but it wasn't obvious. Plus 600 won our team 10 IMPs as the world championship pair at the other table played in 2 hearts!
*****************
Here's an opening lead problem from a recent sectional:
♠ K8
♥ 8753
♦ Q1094
♣ 875
RHO opens 1S, LHO bids 2H, RHO bids 3C, LHO bids 3D, (4th suit forcing) and RHO concludes the auction with 3NT. I elect to lead a diamond and need to be careful which card I choose.
Bid this hand with me--vulnerable at IMPs against 3 world champions and a competent client:
♠ KQxx
♥ K
♦ AQxx
♣ Q765
I opened 1 club, Bob responded 1 heart, I bid 1 spade and he rebid 2 hearts. What now?
I figured his two heart bid was rather wide-ranging, and if he were at the top of his range we might have a game. So I bid 2NT. He raised to game and the 10 of clubs was led.
♠ 10x
♥ Qxxxxx
♦ K10
♣ KJ8
♠ KQxx
♥ K
♦ AQxx
♣ Q765
We had 25 points between us and this looked to be a suitable game. The lead was friendly enough, but there was plenty of work to do to come to 9 tricks.
The jack of clubs held and I immediately led a spade to the king which held. A club toward the board produced the 9 on my left and the king won. I decided to lead a heart to the king (the defensive carding indicated that the hearts were probably 3-3) and LHO won the ace.
A diamond was returned which went to the jack and queen and I led another club. LHO won the ace (clubs were 3-3) and started thinking. I now have 8 tricks (1 S, 1 H, 3 D and 3 C) and have chances for 9. My entries are getting tangled, however, and some soft defense would be most welcome.
At last LHO returned a diamond which I won on the board, cashed the queen of hearts and led a spade toward my hand again. RHO won with the ace, cashed her good heart and the rest of the tricks were mine.
Chances are the opponents could have set up a spade trick to beat me, but it wasn't obvious. Plus 600 won our team 10 IMPs as the world championship pair at the other table played in 2 hearts!
*****************
Here's an opening lead problem from a recent sectional:
♠ K8
♥ 8753
♦ Q1094
♣ 875
RHO opens 1S, LHO bids 2H, RHO bids 3C, LHO bids 3D, (4th suit forcing) and RHO concludes the auction with 3NT. I elect to lead a diamond and need to be careful which card I choose.
Sectional pair game
| Board 21 North Deals N-S Vul | ♠ A Q J 3 2 ♥ 2 ♦ A 7 6 ♣ A J 10 3 | ||||||||||
♠ 9 7 6 5 ♥ Q J 4 ♦ K 5 2 ♣ Q 6 2 |
| ♠ K 8 ♥ 8 7 5 3 ♦ Q 10 9 4 ♣ 8 7 5 | |||||||||
| ♠ 10 4 ♥ A K 10 9 6 ♦ J 8 3 ♣ K 9 4 | |||||||||||
| West | North | East | South |
| 1 ♠ | Pass | 2 ♥ | |
| Pass | 3 ♣ | Pass | 3 ♦ |
| Pass | 3 NT | Pass | Pass |
| Pass |
| 3 NT by North |
| Made 3 |
I'm sure you chose the diamond 10, the standard recommended lead. This holding is the textbook example why the 10 must be led. The 10 traps the jack between your partner's king and the declarer's ace and prevents declarer from winning more than one diamond trick. On the actual hand, declarer ducked my 10, and then ducked the 9. My low diamond cleared the suit. When in with the spade king I cashed my last diamond for a good score.
See you at the table!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Jennbridge: When to Upgrade
I picked up this promising hand at matchpoints recently. None vul., RHO passed and I opened 1 spade:
♠ AKJ10xxx
♥ xxx
♦ x
♣ Kx
LHO bid 2C, partner bid 2S and RHO raised to 3C. I paused to consider.
Generally I would downgrade my hand with the club bid on my left, deducting value from my king of clubs. The raise on my right, however, adds a new element.
In my experience, the raise of the overcall makes it more likely that a club will be led. If LHO were to lead the ace of clubs, the king of clubs would become a sure winner and the hand could actually be upgraded.
Where are partner's values? Most likely in the red suits, where they will be of most value. In addition, partner's values (such as they are) will be sitting behind the overcaller, so should carry their full weight.
With all of this in mind (more or less), I jumped to 4 spades. I was pleased with the ace of clubs lead, particularly when I saw the dummy:
♠ 9xx
♥ Axxx
♦ xxx
♣ Qxx
♠ AKJ10xxx
♥ xxx
♦ x
♣ Kx
Clearly my plan is to discard one of my losers on the club queen. A diamond is led at trick two and I ruffed the diamond continuation. Now it was a simple matter to draw trumps and claim. If there had been a heart switch at trick two, the spade 9 rated to be an entry for discarding a loser.
Plus 420 was a tie for top. Pay attention to how your hand decreases or increases in value as the auction proceeds--or in this case, does both in the space of one round of bidding!
*************
In the next round, partner opened 1 club and I responded 1 spade:
♠10xxxx
♥ KJxx
♦ Kx
♣ Kx
He rebid 2 spades and it was decision time. Only 10 points, but I'd like to keep the auction going. The 5 card spade suit is nice, along with the club honor. I count my losers and I have only 7, so I really should bid game. As I am currently putting the finishing touches on a booklet about losing trick count, I put my money where my mouth is and jump to 4 spades.
♠AKJx
♥A109
♦ xxx
♣10xx
♠10xxxx
♥ KJxx
♦ Kx
♣ Kx
His hand is a disappointment, but a diamond is led which is helpful. I win the diamond continuation with the king and lead a spade to the ace. The queen is played on my right. So far, so good.
As I need to tackle hearts at some point, I decide to lead the 9 from the board and let it ride--trying to keep RHO out of the lead and prevent a club lead through my Kx. Alas, the heart loses to the queen on my left and I ruff the diamond return.
Now the only way to make the hand is if the club ace is onside. I finish drawing trumps and lead a club toward my king which wins!
Plus 420 is another good score. Count your losers and hope for a little luck!
See you at the table!
♠ AKJ10xxx
♥ xxx
♦ x
♣ Kx
LHO bid 2C, partner bid 2S and RHO raised to 3C. I paused to consider.
Generally I would downgrade my hand with the club bid on my left, deducting value from my king of clubs. The raise on my right, however, adds a new element.
In my experience, the raise of the overcall makes it more likely that a club will be led. If LHO were to lead the ace of clubs, the king of clubs would become a sure winner and the hand could actually be upgraded.
Where are partner's values? Most likely in the red suits, where they will be of most value. In addition, partner's values (such as they are) will be sitting behind the overcaller, so should carry their full weight.
With all of this in mind (more or less), I jumped to 4 spades. I was pleased with the ace of clubs lead, particularly when I saw the dummy:
♠ 9xx
♥ Axxx
♦ xxx
♣ Qxx
♠ AKJ10xxx
♥ xxx
♦ x
♣ Kx
Clearly my plan is to discard one of my losers on the club queen. A diamond is led at trick two and I ruffed the diamond continuation. Now it was a simple matter to draw trumps and claim. If there had been a heart switch at trick two, the spade 9 rated to be an entry for discarding a loser.
Plus 420 was a tie for top. Pay attention to how your hand decreases or increases in value as the auction proceeds--or in this case, does both in the space of one round of bidding!
*************
In the next round, partner opened 1 club and I responded 1 spade:
♠10xxxx
♥ KJxx
♦ Kx
♣ Kx
He rebid 2 spades and it was decision time. Only 10 points, but I'd like to keep the auction going. The 5 card spade suit is nice, along with the club honor. I count my losers and I have only 7, so I really should bid game. As I am currently putting the finishing touches on a booklet about losing trick count, I put my money where my mouth is and jump to 4 spades.
♠AKJx
♥A109
♦ xxx
♣10xx
♠10xxxx
♥ KJxx
♦ Kx
♣ Kx
His hand is a disappointment, but a diamond is led which is helpful. I win the diamond continuation with the king and lead a spade to the ace. The queen is played on my right. So far, so good.
As I need to tackle hearts at some point, I decide to lead the 9 from the board and let it ride--trying to keep RHO out of the lead and prevent a club lead through my Kx. Alas, the heart loses to the queen on my left and I ruff the diamond return.
Now the only way to make the hand is if the club ace is onside. I finish drawing trumps and lead a club toward my king which wins!
Plus 420 is another good score. Count your losers and hope for a little luck!
See you at the table!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Jennbridge: A Trump Coup
Here is a fun hand from the San Francisco sectional a couple of weeks ago. My partner was Jo Ginsberg. As dealer at unfavorable vul., I opened two spades:
♠ AQ10976
♥ Q8
♦ 876
♣ J8
LHO doubled and everyone passed! I had a little anxiety as the ace of clubs was led and the dummy was put down:
♠ 85
♥ 9643
♦ AQ109
♣ 754
♠ AQ10976
♥ Q8
♦ 876
♣ J8
A quick assessment revealed that I only had 4 quick losers and the spades were very good--only missing the
king and jack. The king and queen of clubs followed as RHO pitched a low diamond (ostensibly encouraging) and I ruffed.
Hoping that LHO had both diamond honors I led a diamond to the 10 and it held. I followed this with the 5 of spades to the 6 in my hand and LHO showed out. Not surprisingly, RHO started with KJxxx of spades.
I led another diamond and LHO played the jack and I won the queen, RHO following again. It looks like diamonds are 3-3. I then played the 8 of spades from the board and let it hold. What now?
I have won 5 tricks and here are the remaining cards:
♠
♥ 9643
♦ A9
♣
♠ AQ10
♥ Q8
♦ 8
♣
I decided to lead a heart from the board and, to my surprise, RHO won the king and cashed the ace before he continued with another heart which I ruffed. I now played my last diamond, and as RHO was down to all trumps, he had to ruff and lead a spade into my AQ tenace! Plus 670 was worth 21 out of 25 matchpoints.
Thinking about the hand later, I started wondering whether I really needed to risk the double finesse in diamonds and also whether they could actually beat me. Here is the entire hand:
The contract can be made even if the defenders manage to cash their 4 winners before I ruff in. In that case, after ruffing in at trick 5 and playing two rounds of diamonds and two rounds of spades, as described, a heart can be led from the board to ruff and continue to shorten my trumps--the key to executing a trump coup. This leads to the same ending as above: exit with the last diamond which RHO will ruff perforce, and win the last 2 tricks with the AQ of spades.
One last scenario: If the opponents cash their 4 winners and shift to a diamond, the timing for the trump coup will be destroyed, but I'll be able to take 3 diamond tricks and 5 trump tricks--losing a trump trick at the end.
See you at the table!
♠ AQ10976
♥ Q8
♦ 876
♣ J8
LHO doubled and everyone passed! I had a little anxiety as the ace of clubs was led and the dummy was put down:
♠ 85
♥ 9643
♦ AQ109
♣ 754
♠ AQ10976
♥ Q8
♦ 876
♣ J8
A quick assessment revealed that I only had 4 quick losers and the spades were very good--only missing the
king and jack. The king and queen of clubs followed as RHO pitched a low diamond (ostensibly encouraging) and I ruffed.
Hoping that LHO had both diamond honors I led a diamond to the 10 and it held. I followed this with the 5 of spades to the 6 in my hand and LHO showed out. Not surprisingly, RHO started with KJxxx of spades.
I led another diamond and LHO played the jack and I won the queen, RHO following again. It looks like diamonds are 3-3. I then played the 8 of spades from the board and let it hold. What now?
I have won 5 tricks and here are the remaining cards:
♠
♥ 9643
♦ A9
♣
♠ AQ10
♥ Q8
♦ 8
♣
I decided to lead a heart from the board and, to my surprise, RHO won the king and cashed the ace before he continued with another heart which I ruffed. I now played my last diamond, and as RHO was down to all trumps, he had to ruff and lead a spade into my AQ tenace! Plus 670 was worth 21 out of 25 matchpoints.
Thinking about the hand later, I started wondering whether I really needed to risk the double finesse in diamonds and also whether they could actually beat me. Here is the entire hand:
SF sectional
| Board 6 East Deals E-W Vul | ♠ K J 4 3 2 ♥ A K 10 ♦ 5 3 2 ♣ Q 3 | ||||||||||
♠ 8 5 ♥ 9 6 4 3 ♦ A Q 10 9 ♣ 7 5 4 |
| ♠ A Q 10 9 7 6 ♥ Q 8 ♦ 8 7 6 ♣ J 8 | |||||||||
| ♠ — ♥ J 7 5 2 ♦ K J 4 ♣ A K 10 9 6 2 | |||||||||||
| West | North | East | South |
| 2 ♠ | Dbl | ||
| Pass | Pass | Pass |
| 2 ♠ x by East |
The contract can be made even if the defenders manage to cash their 4 winners before I ruff in. In that case, after ruffing in at trick 5 and playing two rounds of diamonds and two rounds of spades, as described, a heart can be led from the board to ruff and continue to shorten my trumps--the key to executing a trump coup. This leads to the same ending as above: exit with the last diamond which RHO will ruff perforce, and win the last 2 tricks with the AQ of spades.
One last scenario: If the opponents cash their 4 winners and shift to a diamond, the timing for the trump coup will be destroyed, but I'll be able to take 3 diamond tricks and 5 trump tricks--losing a trump trick at the end.
See you at the table!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Endplay + avoidance play ****
I found myself in a tough contract today at matchpoints. None vul., partner opened 1H and I bid 1NT, forcing, bypassing my 4 card spade suit because we were playing Flannery. He now bid 2C. What is your call?
♠ K10xx
♥ void
♦ 109xx
♣ AJ98x
I counted my points and counted my losers and considered the merits of 3 clubs. I finally settled on 2 spades, artificial, showing a good club raise. Partner now jumped to 3NT. A diamond was led.
♠ xx
♥ AQJxx
♦ KQ
♣ Kxxx
♠ K10xx
♥ void
♦ 109xx
♣ AJ98x
A lot of work to do. RHO won the ace of diamonds and returned a diamond, LHO showing out and pitching an encouraging spade. The good news is I have a second diamond stopper; the bad news is I can't count to 9 tricks. The other bad news is that if I let RHO in with a diamond, he'll lead a spade through my K10. What to do?
I've got to get a couple of tricks in hearts, so I play the ace and the queen, LHO winning. On the ace and queen of hearts I pitch spades. I can now count 8 tricks if I can get 5 clubs. LHO does my work for me and returns a club to the queen and my ace. I play another round of clubs and RHO pitches a heart.
These cards remain:
♠ xx
♥ Jxx
♦
♣ Kx
♠ K10
♥ void
♦ 109
♣ J9x
I still can't let RHO in the lead, so I have to hope that I can endplay LHO and force a spade lead. I therefore cash another club (extracting the last club from LHO) and the jack of hearts and lead the 4th round of hearts, hoping...
Yes! RHO shows out and LHO wins and has only spades left. I therefore score my spade king and fifth club for 9 tricks. (5 clubs, 1 diamond, 2 hearts and 1 spade).
RHO held: Qx/9xxx/Axxxxx/Q
LHO held: AJxxx/K10xx/x/10xx
Plus 400 was worth 7 out of 8 matchpoints. Maybe next time I'll bid 3 clubs--but then there wouldn't be a story.
See you at the table!
♠ K10xx
♥ void
♦ 109xx
♣ AJ98x
I counted my points and counted my losers and considered the merits of 3 clubs. I finally settled on 2 spades, artificial, showing a good club raise. Partner now jumped to 3NT. A diamond was led.
♠ xx
♥ AQJxx
♦ KQ
♣ Kxxx
♠ K10xx
♥ void
♦ 109xx
♣ AJ98x
A lot of work to do. RHO won the ace of diamonds and returned a diamond, LHO showing out and pitching an encouraging spade. The good news is I have a second diamond stopper; the bad news is I can't count to 9 tricks. The other bad news is that if I let RHO in with a diamond, he'll lead a spade through my K10. What to do?
I've got to get a couple of tricks in hearts, so I play the ace and the queen, LHO winning. On the ace and queen of hearts I pitch spades. I can now count 8 tricks if I can get 5 clubs. LHO does my work for me and returns a club to the queen and my ace. I play another round of clubs and RHO pitches a heart.
These cards remain:
♠ xx
♥ Jxx
♦
♣ Kx
♠ K10
♥ void
♦ 109
♣ J9x
I still can't let RHO in the lead, so I have to hope that I can endplay LHO and force a spade lead. I therefore cash another club (extracting the last club from LHO) and the jack of hearts and lead the 4th round of hearts, hoping...
Yes! RHO shows out and LHO wins and has only spades left. I therefore score my spade king and fifth club for 9 tricks. (5 clubs, 1 diamond, 2 hearts and 1 spade).
RHO held: Qx/9xxx/Axxxxx/Q
LHO held: AJxxx/K10xx/x/10xx
Plus 400 was worth 7 out of 8 matchpoints. Maybe next time I'll bid 3 clubs--but then there wouldn't be a story.
See you at the table!
Jennbridge: Two from Monterey
I had a successful tournament in Monterey last week. I won a Bracket 1 KO with Dave Neuman, Larry Hansen and Erwin Linzner, came in second in another Bracket 1 KO with Jenn, Ellen Anten and Steve Gross, and won the Fast Pairs with Jenn on the final day. Here are one hand from the first KO and one from the Fast Pairs.
The first one, from the KO, illustrates the importance of bidding vulnerable games in IMPs. Dave was in third seat, both sides vulnerable. I dealt and passed, and so did his RHO. He looked at
♠ x
♥ AQxxx
♦ AKxxx
♣ xx
He opened 1 Heart. I responded 1 Spade, which showed a 5-card suit since we play Flannery. He rebid 2 Diamonds, which I raised to 3 Diamonds. Now what?
Dave decided to jump to 5 Diamonds even though I was a passed hand. Although the hand had only 13 HCP, it only had 5 losers. There are two key principles at work here: 5-5 come alive, and bid your games at teams.
LHO led the ace of clubs, and Dave looked at:
♠ AQTxx
♥ xx
♦ Qxxx
♣ xx
♠ x
♥ AQxxx
♦ AKxxx
♣ xx
After the opponents cashed two high clubs, they shifted to a spade. Now while this contract isn't cold by any means, the IMP odds favor bidding it. You need the king of hearts onside, plus either (1) 2-2 diamonds and no worse than 4-2 hearts, or (2) 3-3 hearts and no worse than 3-1 diamonds. In the first case, you can draw trumps, finesse the hearts, and ruff two hearts in dummy to set up the fifth one. In the second case, you draw 2 trumps, finesse the hearts, cash the third trump and the ace of hearts, and ruff one heart in dummy to set up the suit. Case (2) actually came in, so we were +600 for a 10-IMP win, which we needed as we won the match by only 4 IMPs.
The second hand, from the Fast Pairs, illustrates that sometimes a psychic bid backfires. With neither side vulnerable, my LHO held, in third seat:
♠ AJ653
♥ 63
♦ J9876
♣ J
His partner opened 2 Spades, weak. I doubled. Now, looking at this hand, he saw that he had virtually no defense against either hearts or clubs, so he had to do something to get in our way. Usually, the best approach here is to take up a lot of bidding space by raising to 4 Spades, or even 5 or 6 Spades, making it hard for the opponents to exchange information and find out that they are cold for slam. I think that if I held this hand, I would have just bid 6 Spades, an advance save. What he did was try and confuse the issue by bidding 3 Hearts! This might have worked, but here it backfired. Jenn, in fourth seat with
♠ 87
♥ 987
♦ 54
♣ AKQ865
came in with 4 Clubs, which was passed to me. I was dealt this 3-loser monster:
♠ void
♥ AKQT52
♦ AKQT
♣ T93
I knew that the opponents had to have a lot of spades, and was virtually certain that my LHO didn't really have hearts. So I took his bid as an admission of weakness and an attempt to confuse the issue. Jenn's bid of 4 Clubs enabled me to determine that she would be covering most if not all of my losers, so I just closed my eyes and jumped to 6 Hearts! We made 7 easily for +1010 and 12.5 out of 15 matchpoints.
Good luck!
The first one, from the KO, illustrates the importance of bidding vulnerable games in IMPs. Dave was in third seat, both sides vulnerable. I dealt and passed, and so did his RHO. He looked at
♠ x
♥ AQxxx
♦ AKxxx
♣ xx
He opened 1 Heart. I responded 1 Spade, which showed a 5-card suit since we play Flannery. He rebid 2 Diamonds, which I raised to 3 Diamonds. Now what?
Dave decided to jump to 5 Diamonds even though I was a passed hand. Although the hand had only 13 HCP, it only had 5 losers. There are two key principles at work here: 5-5 come alive, and bid your games at teams.
LHO led the ace of clubs, and Dave looked at:
♠ AQTxx
♥ xx
♦ Qxxx
♣ xx
♠ x
♥ AQxxx
♦ AKxxx
♣ xx
After the opponents cashed two high clubs, they shifted to a spade. Now while this contract isn't cold by any means, the IMP odds favor bidding it. You need the king of hearts onside, plus either (1) 2-2 diamonds and no worse than 4-2 hearts, or (2) 3-3 hearts and no worse than 3-1 diamonds. In the first case, you can draw trumps, finesse the hearts, and ruff two hearts in dummy to set up the fifth one. In the second case, you draw 2 trumps, finesse the hearts, cash the third trump and the ace of hearts, and ruff one heart in dummy to set up the suit. Case (2) actually came in, so we were +600 for a 10-IMP win, which we needed as we won the match by only 4 IMPs.
The second hand, from the Fast Pairs, illustrates that sometimes a psychic bid backfires. With neither side vulnerable, my LHO held, in third seat:
♠ AJ653
♥ 63
♦ J9876
♣ J
His partner opened 2 Spades, weak. I doubled. Now, looking at this hand, he saw that he had virtually no defense against either hearts or clubs, so he had to do something to get in our way. Usually, the best approach here is to take up a lot of bidding space by raising to 4 Spades, or even 5 or 6 Spades, making it hard for the opponents to exchange information and find out that they are cold for slam. I think that if I held this hand, I would have just bid 6 Spades, an advance save. What he did was try and confuse the issue by bidding 3 Hearts! This might have worked, but here it backfired. Jenn, in fourth seat with
♠ 87
♥ 987
♦ 54
♣ AKQ865
came in with 4 Clubs, which was passed to me. I was dealt this 3-loser monster:
♠ void
♥ AKQT52
♦ AKQT
♣ T93
I knew that the opponents had to have a lot of spades, and was virtually certain that my LHO didn't really have hearts. So I took his bid as an admission of weakness and an attempt to confuse the issue. Jenn's bid of 4 Clubs enabled me to determine that she would be covering most if not all of my losers, so I just closed my eyes and jumped to 6 Hearts! We made 7 easily for +1010 and 12.5 out of 15 matchpoints.
Good luck!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Jennbridge: An Unexpected Bonus
Enroute to a win in the Fast Pairs at the Monterey Regional yesterday, I made a bid which turned out well in an unexpected manner.
At favorable vul., Bob opened 1NT, 14-16, and I held:
♠ 6542
♥ 9875
♦ KQ93
♣ 6
The field was weak and there were more mistakes than usual, perhaps due to the pressure of playing a little faster than normal. Things were going pretty well and I decided to bid Stayman. When partner bid 2 diamonds, I passed and hoped for the best.
But wait! LHO balanced with 2 hearts and we all passed. Maybe she didn't comprehend the fact that I almost certainly had 4 hearts, but the various inferences were not lost on my partner. Knowing that I had to be short in clubs, he didn't waste any time leading the ace of clubs!
North
♠ 6542
♥ 9875
♦ KQ93
♣ 6
South
♠ K97
♥ A6
♦ A62
♣ A9732
He continued with the deuce of clubs (suit preference for lower ranking suit--in this case, diamonds) which I ruffed. I returned a diamond to his ace and ruffed the club return. I then cashed one of my diamond honors and we still were due the ace of hearts for 6 tricks and plus 100. This netted us 14 out of 15 matchpoints as we really couldn't make anything our way.
Declarer (East) held QJ10/KQJ103/75/Q104
West held A83/42/J1084/KJ85
Note that if I hadn't bid, East probably would have balanced with 2 hearts anyway. This would almost certainly have made as we wouldn't have had a roadmap to the killing defense!
See you at the table!
At favorable vul., Bob opened 1NT, 14-16, and I held:
♠ 6542
♥ 9875
♦ KQ93
♣ 6
The field was weak and there were more mistakes than usual, perhaps due to the pressure of playing a little faster than normal. Things were going pretty well and I decided to bid Stayman. When partner bid 2 diamonds, I passed and hoped for the best.
But wait! LHO balanced with 2 hearts and we all passed. Maybe she didn't comprehend the fact that I almost certainly had 4 hearts, but the various inferences were not lost on my partner. Knowing that I had to be short in clubs, he didn't waste any time leading the ace of clubs!
North
♠ 6542
♥ 9875
♦ KQ93
♣ 6
South
♠ K97
♥ A6
♦ A62
♣ A9732
He continued with the deuce of clubs (suit preference for lower ranking suit--in this case, diamonds) which I ruffed. I returned a diamond to his ace and ruffed the club return. I then cashed one of my diamond honors and we still were due the ace of hearts for 6 tricks and plus 100. This netted us 14 out of 15 matchpoints as we really couldn't make anything our way.
Declarer (East) held QJ10/KQJ103/75/Q104
West held A83/42/J1084/KJ85
Note that if I hadn't bid, East probably would have balanced with 2 hearts anyway. This would almost certainly have made as we wouldn't have had a roadmap to the killing defense!
See you at the table!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Jennbridge: Plays and Counterplays
I played some imp pairs online the other night with some expert friends. Here is the hand that we are still talking about:
♠ xx
♥ Jxx
♦ A10
♣ J10xxxx
LHO opened 3H, partner doubled, RHO passed and I bid 4C which partner raised to 5. The king of hearts was led.
♠ AKx
♥ Ax
♦ Q987x
♣ AQ9
♠ xx
♥ Jxx
♦ A10
♣ J10xxxx
I won the ace and studied the hand. I wasn't comfortable trying to get to my hand to take a club finesse, and since RHO was likely to hold the king anyway, I played the ace of clubs. LHO showed out.
The only feasible way to make the hand was if RHO had no more hearts, as was likely on the bidding. I therefore continued clubs, RHO winning the third round of clubs and returning a club. So far, so good. Now it was time to start the diamonds.
I played the ace and then the 10 of diamonds, relieved when LHO did not win the king and cash a heart. I let the diamond ride to the jack and a spade was returned. Now I am in control. With the diamond king on my right and my good diamond spots, the diamonds will be easy to set up whether RHO started with KJx or KJxx. I play a diamond from board, the king comes up on my right and I ruff it. Now I have my second spade entry to my good diamonds and am able to pitch my two losing hearts.
Plus 600 was worth quite a few imps.
Our post-game discussion has revolved around how the play could have/should have proceeded. First, the defense: When RHO wins the club king, holding up until the third round (best), he should then return a spade. This attacks my entries to the board which I need in order to both set up and then run my diamonds. If a spade is returned, I can play two rounds of diamonds, but will need to use my second spade entry to set them up with a ruff. Now they are good but I can't get to them so I have to lose two hearts and go down.
Next, the play: After the ace of clubs play reveals that LHO has none, it is best to start on diamonds immediately so as not to risk my dummy entries being attacked. The combination of the Q9 of clubs left on the board would give me flexibility in my dummy entries so as not to risk coming up short.
Happy New Year--sure hope it's warm in Monterey!
See you at the table!
♠ xx
♥ Jxx
♦ A10
♣ J10xxxx
LHO opened 3H, partner doubled, RHO passed and I bid 4C which partner raised to 5. The king of hearts was led.
♠ AKx
♥ Ax
♦ Q987x
♣ AQ9
♠ xx
♥ Jxx
♦ A10
♣ J10xxxx
I won the ace and studied the hand. I wasn't comfortable trying to get to my hand to take a club finesse, and since RHO was likely to hold the king anyway, I played the ace of clubs. LHO showed out.
The only feasible way to make the hand was if RHO had no more hearts, as was likely on the bidding. I therefore continued clubs, RHO winning the third round of clubs and returning a club. So far, so good. Now it was time to start the diamonds.
I played the ace and then the 10 of diamonds, relieved when LHO did not win the king and cash a heart. I let the diamond ride to the jack and a spade was returned. Now I am in control. With the diamond king on my right and my good diamond spots, the diamonds will be easy to set up whether RHO started with KJx or KJxx. I play a diamond from board, the king comes up on my right and I ruff it. Now I have my second spade entry to my good diamonds and am able to pitch my two losing hearts.
Plus 600 was worth quite a few imps.
Our post-game discussion has revolved around how the play could have/should have proceeded. First, the defense: When RHO wins the club king, holding up until the third round (best), he should then return a spade. This attacks my entries to the board which I need in order to both set up and then run my diamonds. If a spade is returned, I can play two rounds of diamonds, but will need to use my second spade entry to set them up with a ruff. Now they are good but I can't get to them so I have to lose two hearts and go down.
Next, the play: After the ace of clubs play reveals that LHO has none, it is best to start on diamonds immediately so as not to risk my dummy entries being attacked. The combination of the Q9 of clubs left on the board would give me flexibility in my dummy entries so as not to risk coming up short.
Happy New Year--sure hope it's warm in Monterey!
See you at the table!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Jennbridge: Defensive Problems
An up-and-coming player who held my cards in the team game last night asked how we managed to score up 500 when she and her partner only got 50 defending the same contract. Here's what I told her.
Vul. vs. non-vul., I loved my hand and was a little surprised when RHO opened 1 diamond.
♠AKxxx
♥ x
♦ AK
♣ KJxxx
I doubled and LHO bid 1 heart. Bob, my partner, now made a free bid of 1 spade. RHO bid 2 diamonds and I jumped to 4 spades. I was surprised and annoyed as it was passed around to RHO who now bid 5 diamonds. Even though I have a powerhouse 4 loser hand, I decided to take the "sure money" and doubled.
I led a spade honor and declarer ruffed. Dummy had:
♠ Jxxx
♥ KJ10xx
♦ xx
♣ xx
I figured we were making 4S (we were) so we needed to get the maximum we could out of 5 diamonds doubled to compensate.
I hoped that Bob had one of the round suit aces and I had two chances to figure out which one. I won the first diamond and shifted to hearts. Bingo! He won the heart ace and returned a club--just what needed to be done. He knew I had a really strong hand and had to have club values.
Now when I won the second diamond I was able to cash my king of clubs and--a bonus--give him a club ruff!
If he hadn't been able to get in with a heart, I would have been forced to try leading a club next--looking for the setting trick. I knew he had a few values because he made a free bid. I didn't want to lead a club first, because if I led into declarer's ace-queen it would be a disaster.
Just like we form a plan for the bidding and the play, we can make plans for the defense.
************
Here's another defensive problem from an earlier match.
I opened 1 diamond with:
♠ AKxx
♥ xx
♦ Axxx
♣7xx
LHO overcalled 1 heart, partner passed and RHO bid 1NT.
I passed, LHO bid 2 clubs and all passed. Bob led a club (trump) and dummy held:
♠ xxx
♥ xx
♦ QJ10xx
♣ Kxx
When declarer tried to ruff the third heart in dummy, I overruffed. With these cards remaining we had to get the timing right if we were to have a chance to beat the contract:
♠ AKxx
♥
♦ Axxx
♣ x
I lead the spade king to get an attitude signal from partner. He discouraged. As diamonds was my only other viable choice and he knew it, he must want a diamond shift. He must have the king. Even though I was looking at QJ10xx of diamonds in dummy, I underled my ace of diamonds to his king and he returned a diamond to my ace, all following.
Now was the time to be careful. Before I gave him his diamond ruff I had to cash my other spade honor. Otherwise declarer could just throw her losing spade away on the good diamonds. I therefore cashed the ace of spades before returning a diamond--giving my partner an uppercut and scoring the setting trick.
Down 1 netted us 5 imps. This exact situation comes up frequently on defense and it's important to get it right. Lead an honor to get an attitude signal from partner. This should enable you to cash your tricks in the right order AND to cash all of your winners before administering the coup de grace.
Merry Christmas!
See you at the table!
Vul. vs. non-vul., I loved my hand and was a little surprised when RHO opened 1 diamond.
♠AKxxx
♥ x
♦ AK
♣ KJxxx
I doubled and LHO bid 1 heart. Bob, my partner, now made a free bid of 1 spade. RHO bid 2 diamonds and I jumped to 4 spades. I was surprised and annoyed as it was passed around to RHO who now bid 5 diamonds. Even though I have a powerhouse 4 loser hand, I decided to take the "sure money" and doubled.
I led a spade honor and declarer ruffed. Dummy had:
♠ Jxxx
♥ KJ10xx
♦ xx
♣ xx
I figured we were making 4S (we were) so we needed to get the maximum we could out of 5 diamonds doubled to compensate.
I hoped that Bob had one of the round suit aces and I had two chances to figure out which one. I won the first diamond and shifted to hearts. Bingo! He won the heart ace and returned a club--just what needed to be done. He knew I had a really strong hand and had to have club values.
Now when I won the second diamond I was able to cash my king of clubs and--a bonus--give him a club ruff!
If he hadn't been able to get in with a heart, I would have been forced to try leading a club next--looking for the setting trick. I knew he had a few values because he made a free bid. I didn't want to lead a club first, because if I led into declarer's ace-queen it would be a disaster.
Just like we form a plan for the bidding and the play, we can make plans for the defense.
************
Here's another defensive problem from an earlier match.
I opened 1 diamond with:
♠ AKxx
♥ xx
♦ Axxx
♣7xx
LHO overcalled 1 heart, partner passed and RHO bid 1NT.
I passed, LHO bid 2 clubs and all passed. Bob led a club (trump) and dummy held:
♠ xxx
♥ xx
♦ QJ10xx
♣ Kxx
When declarer tried to ruff the third heart in dummy, I overruffed. With these cards remaining we had to get the timing right if we were to have a chance to beat the contract:
♠ AKxx
♥
♦ Axxx
♣ x
I lead the spade king to get an attitude signal from partner. He discouraged. As diamonds was my only other viable choice and he knew it, he must want a diamond shift. He must have the king. Even though I was looking at QJ10xx of diamonds in dummy, I underled my ace of diamonds to his king and he returned a diamond to my ace, all following.
Now was the time to be careful. Before I gave him his diamond ruff I had to cash my other spade honor. Otherwise declarer could just throw her losing spade away on the good diamonds. I therefore cashed the ace of spades before returning a diamond--giving my partner an uppercut and scoring the setting trick.
Down 1 netted us 5 imps. This exact situation comes up frequently on defense and it's important to get it right. Lead an honor to get an attitude signal from partner. This should enable you to cash your tricks in the right order AND to cash all of your winners before administering the coup de grace.
Merry Christmas!
See you at the table!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Jennbridge: A Gerber Bluff
At last night's team game at the club, Jenn made an amazing bid that won 9 IMPs for our team. With only our side vulnerable, she was dealt this in third seat:
♠ K
♥ Jxx
♦ KQxxx
♣ Kxxx
I dealt and opened 2 Diamonds, a weak 2 bid, and her RHO passed. Now stop and consider this situation. We have 11 diamonds between us. Since I would not have bid 2 Diamonds in first seat with a 4-card major, the opponents must have a big double major suit fit with at least 9 spades and 8 hearts, and likely more. We have little defense against a major suit contract. LHO must have a big hand and will want to get into the auction.
The best result possible here is to buy the contract for 5 Diamonds undoubled. You don't expect to make it missing 3 aces, but it probably will only be down 1 or 2. If I had held these cards, I would have just bid 5 Diamonds, making RHO guess whether to come in at that level, but announcing our big fit. After this, we would run the risk of either being doubled or pushing the opponents into a makeable game, or, worse, slam.
Jenn found an ingenious way to achieve the ideal result. She decided to play a poker game with the opponents by bluffing strength. The best way to make a show of strength is to ask for aces. Now, it just so happens that Jenn and I play a convention which enables us to use a variation of RKC after partner's preempts that is an improvement over traditional Blackwood. It is often referred to as preemptive Gerber. So she bid 4 Clubs, which I alerted as our version of RKC. This had the intended effect of silencing LHO. I made the expected response, showing one keycard without the queen of trumps*, she rebid 5 Diamonds, and everyone passed. The two hands were:
♠ K
♥ Jxx
♦ KQxxx
♣ Kxxx
♠ xx
♥ Q
♦ ATxxxx
♣ QJTx
We lost the 3 missing aces for down one, -100. Our teammates played it in 5 spades, making seven for +510, so the team was +410 for 9 IMPs.
* The responses to 4C are: 4D is no keycards (first step), 4H is one without the queen (second step), 4S is one with the queen (third step), 4NT is two without the queen, 5C is two with the queen, and 5D is the AKQ. If the opening preempt is 3C, then 4D becomes RKC for clubs and all responses are one step higher. (You don't want to use 4C over 3C as RKC, since it is better used as a continuation of the preempt.) This sometimes enables getting out at the 4-level when you don't have the cards for slam, which you cannot do using standard Blackwood.
Good luck!
♠ K
♥ Jxx
♦ KQxxx
♣ Kxxx
I dealt and opened 2 Diamonds, a weak 2 bid, and her RHO passed. Now stop and consider this situation. We have 11 diamonds between us. Since I would not have bid 2 Diamonds in first seat with a 4-card major, the opponents must have a big double major suit fit with at least 9 spades and 8 hearts, and likely more. We have little defense against a major suit contract. LHO must have a big hand and will want to get into the auction.
The best result possible here is to buy the contract for 5 Diamonds undoubled. You don't expect to make it missing 3 aces, but it probably will only be down 1 or 2. If I had held these cards, I would have just bid 5 Diamonds, making RHO guess whether to come in at that level, but announcing our big fit. After this, we would run the risk of either being doubled or pushing the opponents into a makeable game, or, worse, slam.
Jenn found an ingenious way to achieve the ideal result. She decided to play a poker game with the opponents by bluffing strength. The best way to make a show of strength is to ask for aces. Now, it just so happens that Jenn and I play a convention which enables us to use a variation of RKC after partner's preempts that is an improvement over traditional Blackwood. It is often referred to as preemptive Gerber. So she bid 4 Clubs, which I alerted as our version of RKC. This had the intended effect of silencing LHO. I made the expected response, showing one keycard without the queen of trumps*, she rebid 5 Diamonds, and everyone passed. The two hands were:
♠ K
♥ Jxx
♦ KQxxx
♣ Kxxx
♠ xx
♥ Q
♦ ATxxxx
♣ QJTx
We lost the 3 missing aces for down one, -100. Our teammates played it in 5 spades, making seven for +510, so the team was +410 for 9 IMPs.
* The responses to 4C are: 4D is no keycards (first step), 4H is one without the queen (second step), 4S is one with the queen (third step), 4NT is two without the queen, 5C is two with the queen, and 5D is the AKQ. If the opening preempt is 3C, then 4D becomes RKC for clubs and all responses are one step higher. (You don't want to use 4C over 3C as RKC, since it is better used as a continuation of the preempt.) This sometimes enables getting out at the 4-level when you don't have the cards for slam, which you cannot do using standard Blackwood.
Good luck!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Jennbridge: Michaels and Leaping Michaels
A direct cue bid in a suit the opponents have opened is known as a Michaels cue bid. If the opponents open one of minor, a cue bid of 2 of that minor shows the majors; if they open one of a major, it shows the other major and one of the minors. A jump cue bid, conversely, asks partner to bid 3NT with a stopper in the opener's suit.
When they open with a weak 2 bid, it gets more complicated. Jenn and I, along with many pairs, use a convention sometimes called Leaping Michaels. With a 2-suiter including the other major and a minor, we jump to 4 of the minor. For example, if RHO opens 2H and I have 5 clubs and 5 spades I can jump to 4 clubs to show the 2-suiter.
So, having this agreement, what does a direct cue bid of 3 of their suit mean? I confess that I had not discussed this with Jenn or any of my other partners. Does it still show a 2-suiter, but perhaps weaker than a jump to 4 of a minor, or does it ask partner to bid 3NT with a stopper, just as if the opponents opened 1 of the major?
I was playing on-line the other night. RHO, non-vul vs vul, opened 2 Spades. I held:
♠ K
♥ A8
♦ AKJT8753
♣ 84
It looks like 3NT would have a good chance if partner had, say, Qxx of spades, as diamonds are likely to run. If not, 5 Diamonds may be right if partner has something useful in hearts or clubs. Since I was playing with a pick-up expert partner, I probably shouldn't have risked a 3 Spade cue bid, but I did, hoping partner would be familiar with Leaping Michaels and interpret this as asking for a spade stopper. A more practical solution would be to just bid 5 Diamonds or 3NT and hope for the best.
Unfortunately, LHO raised to 4 Spades and partner, holding
♠ A43
♥ K9764
♦ 2
♣ QJT2
bid 5 Hearts, which went down. 5 Diamonds or 5 NT would have made, and we'd even have done well doubling 4 Spades, which would have gone for -500. He expected me to have hearts. I asked him if he played Leaping Michaels and he did, but he said, correctly, that to expect him to work out that this wasn't showing hearts put too great a strain on a casual partnersship. If you were playing with your regular partner, would you have gotten this right?
Good luck!
When they open with a weak 2 bid, it gets more complicated. Jenn and I, along with many pairs, use a convention sometimes called Leaping Michaels. With a 2-suiter including the other major and a minor, we jump to 4 of the minor. For example, if RHO opens 2H and I have 5 clubs and 5 spades I can jump to 4 clubs to show the 2-suiter.
So, having this agreement, what does a direct cue bid of 3 of their suit mean? I confess that I had not discussed this with Jenn or any of my other partners. Does it still show a 2-suiter, but perhaps weaker than a jump to 4 of a minor, or does it ask partner to bid 3NT with a stopper, just as if the opponents opened 1 of the major?
I was playing on-line the other night. RHO, non-vul vs vul, opened 2 Spades. I held:
♠ K
♥ A8
♦ AKJT8753
♣ 84
It looks like 3NT would have a good chance if partner had, say, Qxx of spades, as diamonds are likely to run. If not, 5 Diamonds may be right if partner has something useful in hearts or clubs. Since I was playing with a pick-up expert partner, I probably shouldn't have risked a 3 Spade cue bid, but I did, hoping partner would be familiar with Leaping Michaels and interpret this as asking for a spade stopper. A more practical solution would be to just bid 5 Diamonds or 3NT and hope for the best.
Unfortunately, LHO raised to 4 Spades and partner, holding
♠ A43
♥ K9764
♦ 2
♣ QJT2
bid 5 Hearts, which went down. 5 Diamonds or 5 NT would have made, and we'd even have done well doubling 4 Spades, which would have gone for -500. He expected me to have hearts. I asked him if he played Leaping Michaels and he did, but he said, correctly, that to expect him to work out that this wasn't showing hearts put too great a strain on a casual partnersship. If you were playing with your regular partner, would you have gotten this right?
Good luck!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Jennbridge: Round One Stories
The Experts, Bob and Jenn vs. Gary R. and Larry H., faced off in the first round of the afternoon STAC game today. While the game was being organized, Gary and Bob shared hands from the Fall NABC in Orlando. Gary gave us this play problem from a pair game. He found himself in 7 notrump with these cards:
1.
♠ KJxxx
♥ void
♦ Qx
♣ KQJ10xx
♠ Ax
♥ AQ10xx
♦ AKxx
♣ Ax
How would you play it after the jack of diamonds lead? (Answer below).
2. Bob followed it up with a hand that helped his team get to the finals of the North American Swiss. At favorable vulnerability, what would you do with this hand after your partner opens 3H and your RHO jumps to 4S?
♠ Jx
♥ K
♦ AKQxx
♣ AKxxx
Answers below:
***************
1. There was general agreement that we would cash the top 3 diamonds (LHO started with 5), then the ace of hearts, then start running clubs. Either LHO will be squeezed or there will be a double squeeze. The ace of hearts is cashed before the clubs are run because 4 discards are needed on the clubs and the queen of hearts serves as a threat card (Vienna Coup). Quite possible that RHO will be squeezed in hearts and spades and be forced to unguard spades to hold the king of hearts. If the heart king doesn't appear, the queen is discarded.
Then LHO will be squeezed in diamonds and spades. Cute hand. Gary made it for a great score.
2. If you double 4 spades, you are minus 990. If you bid 5 hearts and then double 5 spades, you are minus 850! The only winning action is to push on to 6 hearts over 5 spades. Both 5 hearts and 5 spades make. Quite an interesting hand! Bob bid 5S over 5H and scored up 850.
See you at the table!
1.
♠ KJxxx
♥ void
♦ Qx
♣ KQJ10xx
♠ Ax
♥ AQ10xx
♦ AKxx
♣ Ax
How would you play it after the jack of diamonds lead? (Answer below).
2. Bob followed it up with a hand that helped his team get to the finals of the North American Swiss. At favorable vulnerability, what would you do with this hand after your partner opens 3H and your RHO jumps to 4S?
♠ Jx
♥ K
♦ AKQxx
♣ AKxxx
Answers below:
***************
1. There was general agreement that we would cash the top 3 diamonds (LHO started with 5), then the ace of hearts, then start running clubs. Either LHO will be squeezed or there will be a double squeeze. The ace of hearts is cashed before the clubs are run because 4 discards are needed on the clubs and the queen of hearts serves as a threat card (Vienna Coup). Quite possible that RHO will be squeezed in hearts and spades and be forced to unguard spades to hold the king of hearts. If the heart king doesn't appear, the queen is discarded.
Then LHO will be squeezed in diamonds and spades. Cute hand. Gary made it for a great score.
2. If you double 4 spades, you are minus 990. If you bid 5 hearts and then double 5 spades, you are minus 850! The only winning action is to push on to 6 hearts over 5 spades. Both 5 hearts and 5 spades make. Quite an interesting hand! Bob bid 5S over 5H and scored up 850.
| E-W Vul | ♠ — ♥ J 10 9 x x x x ♦ x x x ♣ Q x x | ||||||||||
♠ K x x ♥ Q x x ♦ J 10 x x x ♣ x x |
| ♠ A Q 10 x x x x x ♥ A x ♦ — ♣ J 10 x | |||||||||
| ♠ J x ♥ K ♦ A K Q x x ♣ A K x x x | |||||||||||
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Haste Makes Waste
Oftentimes you are alerted to the proper line of play by the opponents' apparent discarding problems.
I found myself in a rather inelegant 2 notrump contract yesterday at matchpoints, vul. vs. not. (Board 21).
♠ AJ10xx
♥ Jxx
♦ Axx
♣ K9
I opened 1 spade, LHO overcalled 2 diamonds, partner made a negative double and I chose 2NT as one of my unappealing choices of bids. All passed and LHO led the king of diamonds.
♠ 9
♥ AK74
♦ 98xx
♣ QJxx
♠ AJ10xx
♥ Jxx
♦ Axx
♣ K9
I won the second diamond as RHO discarded an encouraging low heart. I didn't like my chances as I could only count 6 tricks (1S, 2H, 1D, 2C). I decided to lead a club out of my hand immediately, figuring if LHO had the ace he might be anxious to take it to cash his diamonds. I was right--he hastily grabbed his ace. On the run of the diamonds, I discarded 2 spades from my hand and a heart from the board, while RHO, oddly, discarded 2 more hearts and a club.
LHO now shifted to a heart and it was time to assemble the clues. What was going on here?
At this point there were only 3 hearts outstanding. Was it remotely possible that LHO would underlead Qxx? No. I therefore won the ace of hearts and cashed the king as RHO followed with her remaining queen doubleton. Now I had my 8 tricks: 1S, 3H, 1D, 3C.
There was only one rational reason why RHO discarded down to Qx of hearts--she had to be holding both the king and queen of spades and was squeezed. And so it was.
She started with KQxx/Qxxxx/x/xxx and needed to find 3 pitches. If she had kept her queen of hearts protected, she would have been squeezed in the majors when I played all of the clubs. She would have had to unguard either the hearts or the spades, and my simply playing my winners would reveal which of my major suits would run.
Of course, LHO can prevent all of this by ducking the first club and later winning my king with his ace. Then I won't have the necessary number of winners to cash to squeeze RHO.
Plus 120 was worth 80% of the matchpoints.
See you at the table!
I found myself in a rather inelegant 2 notrump contract yesterday at matchpoints, vul. vs. not. (Board 21).
♠ AJ10xx
♥ Jxx
♦ Axx
♣ K9
I opened 1 spade, LHO overcalled 2 diamonds, partner made a negative double and I chose 2NT as one of my unappealing choices of bids. All passed and LHO led the king of diamonds.
♠ 9
♥ AK74
♦ 98xx
♣ QJxx
♠ AJ10xx
♥ Jxx
♦ Axx
♣ K9
I won the second diamond as RHO discarded an encouraging low heart. I didn't like my chances as I could only count 6 tricks (1S, 2H, 1D, 2C). I decided to lead a club out of my hand immediately, figuring if LHO had the ace he might be anxious to take it to cash his diamonds. I was right--he hastily grabbed his ace. On the run of the diamonds, I discarded 2 spades from my hand and a heart from the board, while RHO, oddly, discarded 2 more hearts and a club.
LHO now shifted to a heart and it was time to assemble the clues. What was going on here?
At this point there were only 3 hearts outstanding. Was it remotely possible that LHO would underlead Qxx? No. I therefore won the ace of hearts and cashed the king as RHO followed with her remaining queen doubleton. Now I had my 8 tricks: 1S, 3H, 1D, 3C.
There was only one rational reason why RHO discarded down to Qx of hearts--she had to be holding both the king and queen of spades and was squeezed. And so it was.
She started with KQxx/Qxxxx/x/xxx and needed to find 3 pitches. If she had kept her queen of hearts protected, she would have been squeezed in the majors when I played all of the clubs. She would have had to unguard either the hearts or the spades, and my simply playing my winners would reveal which of my major suits would run.
Of course, LHO can prevent all of this by ducking the first club and later winning my king with his ace. Then I won't have the necessary number of winners to cash to squeeze RHO.
Plus 120 was worth 80% of the matchpoints.
See you at the table!
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