Board 12

Board 12
Our side vulnerable

♠ A 10 9 2 ♥ J 7 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ K 9 5 4

The auction begins one diamond--pass--one heart to me. I like to have more shape than this for a two-suited double, so I pass. In retrospect, this was probably wrong. I tend to be conservative in competitive auctions when I have a balanced hand, but this was overdoing it. Partner could easily have a hand where he couldn't act over one diamond but where we are cold for a spade game. This time, however, it works out well. LHO bids one trump; his partner bids three hearts, invitational; and LHO goes on to four. I doubt we missed a spade game now, and my silence will make it harder for declarer to read the hand.

With king-queen third in front of dummy's diamonds, it seems right to make an aggressive lead. I lead the five of clubs:

	NORTH ♠ K J 5 ♥ K 10 9 ♦ A 8 4 3 2 ♣ J 3
WEST ♠ A 10 9 2 ♥ J 7 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ K 9 5 4

West		North		East		South
		1 ♦		Pass		1 ♥
Pass		1 NT		Pass		3 ♥
Pass		4 ♥		(All Pass)

Declarer plays the jack from dummy, partner wins with the ace, and declarer plays the six. Partner shifts to the six of spades, and declarer plays the four. My first thought is to win with the ace, cash the club king, and wait for whatever diamond tricks I'm entitled to. But before I do, I need to ask myself why partner shifted to a spade instead of simply returning a club. Why did he?

----

There is no hurry to cash my spade ace. If three black tricks are all we can take, we're not beating the contract. And if we have a red-suit entry, the spade ace can wait. He must have the spade queen, and he is trying to establish it before declarer can take a discard in spades. Indeed, this might be necessary. Suppose declarer has

♠ x x x ♥ A Q x x x x ♦ x ♣ Q 10 x

A spade shift and continuation is necessary. Partner made a nice play, and if I cash the club king as I intended to, all his hard work will be for nothing. Could it be wrong to play another spade?

----

Yes. Suppose declarer has

♠ Q x ♥ A Q x x x x ♦ J 10 9 ♣ x x

If I don't cash the club, I won't get it. But partner's shift makes no sense in this layout. If I trust partner, I should return a spade. I play the deuce of spades--jack--queen--three Partner returns the deuce of clubs to my king. Eventually, I score a diamond trick for down two:

	NORTH ♠ K J 5 ♥ K 10 9 ♦ A 8 4 3 2 ♣ J 3
WEST ♠ A 10 9 2 ♥ J 7 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ K 9 5 4		EAST ♠ Q 8 7 6 ♥ 8 3 ♦ 9 6 ♣ A 10 8 7 2
	SOUTH ♠ 4 3 ♥ A Q 6 5 4 2 ♦ J 10 5 ♣ Q 6

Cashing the club would have beat declarer also, but possibly by only one trick. If I cash the club before playing a spade, it's not clear whether declarer will finesse or will rise and play for a favorable position in diamonds. When I play the spade right away, declarer's only chance to make the contract is to play for both.

I don't agree with South's three heart bid. Culbertson suggested that the way to decide whether to invite game or not is to imagine partner with the perfect minimum for his auction. If this hand makes game virtually laydown, then you should invite. A perfect minimum for partner would be something like king-queen of diamonds, king of hearts, and a black ace. That's hardly a laydown game, so I would have signed off in two hearts.

At the other table, my counterpart doubled one heart. North redoubled to show three-card heart support, and East bid one spade. South bid two hearts. Strange how he invites over a one notrump rebid but bids only two hearts when his partner shows support. My hand now bid two spades, North bid three hearts, and East and South passed. I don't understand any one of those four calls.

After a take-out double, a competitive raise of partner's advance to two needn't show extra values, but it should show an extra trump. If West had doubled a one-heart opening and had heard the auction continue pass-one spade-two hearts, I believe he should raise on the strength of his fourth trump. But partner already expects four cards in each of your suits for a two-suited double. I believe two spades here should show a minimum double with a fifth spade.

North's three hearts, on the other hand, does show extra values. His hand is unlimited and his trump length is known, so it makes no sense to play three hearts as competitive. It should be invitational to game. Both East and South, however, seem to have understood their partners' actions, since neither bid on. (Although East should have. Three spades makes).

Against three hearts, the defense started by cashing two clubs. West then shifted to the king of diamonds. Declarer took his ace, drew trumps, and led a diamond toward his hand, dropping East's nine. When the defense forgot to cash the spade ace, declarer wound up with an overtrick.

Me +100
Jack -170

Score on board 11: +7 IMPs
Total: +38 IMPs

Board 11

Board 11
Neither side vulnerable

♠ K 9 ♥ 9 5 4 ♦ A 10 8 ♣ A K 9 6 4

In the old days, a weak notrump was two and a half to three honor tricks, and a strong notrump was three and a half to four honor tricks. Maybe it's the effect of reading Bridge Worlds from the 30s, but three and a half honor tricks and a five-card suit just looks to me like a strong notrump. So that's what I bid. Partner bids two diamonds (transfer); I bid two hearts. Partner bids two spades; I bid three hearts. Partner carries on to four. Everyone passes, and West leads the queen of clubs:

	NORTH ♠ A J 5 2 ♥ 10 8 7 6 3 ♦ K 7 5 ♣ 3
	SOUTH ♠ K 9 ♥ 9 5 4 ♦ A 10 8 ♣ A K 9 6 4

West		North		East		South
						1 NT
Pass		2 ♦1		Pass		2 ♥
Pass		2 ♠		Pass		3 ♥
Pass		4 ♥		(All Pass)

1Transfer

I doubt they'll reach game at the other table. I need to make this to justify my judgment on the opening bid. I'm going to need three-two trumps. That brings me up to eight tricks, so I need to find two more. There are essentially two possibilities: (Plan A) Ruff two spades in my hand (possibly only one if the queen drops). (Plan B) Ruff two clubs in dummy, establishing the fifth club, and take a spade finesse. Which plan is better?

---

At a first approximation, Plan A requires 4-3 spades and the long heart in the hand with short spades. Since the long heart is a favorite to be in the hand with short spades, that adds up to a little more than half the 4-3 spade breaks. Plan B requires 4-3 clubs and a finesse, exactly half the 4-3 club breaks. So far, Plan A is slightly better.  (I am ignoring the fact that I may have communication problems. After ruffing two hearts and leading one round of trumps, for example, I may have difficulty getting back to dummy to play the second round.  But both plans have similar glitches, so for the purposes of comparing them, it's probably OK to ignore them.)

I now have to look at what extra chances each line might offer. Let's take Plan A first. Can I make it on this line if RHO has a doubleton spade and three hearts? If he has three honors, yes. But if he has the deuce of trumps, best defense will beat me. RHO ruffs the third spade high and leads the deuce of trumps to his partner to play another spade, which he again ruffs high. His partner still has a high trump for the setting trick. Of course, this won't be an easy defense to find.  Let's say that, as a practical matter, I'll make it a fair percentage of the time on that layout. Although I won't make it if the doubleton is on my left.

What extra chances does Plan B offer? If I ruff a club at trick two and play a heart, the opponents can simply draw three rounds of trumps, leaving me no extra chances. Again, this will be a hard defense to find. If declarer starts drawing trumps, it is usually not in the defense's best interest to help him do so. Suppose they do something else, say, play another club, which I ruff. I now have two options: (Plan B-1) Play a second trump. If the trumps are blocked and the defense can't play a third round, I no longer need the spade finesse. I can ruff a spade in my hand for the tenth trick. Or (Plan B-2) abandon trumps and ruff a spade. If the queen drops, I switch back to trumps. If it doesn't, I play the club king and pitch the spade, hoping the long trump is in the hand that's out of clubs. For now, I don't need to decide which plan to adopt. It is sufficient to see that I will have some extra chances if the defense doesn't draw three rounds of trumps. Do I have chances against 5-2 clubs? Suppose I ruff a club and play a trump. Someone wins and plays a third club, which his partner ruffs high. As long as this is the long trump hand, I still have excellent chances. I can draw the remaining trumps in one round, then take the spade finesse and ruff the last spade. Or I can try to ruff out the queen of spades and fall back on a squeeze of some kind if that fails. Again, I needn't worry about the details yet. The fact remains, I have chances against a 5-2 club break. And, unlike Plan A, I have chances against a doubleton in either hand. All in all, Plan B looks superior.

I play the three of clubs from dummy, East plays the eight, and I win with the ace (the card I'm known to hold). I play the four of clubs--five--three of hearts--deuce of clubs. Now six of hearts--ace--four--deuce, and the moment of truth has arrived. Will East work out to continue trumps? He doesn't. He plays the seven of clubs--six--jack--seven of hearts. The opponents still have the ten of clubs, and, given East's eight of clubs at trick one, it appears to be East who holds it.

Now, do I adopt Plan B-1 or Plan B-2? For trumps to be blocked, East would have to have started with ace-queen-jack or to have hopped with the ace from ace-king doubleton. Plan B-2 would seem to offer better chances. I play the deuce of spades from dummy--three--king--ten. That's encouraging. I play another spade--queen--ace--four. With the spade jack and my fifth club, I now have ten tricks. I continue trumps, and there is nothing the opponents can do. Making four.

	NORTH ♠ A J 5 2 ♥ 10 8 7 6 3 ♦ K 7 5 ♣ 3
WEST ♠ Q 10 ♥ K J 2 ♦ J 9 4 3 2 ♣ Q J 5		EAST ♠ 8 7 5 4 3 ♥ A Q ♦ Q 6 ♣ 10 8 7 2
	SOUTH ♠ K 9 ♥ 9 5 4 ♦ A 10 8 ♣ A K 9 6 4

Plan A would not have worked. This looks like a pretty good result. My opponents might not reach game or might go down if they do. I predict a seven imp win. Shows what I know. At the other table, South opens one club and, over partner's one heart, rebids one notrump. When his partner rebids two hearts, he raises to three. I don't care for this raise. Being aggressive about accepting an invitation is OK. But being aggressive about issuing an invitation is dangerous. You have two ways to lose: Partner can accept and go down, or he can refuse and go down when he was making a level lower. Since partner hasn't shown anything beyond a minimum response, this invitation seems way too dangerous to me. Again, shows what I know. Three hearts works spectacularly well. After two passes, East balances with three spades! North doubles, and this goes down four, -800 for our side. East's flight of fancy flips 16 imps, losing nine instead of winning seven.

Jack has a setting for how aggressive he should be in competitive auctions. It's set to three (most aggressive) on a scale of one to three. I ratchet it back to two, hoping to avoid silly results like this in the future. I suppose it's to my advantage to leave it at three. I have four Jack opponents and only three Jack teammates, so I should come out ahead in the long run. But results like this are annoying, even if you're on the winning side. Just to check, I rebid the deal with the new setting. This time, East sells to three hearts. My teammate is duly chastised.

Me +420
Jack +800

Score on board 11: -9 IMPs
Total: +31 IMPs

Board 10

Board 10
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A K Q 8 5 ♥ A 9 7 ♦ 9 6 3 ♣ A J

I open one spade in second seat, partner bids one notrump, and I raise to two notrump. Partner bids three spades. This should be weaker than an immediate raise to two spades. (Four spades would show a three-card limit raise.) I'm supposed to pass this bid, and if I weren't vulnerable I would, since partner might have made a tactical response with virtually nothing. (Ira Rubin believes that you shouldn't pass partner's non-vulnerable opening unless you're prepared to double three notrump. If you subscribe to this theory, this means, in practice, that you pass with four or five high-card points and respond with either more or fewer.) But I needn't worry about a tactical response when we're vulnerable, and knowing that partner has three spades has improved my hand. It seems unlikely we can take two more tricks in spades than in notrump, so I bid three notrump. Partner passes, and West leads the five of diamonds:

	NORTH ♠ A K Q 8 5 ♥ A 9 7 ♦ 9 6 3 ♣ A J
	SOUTH ♠ 9 6 4 ♥ J 10 6 ♦ K 7 ♣ Q 10 9 5 3

West		North		East		South
Pass		1 ♠		Pass		1 NT
Pass		2 NT		Pass		3 ♠
Pass		3 NT		(All Pass)

The play proceeds three--queen--king. The opening lead has given me my eighth trick. Terence Reese once said that where there are eight tricks in notrump there are nine. By that, he meant that if you simply cash your eight tricks, the opponents may be unable to defend the end position. I don't think he had this deal in mind when he said that. I see nothing better to do than to try the club finesse. I lead the three of clubs--seven--jack--king. It's not over yet. I need four-four diamonds and the jack-ten of spades dropping. Using the third round of spades as an entry to my hand means I may have to abandon dummy's long spades. But I don't need them. I'll wind up taking three spades, four clubs, and a trick in each red suit, curiously taking more tricks in my hand than in dummy.

Unfortunately, diamonds are five-three. To top it off, spades are four-one, so I finish down three:

	NORTH ♠ A K Q 8 5 ♥ A 9 7 ♦ 9 6 3 ♣ A J
WEST ♠ 2 ♥ Q 4 3 ♦ A J 8 5 4 ♣ 7 6 4 2		EAST ♠ J 10 7 3 ♥ K 8 5 2 ♦ Q 10 2 ♣ K 8
	SOUTH ♠ 9 6 4 ♥ J 10 6 ♦ K 7 ♣ Q 10 9 5 3

Perhaps I should have passed three spades after all. I had seven tricks (or so I thought). If partner could contribute two tricks--or even one and a half--he probably would have bid three notrump himself.

In the replay, North raised one trump to three, and South corrected to four spades. Funny how that worked out. By driving to game instead of inviting, North made the choice-of-games decision harder. East led the deuce of diamonds. Declarer lost two diamonds and a trick in each of the other suits for down two. I'm wrong again. We do take two tricks more in spades than in notrump.

Me -300
Jack -200

Score on Board 10: -3 IMPs
Total: +40 IMPs

Board 9

Board 9
Opponents vulnerable

♠ J 10 9 4 ♥ K J 8 5 ♦ Q 6 5 4 ♣ 5

Partner opens one trump, and RHO passes. This is too good a hand to bid Stayman, intending to pass two diamonds. Two diamonds could be a silly contract, and there is no reason to think you can't make one notrump. I pass. LHO demonstrates one of the ways passing can win by balancing with two spades, showing spades and a minor. After two passes, I double, which ends the auction. In my preferred methods (see my Bridge World article Countering Notrump Interference), partner would be doubling and I would be passing, but I can't talk this partner into playing that way.

Partner leads the king of spades:

	NORTH ♠ 8 2 ♥ Q 6 4 3 ♦ 8 ♣ K 9 7 6 4 2
		EAST ♠ J 10 9 4 ♥ K J 8 5 ♦ Q 6 5 4 ♣ 5

West		North		East		South
1 NT		Pass		Pass		2 ♠1
Pass		Pass		Double		(All Pass)

1Spades and a minor

This certainly looks like the best lead. Declarer seems to have five spades and four or five diamonds. Unless partner is offshape, declarer will have at most two hearts. The king of spades holds. I play the four, and declarer plays the three. Partner continues with the queen of spades. I play the jack to clarify the spade position. Declarer wins the ace. I now know that partner has the ace of diamonds. Otherwise declarer would have won the first trick and ruffed a diamond in dummy. Declarer leads the five of spades, partner discards the ten of clubs, presumably to reassure me he has the ace, and declarer plays the deuce of clubs from dummy. If partner had ace third of clubs, he would be hesitant to pitch one, since he might need to duck two rounds. So I assume he began with four or five clubs, giving declarer a singleton or doubleton.

We're going to have to break diamonds sooner or later. I might as well play one now to get a better picture of the hand. I shift to the six of diamonds, intending the high diamond as a message for partner not to return the suit. Declarer plays the seven--ten--eight. The seven is too important a card to squander. It's probably declarer's lowest, which means he started with king-jack-nine-seven. Partner shifts to the deuce of hearts--three--jack--seven. At this point I'm defending double-dummy. Since the heart ace brings partner up to 17 high-card points, he can't have the queen or jack of clubs. So declarer began with

♠ A 7 6 5 3 ♥ x 7 ♦ K J 9 7 ♣ Q J

The only thing I'm not sure about is whether his other heart is the ten or the nine, and I doubt that matters. Unfortunately, partner isn't defending double-dummy. He can't even be sure of declarer's shape, so I'll have to help him out as best I can. Our tactical goals at this point are (1) to neutralize dummy's clubs and (2) to avoid letting declarer score any more diamond tricks than necessary.

One way to neutralize dummy's clubs is for me to lead a club to partner and get a ruff. Let's see how the defense would go after that. After the ruff, we play two rounds of hearts, tapping declarer. He can then drive the ace and queen of diamonds to set up his nine, scoring three spades and one diamond for down four. Can we do better? Is there a way to keep him for scoring any diamond tricks at all?

Suppose I draw his penultimate trump before shifting to a club. And suppose partner somehow works out to duck this. Declarer wins and plays another club. Partner wins this and plays ace and a heart. Since the hearts are blocked, declarer can pitch a diamond, forcing partner to lead away from his ace of diamonds. Declarer scores two trumps, one club, and one diamond. Again, down four. Both lines lead to the same result, but the first line seems to place less of a burden on partner. He knows I have the ten of spades. If I shift to a club without cashing it, he should know that it's a singleton and I want a ruff.

I shift to the five of clubs--queen--ace--four. Partner doesn't work it out. He plays the nine of hearts--four--king--ten. We could have a problem now. If I play another heart, declarer can ruff and lead his last spade. The defense is now out of tricks except for the ace of diamonds. Down only three. I need to play a diamond to partner's ace to give him one last chance to give me a club ruff. Then I can exit with a heart and wait for my queen of diamonds. I play the four of diamonds. Partner wins with the ace and still doesn't work it out. He returns the three of diamonds. Down three for +800. Oh, well.

	NORTH ♠ 8 2 ♥ Q 6 4 3 ♦ 8 ♣ K 9 7 6 4 2
WEST ♠ K Q ♥ A 9 2 ♦ A 10 3 2 ♣ A 10 8 3		EAST ♠ J 10 9 4 ♥ K J 8 5 ♦ Q 6 5 4 ♣ 5
	SOUTH ♠ A 7 6 5 3 ♥ 10 7 ♦ K J 9 7 ♣ Q J

+800 is still a pretty good result, but +1100 is better. And +1400 is better yet. To get that, partner needs to shift to the nine of hearts instead of the deuce to unblock the suit. Then, later on, he needs to duck the first club, or at least to signal with the eight instead of the ten. That may be a hard result to achieve, but I believe +1100 was well within our reach.

As for my opponent's bidding, I'm fairly aggressive at competing over one notrump. But I don't see the point of bidding with a balanced hand. If you don't have a singleton, why not just defend one notrump? If you can make anything, chances are you're going plus on defense.

At the other table, my counterpart bid Stayman and passed two diamonds, making four. Jack is usually pretty good at this kind of decision, since it solves it by dealing out random hands and seeing what works. So he may be right. He probably discovered that the possibility of making game in a major outweighs the risk of playing a silly two diamond contract. Jack is probably shaking its head--or its headings, whatever programs shake--over how I lucky I got with my anti-percentage pass.

Me +800
Jack +130

Score on Board 9: +12 IMPs
Total: +43 IMPs

Board 8

Board 8
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A ♥ A 10 8 5 4 ♦ 5 ♣ Q 10 8 6 5 3

LHO opens one spade, partner passes, RHO bids one notrump. Jack has no way to show clubs and hearts, so I bid two clubs and hope the auction stays low. LHO rebids two spades, partner passes, and RHO raises to four. I don't have much choice but to pass. I have too much defense to bid unilaterally, and I don't think this is the hand partner would play me for if I were to double. I must admit, passing is pretty scary. Give partner king fifth of hearts and king doubleton of clubs, and both four spades and five hearts are probably making. If that happens, I'll just be thankful I'm playing IMPs instead of total points.

Partner keeps my worst fears alive by leading the king of clubs:

	NORTH ♠ 8 7 3 ♥ J 2 ♦ K Q 9 8 7 ♣A J 9
		EAST ♠ A ♥ A 10 8 5 4 ♦ 5 ♣ Q 10 8 6 5 3

West		North		East		South
						1♠
Pass		1 NT		2♣		2♠
Pass		4♠		(All Pass)

Declarer wins dummy's ace. I play the eight; declarer, the four. If declarer has ace doubleton of diamonds, he will probably try to cash diamonds to pitch a club. If he doesn't play diamonds next, what conclusions might you draw?

----

You should assume that one of the following is true: (1) He doesn't have ace doubleton of diamonds. (2) He doesn't need the pitch; i.e., he has only three losers and doesn't need to risk playing diamonds early. (3) Whichever suit he leads at trick two must be attacked from dummy, and that consideration takes precedence over a potential quick pitch.

Declarer plays the three of spades. Under your ace, declarer plays the deuce; partner, the six. You cash the queen of clubs--deuce-seven-nine. Now what?

----

If partner has the ace of diamonds or a trump trick, declarer is down. If not, you must either cash two hearts or cash one heart and play a club for a trump promotion. To cater to both possibilities, you should cash the ace of hearts and get a signal. If partner encourages, play another heart. If he discourages, play a club. I play the ace of hearts--queen--three--deuce. On the six of clubs, declarer pitches the king of hearts. Instead of ruffing, partner pitches the six of hearts. I guess this is partner's warped way of telling me he has a natural trump trick. He does. Down one:

	NORTH ♠ 8 7 3 ♥ J 2 ♦ K Q 9 8 7 ♣A J 9
WEST ♠ Q J 6 ♥ 9 7 6 3 ♦ J 6 4 2 ♣ K 7		EAST ♠ A ♥ A 10 8 5 4 ♦ 5 ♣ Q 10 8 6 5 3
	SOUTH ♠ K 10 9 5 4 2 ♥ K Q ♦ A 10 3 ♣ 4 2

If I had played a club right away instead of cashing the heart ace, we could have beat it two. I don't feel too bad about that, though. I'm just happy we went plus and that we can't make five hearts.

In the replay, the auction is the same. The play to the first three tricks is the same. But East doesn't cash the heart ace. He goes for the throat and plays another club. Declarer pitches the three of diamonds. If West ruffs and plays a heart, declarer is down two. But he doesn't ruff! He pitches the three of hearts. Declarer would be making this now if diamonds weren't blocked. But they are, so he is down one for a push.

Out of curiosity, I back the play up and force South to discard the ten of diamonds instead of the three. This time, West ruffs. I back it up again and have South discard a heart. West ruffs again. I back it up once more and have South discard the three of diamonds to see if the previous play was a fluke. No. If South discards a low diamond, West doesn't ruff. Nice play, the three of diamonds! South knows his opponent. He found the only discard that allows him to get out for down one.

It's true that when declarer pitches the three of diamonds, West knows the diamond suit is no longer a threat. But what does he have to gain by not ruffing? Is there really some layout where ruffing lets declarer score four spades but pitching defeats him? I tried, but I can't find one.

Me +100
Jack +100

Score on Board 8: 0 IMPs
Total: +31 IMPs

Board 7

Board 7
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 5 3 2 ♥ K 10 9 2 ♦ A Q 5 4 ♣ 4 2

Partner opens one diamond in third seat. RHO overcalls with one spade, and I double. LHO raises to two spades and partner bids three hearts. The range of this bid is rather wide: anywhere from a good single raise to a bad triple raise. Good/Bad Two Notrump would help to narrow this down a bit, but Jack doesn't play it and neither do I. And I'm not going to unless someone can think up a cleverer name for it. Possibly not even then.

RHO passes, and I carry on to four hearts. This could be a rather poor contract, but the diamond fit argues for pushing a little. West leads the ace of spades, playing ace from ace-king:

	NORTH ♠ 5 3 2 ♥ K 10 9 2 ♦ A Q 5 4 ♣ 4 2
	SOUTH ♠ 9 8 ♥ A Q 5 4 ♦ J 8 7 2 ♣ A Q 10

West		North		East		South
		Pass		Pass		1♦
1♠		Double		2♠		3♥
Pass		4♥		(All Pass)

Let's think about this deal from the opponents' point of view. First, let's suppose West has the ace-king spades and the club king and that trumps are three-two. There are three basic strategies he can adopt. If I have four diamonds, he needn't do anything rash. I have no discards available, so (Plan A) he can defend passively and take whatever tricks he is entitled to. If I have five diamonds, however, he may need to go after his club trick before I pitch one of dummy's clubs on my long diamond. He needs to take two spade tricks and the ace-king of clubs or two spade tricks, some red-suit trick from his partner, and one club. There are two ways to go after his club trick. (Plan B) He can cash his spades and shift to a club, hoping his partner has the ace or queen (plus a red-suit entry in the latter case). Or (Plan C) he can underlead his spade king at trick two, playing his partner for the spade queen and a red-suit entry. East can see all this as well. He knows that a passive defense, a club shift, or a spade underlead are all possible defenses, and he must express his opinion about each one of them. His first job is to express his opinion about an underlead, since partner must make that decision at trick two. The choice between Plans A and B can wait. So his first duty is to play his lowest card without the queen of spades or his highest spot card with the queen. He could also play the queen from queen-jack or the jack from jack-ten (possibly allowing partner to underlying ace-king-queen). Suppose he plays low and partner cashes the king. With dummy's spot cards so conveniently low, he can now play either of his remaining cards to express his opinion about a club shift. The normal way to communicate this message would be with a suit-preference signal: low to show a club card, high to deny one (Technically to show a diamond card. But since partner doesn't really care whether he has a diamond card or not, it simply denies a club card.) This is simply a matter of tradition. Obviously there are other ways to communicate the same information as long as both partners are on the same wavelength. One could play attitude again (high to say don't shift to a club) or even give surrogate count in diamonds. (If partner knows declarer has five diamonds, he might as well shift to a club. ) But, despite my distaste for suit preference in certain other situations (see On Kit Woolsey's 'Taking Control'), suit preference seems like the natural choice here. Other methods, while possible, would require a special understanding.

How will West defend if trumps aren't breaking?

----

The usual defense when trumps aren't breaking is to create problems for declarer by tapping him. This will often be ineffective, however, if the hand with the long suit has no entries. In that case, another approach might work better. Consider this layout:

	NORTH ♠ 5 3 2 ♥ K 10 9 2 ♦ A Q 5 4 ♣ 4 2
WEST ♠ A K x x x ♥ x ♦ K 9 ♣ J x x x x		EAST ♠ Q J x ♥ J x x x ♦ 10 x x ♣ K x x
	SOUTH ♠ 9 8 ♥ A Q 5 4 ♦ J 8 7 2 ♣ A Q 10

If West plays three rounds of spades, you will ruff and cash the ace and queen of hearts. You will be unhappy when West shows out, but the minor suits lies favorably, and you will wind up making your contract. But suppose West cashes two spades and shifts to the nine of diamonds? If you go up for fear he has shifted to a singleton, you will go down. This play isn't especially hard for West to find. He knows trumps aren't breaking and you don't. In such a situation, a good player will be alert for opportunities to put you to a guess before you find out the bad news.

On the ace of spades, East plays the seven. What does he have?

----

I assume he has Q7x. The only way the seven can be low is if he has J107, in which case he would play the jack.

Which card do you play to create the maximum ambiguity?

----

That was a trick question. It doesn't matter. If you play the nine, West knows his partner has Q87, Q7x, 87x, or Q87x. The second holding is the only one with which he would play the seven, so West knows exactly what his partner has. If you play the eight, West knows his partner has Q97, Q7x, 97x, or Q97x. Again, the second holding is the only one with which he would play the seven. You can't scramble the signal.

At trick two, West cashes the king, and East drops the jack. East, of course, can't have that card. Obviously Jack and I don't see eye to eye on how to signal. I don't think East would encourage without the queen, and surely he would have played the queen from QJ7. So I'm going to assume he had J107.

West shifts to the ten of diamonds. What is going on?

---

Most likely either West has a singleton or he's trying to talk you out of a diamond finesse. You don't mind being talked out of the finesse if trumps are three-two. If West does have the king of diamonds, East surely has the king of clubs, so your contract is safe. But, as I pointed out earlier, it would be fatal to refuse the finesse if trumps aren't breaking. What should you do?

----

A priori, it is more likely that West began with a singleton diamond than that he began with king doubleton and trumps aren't breaking. Even if that weren't true, the fact remains that a shift from a singleton is easy to find, while a shift from king doubleton isn't. Most players will just routinely play a third round of spades when trumps aren't breaking. It takes foresight to see that a tap doesn't help and that the diamond shift is better. Even an expert will miss this play on occasion, although, if he does, you can be sure he will be annoyed with himself.

I rise with the ace. East plays the three. I draw trump, ending in dummy. West pitches the four of spades on the third round. I play a club--nine--queen--king. West returns the eight of clubs, and I still have to lose a trick to the king of diamonds. Down one:

	NORTH ♠ 5 3 2 ♥ K 10 9 2 ♦ A Q 5 4 ♣ 4 2
WEST ♠ A K 10 6 4 ♥ 8 6 ♦ 10 6 ♣ K 8 7 5		EAST ♠ Q J 7 ♥ J 7 3 ♦ K 9 3 ♣ J 9 6 3
	SOUTH ♠ 9 8 ♥ A Q 5 4 ♦ J 8 7 2 ♣ A Q 10

I'm still not sure what seven-jack of spades was all about. In the replay, the auction was identical, and the play began the same way, declarer hopping with the ace after the diamond shift. After that, the play took a decidedly weird turn, but the end result was the same: Down one.

Me - 100
Jack -100

Score on board 7: 0 IMPs
Total: +31 IMPs

Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

♠ J 9 7 4 3 ♥ K 9 8 5 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ 3

After two passes, LHO opens one club--pass--one diamond. I double, opener rebids two clubs, and partner bids two spades. RHO bids three hearts. I was prepared to bid three spades over three clubs on the strength of my fifth spade. But I see no reason to bid in a forcing auction. Three spades would invite partner to save over three notrump, and I don't think I want to do that with more high cards in their suits than in ours. I pass, and LHO bids three notrump, which ends the auction. Partner leads the five of spades:

	NORTH ♠ A Q 2 ♥ J 6 ♦ A 9 6 5 3 ♣ 9 5 2
		EAST ♠ J 9 7 4 3 ♥ K 9 8 5 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ 3

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 ♣
Pass	1 ♦	Double	2 ♣
2 ♠	3 ♥	Pass	3 NT
(All pass)

When the opponents show two suits, it seems more natural to me to cue-bid the suit you have rather than the one you don't. So, if I chose to cue-bid, I would bid three spades with North's hand. More likely, I would simply bid two notrump or three notrump and not worry about hearts. Since partner is short in spades, he's likely to have some heart length, and the hand will probably play better from my side whichever major they lead.

Who has the four-card heart suit? Declarer or partner?

----

It's hard to say. Partner might have bid two diamonds with four-four in the majors. Then again, with king fourth of spades and four weak hearts, it might be better to bid two spades to help me on opening lead. Whether declarer can have four hearts or not depends on what he thinks one heart means over my double. I would play it as natural myself. Even if you assume hearts aren't playable, I think it helps partner to evaluate if you simply bid out your shape. But who knows? Jack may think it's a cue-bid. In short, I don't think I can rule out a four-card heart suit in either hand. I think I need to be prepared for declarer to be either 1-4-2-6 or 1-3-3-6.

Could partner have bid a three-card spade suit?

----

I hope not. With three-three in the majors, I should hope partner, if he chose to bid at all, would bid two diamonds to ensure finding an eight-card fit. Since I'm a passed hand and partner couldn't act over one club, we're not apt to bid a game. How good partner's hand is is largely irrelevant, so cue-bids should be used to find the right strain rather than to show strength. Of course, Jack may not think this way, so I'm not going to rule out a three-card spade suit either. I think I have to consider that declarer may be 2-4-1-6. And, of course, he may have a seventh club.

We must also assume partner has a club entry. If declarer's clubs are solid, he has at least nine tricks. Partner would seem to have a maximum of nine high-card points. If he has the spade king and the requisite club entry, that leaves him with at most an ace unaccounted for.

Declarer plays low from dummy at trick one, I play the jack, and declarer plays the eight. If you continue spades, what are you playing for?

----

Primarily, you are playing for partner to have a second club entry. You are also playing for partner to have four spades, which we have judged to be likely but not certain. Perhaps we can find a defense that doesn't require a second club entry.

If you shift to hearts, what are you playing for?

----

For partner to have ace fourth of hearts or queen-ten third or fourth. Partner's two spade bid and declarer's three notrump bid and declarer's duck at trick one all point away from partner's having ace fourth of hearts, so I'm going to discount that possibility. Queen-ten is more likely, but , since it requires partner to have two cards instead of one, it is probably less likely than finding partner with a second club card. I think a spade continuation offers a better chance than a heart shift.

My choice, then, is between a spade and a diamond. When might a diamond shift work?

----

It will work quite well if we catch partner with jack-ten fourth. We can set up enough tricks in diamonds to beat him and won't need a second club entry. Also, a diamond shift won't hurt if I catch partner with at least three diamonds headed by the jack or ten. In that case, provided partner has a second club trick, either a spade continuation or a diamond shift will work. If he doesn't have a second club trick, neither play will work.

While finding partner with four diamonds is possible, it's still a long shot. And I'm more confident of finding partner with four spades than I am of finding him with jack or ten third of diamonds. So, all in all, the odds seems to favor playing a spade. But, before I make up my mind, I need to consider that duck at trick one more carefully. It surprised me, and whenever declarer's play surprises you, it's time to stop and think about it. The first thought that flitted through my head when declarer played low was, "What? Partner bid a three-card spade suit?" I quickly realized I was jumping to a conclusion, but there's a reason I jumped: Ducking opposite a doubleton is fairly routine; ducking opposite a singleton isn't. If you have another spade, you can always take the finesse later if you need to. If you don't, you are burning your bridges by ducking. Unless one spade trick is all you need, you may regret your duck later. Is one spade trick all declarer needs? He may not even know. It depends on how many club tricks he has, and it may depend, as well, on whether I have the heart king. Another thought now occurred to me, and I'm annoyed it took so long. If declarer had a singleton spade, we may be able to hold declarer to no spade tricks by knocking out the ace of diamonds. I said earlier that if I play a diamond and catch partner with honor third, I need him to have a second club entry. Maybe that's not true. Maybe I can construct a hand where a single entry suffices. I come up with this one:

	NORTH ♠ A Q 2 ♥ J 6 ♦ A 9 6 5 3 ♣ 9 5 2
WEST ♠ K x x x ♥ 10 x x ♦ 10 x x ♣ A 10 x		EAST ♠ J 9 7 4 3 ♥ K 9 8 5 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ 3
	SOUTH ♠ x ♥ A Q x x ♦ J x ♣ K Q J 10 x x x

A spade continuation fails, but a diamond shift works just fine. Declarer is cut off from the ace of spades and, provided we don't let him reach dummy with the nine of clubs, he has no way to come to nine tricks. In fact, it occurs to me that a diamond shift may work even when declarer has three diamonds:

	NORTH ♠ A Q 2 ♥ J 6 ♦ A 9 6 5 3 ♣ 9 5 2
WEST ♠ K x x x ♥10 x x x ♦ x x ♣ A J x		EAST ♠ J 9 7 4 3 ♥ K 9 8 5 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ 3
	SOUTH ♠ 8 ♥ A Q x ♦ J 10 x ♣ K Q 10 x x x

Declarer has the nightmare diamond holding: jack-ten-third. A spade continuation works, of course. But a diamond shift isn't fatal. If declarer ducks and I work out the position, I can shift back to spades and beat him two tricks. If he wins, he finds himself in a position similar to that on the previous layout. As long as we keep him out of dummy and, at some point, play a heart through dummy's jack to keep me from being endplayed, declarer can't take nine tricks.

So it turns out a diamond shift works on a lot more layouts than I thought. In short, a spade continuation requires partner to have a second club entry. A diamond shift works on many of those same deals and also works on a number of deals where partner has only one club entry. I'm convinced. I shift to the king of diamonds--four--deuce--ace. Declarer plays a club to the jack and queen. Partner returns the seven of clubs, declarer plays low from dummy. I play the nine of spades to show an even number, so partner will know declarer is out of spades if, in fact, he is. Partner already seems to know what's going on, though. I suspect partner is playing a club back to give declarer his club entry to dummy before he's prepared to use it.

Declarer wins the club with his king and plays the four of clubs to partner's ace. I pitch the three of spades. Partner plays the eight of diamonds to my queen; declarer drops the jack. I return a diamond to partner's ten, and partner exits with a heart. Declarer is stuck in his hand and must lose another heart for down two:

	NORTH ♠ A Q 2 ♥ J 6 ♦ A 9 6 5 3 ♣ 9 5 2
WEST ♠ K 10 6 5 ♥ 10 7 4 ♦ 10 8 2 ♣ A Q 7		EAST ♠ J 9 7 4 3 ♥ K 9 8 5 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ 3
	SOUTH ♠ 8 ♥ A Q 3 2 ♦ J 4 ♣ K J 10 8 6 4

Partner made a nice play returning a low club.

This board illustrates why I am using random deals for this blog. You would not find this deal in a bridge book or article. Problem deals tend to have clear-cut solutions, though they may be difficult to find. This deal does not. There are a lot of things to think about, a lot of ambiguity, and no clean, linear path to finding the solution. In fact, the solution I settled upon may even be wrong. Still, at the table you encounter this type of deal quite often.

I expect to pick up three IMPs for the extra undertrick, but we do better. In the replay, the auction begins the same way, but my counterpart bids three spades over the three heart cue-bid. I've already stated why I think that is wrong. South bids three notrump and, after two passes, East bids on to four spades, apparently discouraged of his defensive prospects by his partner's failure to double. North doubles, and the defense takes the obvious six tricks.

Me +200
Jack -500

Score on board 6: +12 IMPs
Total: +31 IMPs

Board 5

Board 5
Our side vulnerable

♠ Q 2 ♥ A 8 5 ♦ A K 9 8 6 ♣ 6 5 3

Partner opens one diamond, and I raise to two (inverted). Partner bids three diamonds. Now what?

----

I don't think it pays to get too involved in auctions like this. You have a balanced hand, some stuff in both majors, and the queen-doubleton of spades suggests it might be preferable to play notrump from your side. Three notrump might not make, but it seems unlikely that five diamonds is better, so I bid three notrump. Partner tables:

	NORTH ♠ A 9 8 4 ♥ 3 ♦ Q 10 7 5 3 ♣ K Q 9
	SOUTH ♠ Q 2 ♥ A 8 5 ♦ A K 9 8 6 ♣ 6 5 3

West	North	East	South
	1 ♦	Pass	2 ♦
Pass	3 ♦	Pass	3 NT
(All pass)

So much for five diamonds not being better. Maybe I'm biased, but I think it was partner's job to steer us away from notrump. More on that later. West leads the ten of hearts and East plays the king. What is your plan?

----

Your legitimate line is to duck two rounds of hearts, hoping for a six-three split and a favorable lie in the black suits. Given the opponents' silence on an auction that was easy to enter, this seems unlikely. Since it appears that West has the heart queen and East the heart jack, neither opponent knows for sure that hearts are running. Perhaps you can exploit this fact by winning the first heart and sneaking a club through West. Even if this works, however, you have only eight tricks. You won't be able to sneak a second club through, since West can count that two club tricks will see you home. You will have to run diamonds and hope for something good in the endgame. Frankly, it's hard to see exactly what to hope for. The opponents will have to discard quite badly to give you any kind of chance. But it's happened before. I don't think it's my job to think up mistakes for my opponents to make. It's simply my job to give them the opportunity. When your legitimate chances are as slim as they are on this deal, I think you're better off playing for some kind of error. I win the first trick and play a club.

This time, it wasn't to be. West, aware that he has little chance to beat this unless he finds partner with the heart jack, hops with the club ace and plays hearts. Down one. The full deal:

	NORTH ♠ A 9 8 4 ♥ 3 ♦ Q 10 7 5 3 ♣ K Q 9
WEST ♠ J 10 6 3 ♥ Q 10 9 4 ♦ J ♣ A J 10 8		EAST ♠ K 7 5 ♥ K J 7 6 2 ♦ 4 2 ♣ 7 4 2
	SOUTH ♠ Q 2 ♥ A 8 5 ♦ A K 9 8 6 ♣ 6 5 3

The auction and lead were identical at the other table, but declarer showed less disdain for his opponents by ducking the first two hearts. (And how could he not? After all, he's his own opponent.) Down one for a push. I note, by the way, that I seem to have misinterpreted Jack's convention card on the previous deal. Apparently, he doesn't lead second highest from an interior sequence. Oh, well. Now I know.

As far as the auction goes, I don't know why partner didn't bid his second suit over two diamonds. With a singleton in a major, I believe partner should make some effort to avoid three notrump. Perhaps he thought two spades creates a game force. I don't. I think if responder rebids two notrump or three diamonds, we can still stop below game. What would I do if partner had bid two spades? I probably shouldn't admit this, but I might have bid three notrump anyway. Before you flexers criticize this bid too much, tell me where you would want to be if you make partner's club king the spade king. But, for the sake of argument, let's say I bid three hearts, showing something in hearts but implying that I am unwilling to bid 3NT unless partner can offer some assistance in the suit. (One generally doesn't worry about the other minor after an inverted raise. One partner or the other rates to have the other minor well covered.) With no help in hearts, partner should now give up on notrump, and we are past our first hurdle.

I'm not going to comment on how the auction should go after that, because I don't have a clue. I've never understood how to bid when we're in game force but no one has limited his hand yet. Suffice it to say that, in the absence of a gross misunderstanding, we should settle in five diamonds sooner or later. If we do have a gross misunderstanding, I suppose we could settle in four diamonds, or six diamonds, or even four spades, depending on the precise level of grossness. If anyone has any suggestions for the remainder of the auction that don't involve anything too esoteric, please comment, especially if you can suggest a believable sequence that get us to five diamonds on this deal and to six if South has the spade king instead of the queen. (No, it's better than a finesse. East might lead the ace of clubs, and there are some squeeze chances, albeit remote ones. Add the jack of clubs to the South hand if it makes you feel better.)

Me -100
Jack -100

Score on Board 5: 0 IMPs
Total: +19 IMPs

Board 4

Board 4
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 10 8 6 2 ♥ A K J 8 ♦ 10 9 6 ♣ A 6

There are three passes to you. What is your call?

----

With good hearts and a weak four-card side suit, a four-three heart fit might easily offer the best chance for game. So one heart would not be an unreasonable choice even in first or second seat. In third or fourth seat, when you can pass a one trump response, I think one heart is clear. I open one heart--pass--two diamonds--pass. I pass, and LHO reopens with a double. This is an extremely dangerous auction to balance on. We rate to have more than half the high cards, and there is no guarantee we have a fit. I'm not sure that I would balance with any hand that couldn't open. In any event, LHO should have a lot of shape, surely a singleton or void in diamonds. He should have some heart length as well, since with a shapely two-suiter he would have bid over one heart.

Partner bids two hearts, presumably with queen doubleton, since he would have used Drury with three hearts. RHO bids three clubs. Your call?

----

In general, I'm a believer in the Law of Total Tricks. I don't like to compete at the three level, particularly when the opponents are already at the three level, unless less I have nine trumps. The double fit argues for being more aggressive, so I might bid three diamonds with only three-card support if I had, say, a fifth heart and a singleton club. This hand, however, hardly qualifies for breaking the Law. I pass. Partner competes with three diamonds, which ends the auction. RHO leads the jack of clubs. Jack's convention card says, cryptically, "Internal sequence." I'm not sure what that means and I can't ask, but I'm going to assume it means he would lead the ten from king-jack-ten.

	NORTH ♠ 10 8 6 2 ♥ A K J 8 ♦ 10 9 6 ♣ A 6
	SOUTH ♠ J 9 4 ♥ Q 9 ♦ A K 7 5 4 ♣ 9 7 2

West	North	East	South
		Pass	Pass
Pass	1 ♥	Pass	2 ♦
Pass	Pass	Double	2 ♥
3 ♣	Pass	Pass	3 ♦
(All pass)

Partner's three diamond bid is weird. I don't think my pass of two diamonds promised more than a doubleton. Even if it did, once partner clued me in to the double fit with two hearts, he should have respected my decision. This appears to be one of the weaknesses of computer programs: an inability to draw negative inferences. I'll take Jack's word for it that a set of randomly generated deals consistent with the early auction suggest that it's right to compete. But I don't think Jack's randomly generated deals took my pass over three clubs into account. How do you play?

----

If diamonds split, it's easy. Win the club, cash ace-king of diamonds, and run hearts. If no one ruffs, that's nine tricks. If some one does ruff, I can ruff a club in dummy for my ninth trick. Unfortunately, there is almost no chance trumps are splitting. East would have sold to two diamonds with a balanced hand. That means if I draw two rounds of trumps, West can ruff in and draw the third round, preventing my club ruff. What if I draw just one round? Unless I drop an honor, that won’t work either. West ruffs the last heart and plays the diamond queen. I win and play club. West wins and cashes the diamond jack.

It seems the only way I can handle a bad trump break is to draw no trumps at all. There is some danger if it turns out if I misread the hand and trumps were three-two all along, but I’m not too worried about that. I decide to play hearts right away, hoping West follows to three rounds. The opponents will score one spade, one club, and two trumps, but will be unable to stop the club ruff in dummy.

I win the ace of clubs and East plays the five. Assuming I’m right about their lead conventions, what is East’s shape?

----

East would surely unblock with king-queen third. He must have four clubs (king-queen-five-four or king-queen-five-three, since he would have encouraged with the eight if he had it). So he is either 4-4-1-4, 3-5-1-4, or 4-5-0-4. The last shape is unlikely, since we aren’t doubled.

I start cashing hearts. East plays deuce, three, four; West plays the six and ten, and, unfortunately, ruffs the third round with the deuce of trumps. So it appears I'm going down one trick, possibly two if East was 4-5-0-4. West leads the three of clubs to East's queen. East plays the seven of hearts, allowing me to pitch a second spade. Instead of ruffing, West pitches the eight of clubs (just to express his disapproval of East's heart play, I suppose). Things are looking up. Now it's going to take a five-zero trump split to beat me.

Note, by the way, that the club eight is consistent with our current picture. At trick one, we placed East with KQ5x of clubs and West with J108x. West's 'x', which he played on the previous trick, turned out to be the three. If his discard on this trick had been the four instead of the eight, an alarm should go off. We would know that our picture is incorrect and we would have to go back and re-examine our assumptions.

Is there any way I might make this contract against five-zero trumps?

----

Not without the eight of diamonds. If I had the eight of diamonds, I could try exiting with a spade. If East plays low and allows West to win the trick, I'm home. I ruff a club in dummy, ruff a spade to my hand (not necessarily in that order), and cash the diamond ace. If East shows out, I can play a low diamond to endplay West. East can stop the endplay, however, by winning the spade and leading his last heart.

Even though I don't have the eight of diamonds, I’m curious whether East is up to the crocodile coup. So I play a spade anyway. East falls from grace. He plays the seven and West wins with the queen. East would surely have hopped with the ace, so this looks like king-seven-fourth opposite ace-queen doubleton. That means trumps probably are five-zero (unless I am wrong about four-four clubs). West plays the ten of clubs and I ruff in dummy. When East follows with the four instead of the king, I suspect it’s all over. I play a diamond; East pitches a heart. Down one:

	NORTH ♠ 10 8 6 2 ♥ A K J 8 ♦ 10 9 6 ♣ A 6
WEST ♠ A Q ♥ 10 6 ♦ Q J 8 3 2 ♣ J 10 8 3		EAST ♠ K 7 5 3 ♥ 7 5 4 3 2 ♦ -- ♣ K Q 5 4
	SOUTH ♠ J 9 4 ♥ Q 9 ♦ A K 7 5 4 ♣ 9 7 2

I must say that was quite an aggressive reopening double. I would be afraid of defending two diamonds doubled (or redoubled). I don't approve of West's three clubs either. As I mentioned earlier, he knows his partner has heart length. With his diamond stack, it seems unlikely that we can make anything, and he has no assurance of making three clubs. Pass seems like the safest route to a plus score. I should think that the only reason for bidding is to goad us into competing with three diamonds in order to double. We were duly goaded, but then West forgot to double.

In the other room, the auction proceeds as follows:

West	North	East	South
		Pass	Pass
Pass	1 ♦	Pass	2 ♦
Pass	2 NT	Pass	3 ♦
Double	(All pass)

Two diamonds was inverted, but game seems unlikely opposite a passed hand, so I'm not sure why North didn't just pass. Also, once he bid two notrump, I'm not sure why South didn't pass that. Strangely, West chose to double three diamonds on this auction. I would have thought he had a more attractive double at our table.

East leads a heart. Declarer plays three rounds of hearts, pitching a spade. West ruffs, cashes ace-queen of spades, and shifts to the jack of clubs. There isn’t much declarer can do. Down two for -500. I still prefer my one heart opening. While there were misjudgments in the later auction, the one diamond opening paved the way to this disaster. I know we didn't avoid three diamonds either, but I think it should have been easier to do so with our auction.


Me -100
Jack -500
Score on board 4: +9 IMPs
Total: +19 IMPs

Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ K Q J 9 8 7 2 ♥ K ♦ Q 9 ♣ A Q 5

I open one spade, partner responds one notrump, and RHO overcalls with two diamonds. I bid three spades, and partner raises to four:

	NORTH ♠ A 5 ♥ 10 9 4 ♦ J 6 3 ♣ K 9 7 6 3
	SOUTH ♠ K Q J 9 8 7 2 ♥ K ♦ Q 9 ♣ A Q 5

West	North	East	South
			1 ♠
Pass	1 NT	2 ♦	3 ♠
Pass	4 ♠	(All pass)

West leads the four of diamonds (playing third best from even, low from odd). East play the king. What card do you play?

If the opponents were leading fourth best or if your spot were lower than West's, then the queen might induce East to abandon the suit. As it is, East knows that his partner doesn't have four diamonds, so the queen isn't going to fool him. He doesn't know who has the queen, however. And if you play the nine, he still won't know. Not that anything you do is going to matter on this deal. But, as I said earlier, this blog is about process, not results. It's good to get into the habit of thinking about your opponents' problems. If you do that all the time, even when it doesn't matter, it will be easier to do when it does matter. On a different layout, East may have some motivation to underlead his ace at trick two. Or, more subtly, the uncertainly of who has the diamond queen may make it harder for him to place the high cards in some other suit. The nine retains ambiguity and the queen doesn't, so the nine is the right card and queen is a clear error, even if you can't imagine how it could make a difference.

East now plays the ace of hearts, dropping your king, while West follows with the deuce. What can you conclude from this trick?

Conclude is an overbid, but there is a slight inference that East has the queen or jack of hearts. If he didn't he might have underled the ace, hoping to put you to a guess with king-jack. It's not a strong inference, since he might have good reasons for not underleading the ace (the hope that his partner has a trump trick for example). But the fact is he might underlead the ace from ace-empty, and he would never underlead the ace from ace-queen or ace-jack. So, whatever the odds of his having the queen or jack of hearts were a moment ago, they just went up. Again, this information is of no use to you on this particular deal. We're just practicing.

East cashes the ace of diamonds; West plays the five. East plays the queen of hearts. You ruff and claim:

	NORTH ♠ A 5 ♥ 10 9 4 ♦ J 6 3 ♣ K 9 7 6 3
WEST ♠ 4 3 ♥ J 8 5 3 2 ♦ 8 5 4 ♣ 10 4 2		EAST ♠ 10 6 ♥ A Q 7 6 ♦ A K 10 7 2 ♣ J 8
	SOUTH ♠ K Q J 9 8 7 2 ♥ K ♦ Q 9 ♣ A Q 5

I can't imagine why East played the queen of hearts. Obviously Jack has never played opposite Lowenthal. Is there any reason not to play a third round of diamonds just in case partner has led low from a doubleton? I'm not sure why partner would do such a thing, and I certainly wouldn't cater to that possibility if there were anything else to play for. But there isn't.

As you might suspect, the auction and play were identical in the other room.

A couple of days ago, I remarked that one can find something interesting to say about almost any deal. I suppose "interesting" is a matter of debate. But you must admit, it's impressive that one can take as innocuous a deal as this and find something, interesting or not, to say about three of the first four tricks. And I suspect someone could find something to say about the one trick I glossed over. Actually, I'm sure of it. I know a former partner of mine who could write a paragraph or two about the suit-preference implications of the spot West plays under the ace of diamonds, especially if I were West and had played the wrong one.

Me +420
Jack +420

Score on board 3: 0 IMPs
Total: +10 IMPs

Board 2

Board 2
Our side vulnerable

♠ K Q 9 6 5 2 ♥ Q 5 ♦ J 9 4 ♣ A 2

East bids one club. Opposite a passed hand, I might bid two spades so partner knows I have six. (I'm a believer in the Law of Total Tricks, so I like to let partner know how many trumps I have in a competitive auction.) But, even at this vulnerability, I think this is too good a hand for two spades opposite an unpassed hand. I bid one spade. West bids three diamonds, weak, and partner bids three spades. East passes. Do you bid on?

Seven losers is a lot for partner to cover. Partner's going to strain to raise any time he has support, so you have to give him some leeway. I pass. West leads the four of clubs and partner tables:

	NORTH ♠ J 8 7 4 ♥ K 10 4 3 2 ♦ K Q 5 ♣ 3
	SOUTH ♠ K Q 9 6 5 2 ♥ Q 5 ♦ J 9 4 ♣ A 2

West	North	East	South
		1 ♣	1 ♠
3 ♦	3 ♠	(All pass)

With four-card support and seven losers, I would have raised to four. Still, it appears partner’s judgment is better than mine. They can probably beat four on a diamond ruff. More importantly, had he bid four spades, they might have “saved” in five clubs, which will actually make unless we can take two heart tricks. Nice bid, partner. How do you play?

If you win and play a spade, East will probably win and play a diamond to West for a ruff. How will West know the diamond shift is from a singleton?

East has no reason to play diamonds otherwise. If he wants West to shift to hearts on winning the ace of diamonds, he can simply exit passively with a spade and wait. Your contract is in no jeopardy, but you can make an overtrick if you can stop the ruff. Do you see any way to do this?

You can try leading a diamond yourself, making it look as if you have the singleton. West will probably win and shift to hearts. This gambit may backfire if East is void in diamonds. But West would probably have led a diamond from ace seventh.

This next question is important. At the table, players frequently get this wrong. Which diamond should you lead to make it appear that you have a singleton?

Assuming the opponents play standard carding, you should lead the four. If you lead a high card and East's singleton is higher than the four, West will know his partner doesn't have three diamonds. If the opponents play upside-down count, you should lead the nine. East will play the nine from any three-card holding except 10-9-x, so if you hold on to the nine and East doesn't play it, West will know you have it.

I lead the four of diamonds. West hops and shifts to a heart. Making four. The full deal:

	NORTH ♠ J 8 7 4 ♥ K 10 4 3 2 ♦ K Q 5 ♣ 3
WEST ♠ A 3 ♥ 9 7 ♦ A 10 7 6 3 2 ♣ 9 5 4		EAST ♠ 10 ♥ A J 8 6 ♦ 8 ♣ K Q J 10 8 7 6
	SOUTH ♠ K Q 9 6 5 2 ♥ Q 5 ♦ J 9 4 ♣ A 2

It appears my sneaky play could have cost a trick. They couldn't stop four after the opening lead without my help. It also appears that my play was riskier than I thought. It never occurred to me that West could have two aces. If he had seven diamonds, the heart ace, and a spade void, I was going down after my play. What do you think of the three diamond bid?

I think two aces is much too good a holding for a weak jump shift. I could understand passing, but my preference would be to bid two diamonds. With a long suit and shortness in the overcalled suit, I think it's OK, even advisable, to stretch a little. The shortness makes it likely LHO will raise, giving partner a chance to pass without a fit and letting your side off the hook. With a third spade I would pass. Now LHO is less likely to raise, and the auction may get out of hand. Further, if you pass and LHO does raise, you can balance. After a raise, it is much safer to balance holding three spades than it is holding two. With three spades, you have a greater expectation of finding partner with diamond support. With shortness in the opponents' suit, the safest way to find a fit is to bid your suit and see if partner can support it. On this deal, a two diamond bid might even propel you into five clubs, which will probably make. Why only probably?

Suppose I lead a spade. Declarer can make the contract by ruffing a diamond and leading toward the nine of clubs. But he’s unlikely to choose this line. More likely, declarer will lead the nine of hearts at trick two. If partner ducks, declarer will probably play low, then finesse again at some point. If partner plays the king, however, and switches to a trump when declarer ducks, declarer may later lead a heart to jack. Whether he should or not is a matter I’m not prepared to go into here.

In the replay, the auction and lead were identical. Declarer unimaginatively attacked trumps at trick two for a push.

Me:    +170
Jack:  +170

Score on board 2: 0 IMPs
Total: +10 IMPs

Board 1

Board 1
Neither vulnerable

♠ 10 6 ♥ K Q 7 ♦ K 7 2 ♣ A Q 8 5 2

Partner opens one spade, I bid two clubs, and partner bids two hearts. I am not a fan of playing two-over-ones as game forcing (quirk number one), but it is certainly convenient on this deal. I can bid a forcing two notrump to give partner a chance to show extra length in either major. Over two notrump, partner bids three hearts, and I raise to four.

	NORTH ♠ 10 6 ♥ K Q 7 ♦ K 7 2 ♣ A Q 8 5 2
	SOUTH ♠ K Q J 8 4 ♥ A 9 6 5 4 ♦ 10 ♣ J 3

West	North	East	South
			1 ♠
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	2 NT	Pass	3 ♥
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)

West leads the queen of diamonds. What is your plan?

If everything splits normally, there is no problem. I have ten tricks without the club finesse. The main danger appears to be a bad trump break. Even a 4-1 trump break that I can pick up (stiff honor by West) will present a problem, since I am in danger of being tapped out. Since there is no particular reason for West to be underleading the ace of diamonds, my best chance to stop a tap is to duck, hoping East is short in diamonds.

Suppose I duck the first diamond, ruff the second, then cash the king and queen of hearts, discovering a stiff honor on my left. I could then knock out the ace of spades and, when the opponents try to tap me with a third diamond, pitch a club, hoping East is now out of diamonds. This isn’t necessarily the best line, but starting this way doesn’t seem to burn any bridges. I don’t see any gain in playing spades early. And I certainly can’t afford to take an early club finesse. If it loses, I could go down with every suit breaking normally. So I might as well start off this way and worry about finding a way to improve on this line should a four-one break actually happen.

I play low, and East follows with the eight. West continues with the jack of diamonds, I play low again, East plays the three, and I ruff. West presumably has the nine of diamonds, since East would have signaled with the nine if he had it. I don’t know much about the opponents’ carding, and I can’t ask (another disadvantage of playing against the computer), but if the three is present count, then East began with A83 or with four or six diamonds. I intend to take note of East’s diamond length later to help me decode their carding on future deals. In my own opinion, his card here should be random. West will find out the count soon enough, and there doesn’t appear to be any need for a suit-preference signal. But if the opponents are the type to give present count routinely, it would be nice to know.

I play a heart to the king. West plays the deuce; East follows with the ten. This doesn't look good. On the queen of hearts, East plays the four of diamonds; West, the three of hearts. I now know East began with five or six diamonds, since he would not block the suit by pitching down to a stiff ace. The feared four-one trump split came to pass, but the length is behind me, so my planned counter isn’t even an option. What now?

Since I have an unexpected trump loser, I now need the club king to be onside to come to ten tricks. My basic plan is to knock out the spade ace, leaving a trump in dummy to stop the tap in diamonds, then start cashing spades until West ruffs. Let’s step through the play to see if this is going to work. Suppose I lead the spade ten and it holds. I now continue with a spade, someone wins with the ace and taps me with a third round of diamonds. I continue spades, reaching this position:

Diagram 1

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ 7 ♦ -- ♣ A Q 8 5
	SOUTH ♠ J 8 ♥ A ♦ -- ♣ J 3

As long as West has one more spade and the club king, I'm home. I cash the jack of spades, then lead the eight. West ruffs, but no return can hurt me. If he leads a diamond, I can ruff in dummy, pitching a club, and take the last two tricks with my two aces. If he leads a trump or a club, I can draw his last trump and take two club tricks. If West is out of spades, however, I'm in trouble. He ruffs the jack of spades and taps dummy with a diamond. I can pitch a club as I ruff, but I can't get back to my hand to draw the last trump and cash the fifth spade. To cater to West's having only three spades, I need to take the club finesse before reaching this position. Then, in the endgame, I will have:

Diagram 2

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ 7 ♦ -- ♣ A 8 5
	SOUTH ♠ J 8 ♥ A ♦ -- ♣ J

Now I’m in good shape. If West ruffs the penultimate spade and leads a diamond, I can ruff in dummy, pitching the last spade, and score my two aces. Unfortunately, it’s awkward to take the club finesse, because I am short of entries to my hand. I will need to burn the ten of spades to create an extra entry: Spade to the king--club finesse--then ten of spades, overtaking if the ace doesn't appear. This is the wrong way to handle spades only if West began with ace-nine-fourth. The prodigal spade play works against any other four-card holding by West, and it’s necessary if spades are three-three.

Accordingly, I lead a low spade to the king. East plays the three; and West, the deuce. Which club should I lead to take the finesse?

If the finesse wins, it doesn’t matter. If it loses, it might be convenient to have the jack of clubs as an entry to the spades. I lead the three of clubs - four - queen - nine. Now the ten of spades. East plays the five, I overtake with the queen, and West follows with the seven. I have reached this position:

Diagram 3

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ 7 ♦ K ♣ A 8 5 2
	SOUTH ♠ J 8 4 ♥ A 9 ♦ -- ♣ J

Both opponents have played spades up the line. That, combined with East’s nine of clubs, makes it appear that West begin with a 3-4-4-2 pattern. I lead the four of spades, and West plays the nine. I pitch a club from dummy. East wins with the ace and leads the ace of diamonds. I ruff, reaching the position in diagram 2. Making four. The full deal:

	NORTH ♠ 10 6 ♥ K Q 7 ♦ K 7 2 ♣ A Q 8 5 2
WEST ♠ 9 7 2 ♥ J 8 3 2 ♦ Q J 9 5 ♣ K 4		EAST ♠ A 5 3 ♥ 10 ♦ A 8 6 4 3 ♣ 10 9 7 6
	SOUTH ♠ K Q J 8 4 ♥ A 9 6 5 4 ♦ 10 ♣ J 3

For future reference, I note that East did not give present count at trick two.

Not a particularly difficult hand, but a satisfying one nonetheless. I’m bothered by something, though. After reaching the position in diagram 3, I didn’t really give sufficient thought to the possibility of ruffing the third round of spades. I need four more tricks at that point. I can ruff, cash the club ace, ruff a diamond to my hand, and cash the trump ace. That’s four tricks. Is there any reason to prefer that line? Yes there is. What if West has ducked twice with ace-nine fourth of spades? It would be a foolish play, but you shouldn’t assume your opponents aren’t foolish if you don’t have to. Why adopt a 99% line when you have a 100% line available?

I expressed the hope that I wouldn’t make too many mistakes, but I couldn’t get past board one. Why did I get this wrong? Tunnel vision. I was fixated on the ending I had projected. I thought I needed dummy’s trump to stop the tap in diamonds, so I didn’t think I could afford to ruff the spade. Once East ducked the second spade, I should have stopped to recount my tricks. At least I made the contract. I suspect a lot of people would go down.

I now let the computer play the deal against itself. The auction is the same. West leads the queen of diamonds and declarer covers with the king (incorrectly in my opinion). East wins and continues diamonds. Declarer ruffs and leads a spade to the ten and ace. East plays a third diamond, and declarer ruffs. Declarer now cashes the ace and king of trump, discovering the bad break. He cashes two spades, discovering the three-three break. (If West had begun with four spades, he would be home: One more spade, two clubs, and the ace of hearts would bring the trick total to ten.) Declarer now plays a club to the queen, cashes the ace of clubs, and ruffs a club. If West were to follow, that would make ten tricks. But West overruffs and leads a diamond, promoting his last trump for down one.

As I said earlier, it's hard to see the point of playing spades at trick three. If the ten holds, you can't afford to continue spades for fear of a trump promotion. What’s the gain in playing one round of spades? Strangely, this is a mistake I would expect more from a human than from a computer. Setting up your side suit before touching trumps is a tactic that often works to overcome a bad trump break, so it's a natural-looking play, but it doesn’t hold up to analysis. It's the kind of trap a player who is on auto-pilot might easily fall into.

Me:     +420
Jack:    -50

Score on board 1: +10 IMPs
Total:- +10 IMPs