| ♠ 2 ♥ J 9 4 3 2 ♦ J 2 ♣ K Q J 10 5 |
Partner opens one diamond in second seat. I respond one heart, and partner bids two spades. Paradoxically, the easiest way to find a club fit in this auction is not to bid them. If you bid three clubs, you could have a 3-5-2-3 pattern without a club stopper. So partner, with a 4-1-5-3 including the ace of clubs, will simply bid three notrump. If you bid two notrump, however, partner should bid three clubs with that hand (unless his singleton heart is an honor). Then the fun will start.
I bid two notrump, partner raises to three, and I pass. West leads the seven of clubs:
| NORTH ♠ A K 7 6 ♥ 6 ♦ A K 9 5 4 ♣ A 6 3 | ||
| SOUTH ♠ 2 ♥ J 9 4 3 2 ♦ J 2 ♣ K Q J 10 5 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 1 ♦ | Pass | 1 ♥ |
| Pass | 2 ♠ | Pass | 2 NT |
| Pass | 3 NT | (All pass) |
You already know I disapprove of three notrump. But I also have my doubts about two spades. Make one of the small diamonds a small heart, and you would rebid two notrump. This is not as good a hand (at least not after a one heart response). Why drive to game with this hand and only invite with the better hand? I think many players tend to be too aggressive with their jump shifts as opener. If responder can't find another bid over one spade, I wouldn't worry too much about missing a game. And if he does find another bid, it's apt to tell you more about his hand than a forced rebid over two spades would.
Now for the play. Nine tricks are easy. Let's see what I can do about taking ten. I can't afford to duck a diamond, since the opponents might be able to take four heart tricks. I can, however, afford to duck a heart. I win the first trick with dummy's ace of clubs. East plays the four, and I play the ten. (Not that I expect to be using dummy's six as an entry later. But why burn bridges?) I play dummy's heart six-five-nine-ten. West continues with the king of hearts. I pitch a diamond from dummy. (The fourth spade isn't important, but the opponents don't know that. If someone has jack-fourth or ten-fourth, he may be afraid to pitch one for fear I have queen doubleton.) East plays the eight; I play the deuce.
West now shifts to the four of spades. What's going on in hearts?
____
It appears hearts were four-three, with West having king-queen-ten and East having the ace. But I can't tell who had the four-card suit. Either way the suit is blocked. So I could win the spade ace, cross to my hand and play another heart, hoping to squeeze someone in hearts and diamonds. But there are several flaws to that plan. For one, the hand with the long heart is unlikely to have the sole diamond stopper. For another, if the hand that wins the trick has the last club, he can destroy the squeeze by playing it. This kills the entry to my hand before I can cash dummy's spade king. And finally, I only suspect hearts were four-three. I have no real assurance that they weren't five-two. I'm not willing to go down in pursuit of this overtrick.
I play the spade ace--three--deuce. I play a club to my hand. East plays the nine; West, the deuce. On the third club, West follows with the eight. (I note for future reference that he leads second highest from three small against notrump.) East pitches a dramatic ace of hearts. I suppose that means he was 4-3-4-2, probably with jack-fourth or ten-fourth of spades, so holding on to dummy's spades paid off. I cash my last two clubs, pitching dummy's spades. West pitches the seven of hearts and the eight of spades. East pitches the five and ten of spades. If I've read this hand correctly, his remaining spade should be the jack.
I can now safely float the jack of diamonds. If West has ten doubleton of diamonds, I'll make an overtrick. I lead the jack, and West covers with the queen. Oh, well. I play the ace and East drops the seven. An interesting card. I guess he's giving count. I cash dummy's spade, East plays the jack (I knew it!); West, the nine. I'm down to this position. The remaining diamonds are the ten, eight, six, and three.
| NORTH ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ K 9 5 ♣ -- | ||
| WEST ♠ Q ♥ Q ♦ x ♣ -- | EAST ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ x x x ♣ -- | |
| SOUTH ♠ -- ♥ J 4 ♦ 2 ♣ -- |
If West has the singleton six or eight of diamonds remaining, I can lead the nine of diamonds from dummy, endplaying East for an overtrick and punishing him for wasting that seven of diamonds. Unfortunately, that's a pleasure I'll have to forgo, since if West's singleton diamond is the ten, I'll go down. I would lead the nine of diamonds at matchpoints. Ostensibly, the odds in favor of the endplay are two to one. In practice, I think they're considerably higher than that. For West to have a singleton ten, East would have to have played the seven from eight-seven-six-three, and most players just don't do things like that. In fact, I think it's so unlikely that I would consider the play at IMPs if I were losing the match. The utility curve is not linear, and I suspect that my utile expectation is positive if I'm losing. But under the current conditions, I've already thought about it too long. I cash the king. Making three. As I suspected, the nine would have worked:
| NORTH ♠ A K 7 6 ♥ 6 ♦ A K 9 5 4 ♣ A 6 3 | ||
| WEST ♠ Q 9 8 4 ♥ K Q 10 7 ♦ Q 6 ♣ 8 7 2 | EAST ♠ J 10 5 3 ♥ A 8 5 ♦ 10 8 7 3 ♣ 9 4 | |
| SOUTH ♠ 2 ♥ J 9 4 3 2 ♦ J 2 ♣ K Q J 10 5 |
At the other table, South jumps to three notrump over two spades, and North passes. This is wrong. Jumps to three notrump in forcing auctions should show extras. Even if you are generally a fan of fast arrival (and I'm not), fast arrival makes no sense when choosing between two notrump and three notrump. You frequently need two notrump as an exploratory move to allow partner a chance to finish describing his hand, so you can't afford to play that it promises extras. Three notrump, then, should promises extras. It should show a hand where you want to suggest slam but where you're unwilling to bid past game to do so.
Jack makes a different try for the overtrick. He wins the spade lead, cashes the diamond ace (trying to drop a stiff queen I suppose), then runs clubs. West pitches the seven and ten of hearts. East pitches the five of hearts and two low spades. With only three hearts outstanding, it is safe for declarer to lose a diamond. So when he leads the jack and West covers with the queen, he ducks. When the ten of diamonds doesn't drop, he, like me, is held to three.
Me: +400
Jack: +400
Score on Board 32: 0 IMPs
Total : +75 IMPs
Phillip,
ReplyDeleteHaving just recently been introduced to your blog (via the reference in NY Times bridge column), allow me to thank you for sharing with us many "lesser lights" your thoughts as you play a hand. There is much to learn about this pasttime of ours and, short of hiring a pro, little in the way of instructional material (excluding the few over-the-shoulder books such as those by Reese) for learning about some of the finer points that you so capably address. Here, reading the diamond position is the key point, but no less interesting and instructive are hearing your thoughts about how keeping four spades in dummy can affect the opponents' discarding and about other issues.
Thanks for this contribution to bridge literature.
Responder's second round jump should show soft values in opener's nonsuits and enough high cards to produce 6NT when opener is maximum. I agree that most players jump shift too often (although Kokish's standards are too high).
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