| ♠ J 9 ♥ J 7 ♦ Q 10 6 5 2 ♣ A 7 5 3 |
RHO opens one notrump, I pass, and LHO bids two diamonds (transfer), RHO bids two hearts, LHO bids three clubs, and RHO bids four hearts.
There are a number of questions about this auction that each partnership needs to answer. First, what does opener need to pre-accept the transfer? In my partnerships, opener is expected to pre-accept with almost any hand with four trumps. This agreement has two advantages: (1) It takes some of the pressure off responder when he holds a hand where game might depend on finding a good fit. With such a hand he can transfer and pass without fear of missing anything. (2) Should responder hold slam interest, opener has a head start on describing his hand. Even when he doesn't pre-accept, the fact that he can't have a good fit for the major narrows the range of hands he needs to describe and adds clarity to the later auction. Occasionally this agreement results in your reaching the three level when you would rather not. This is less of problem when you are playing weak notrumps, since in such cases you have a better chance that the hand belongs to the opponents and that you will be protected by the Law.
Second, how should opener bid when he pre-accepts? I play that jumping in responder's suit shows a minimum with four trumps and other bids show a concentration of strength and a maximum (with two notrump showing a maximum with no concentration). Other agreements may be equally good or even better. Some, for example, play that opener's new suit shows a doubleton.
Finally, what do opener's third-round actions mean when he doesn't pre-accept and responder bids a new suit? Since we have no need to show a good fit for the major, it suffices to use three or four of the major as the only bids that show support. (I would play four as showing the better hand. Fast-arrival cultists would play that four shows a minimum. Best just to ignore those guys.) This allows bids in new suits to be used to show a fit specifically for responder's second suit. If there are two suits below three notrump, you bid your better suit (better meaning the suit you would worry least about for notrump if partner held a singleton). If there is only one suit below three notrump, that bid is simply an artificial raise. Raising responder's minor to the four level should show a fit in both suits. For slam purposes, it's important to have some way to show that hand. Other four-level bids should be cue-bids showing a huge fit for the minor and prime values. They are rare, since opener needs to be fairly confident that three notrump is the wrong spot.
Back to the problem at hand. What should I lead against four hearts? I don't care for a passive diamond lead. The lack of intermediates in clubs suggests a more active defense. A low club, playing partner for a trump entry and a doubleton club, has some appeal. It would have more appeal if I had a better hand. As it is, I don't know enough about where our tricks are coming from to adopt such an inflexible plan. It seems best just to attack our likeliest source of tricks, simultaneously leaving open the possibility of obtaining a ruff myself. I lead the jack of spades.
| NORTH ♠ 10 ♥ K Q 8 6 2 ♦ K 4 ♣ K 10 9 6 2 | ||
| WEST ♠ J 9 ♥ J 7 ♦ Q 10 6 5 2 ♣ A 7 5 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
| 1 NT | |||
| Pass | 2 ♦1 | Pass | 2 ♥ |
| Pass | 3 ♣ | Pass | 4 ♥ |
| (All pass) | |||
| 1Jacoby transfer | |||
Dummy plays the ten; partner, the eight; and declarer wins with the ace. Partner has from four to six high-card points, at least two of which are useless, given his encouraging eight of spades. Spades are probably either five-five or four-six. Declarer cashes the heart ace--seven--deuce--four. He then plays the four of clubs. I presume he has a doubleton club and has stopped drawing trump so he can ruff the third round of clubs in his hand. I think partner can work this out for himself, so there is no reason to give count. I play the three of clubs. Declarer plays the nine and partner wins with the jack, surely from queen-jack doubleton. That's five high-card points. He has at most the jack of diamonds in addition. If he has the jack, that gives declarer a minimum in high cards, but a minimum that consists of ace-king, ace, ace--still a four heart bid in my opinion.
It seems the best we can do is to take two more club tricks, possibly only one if Jack's peripheral vision is good. Partner returns the three of diamonds--ace--six--four. Declarer plays the eight of clubs, I play the five--deuce--queen. Partner returns the deuce of spades--king--nine--six of clubs.
How should declarer play from here? One possibility is to play a trump to dummy. If they split, draw the last trump and concede a club. If they don't, ruff a club, hoping for a three-three club break. Is there any way declarer can cater to a bad break in both suits? He seems to want to give it try. He leads the three of spades. I ruff with the trump jack, and declarer overruffs with the queen. He plays the ten of clubs. Partner pitches a diamond, and declarer ruffs with the three. He ruffs the six of spades to dummy, and ruffs dummy's last club as partner pitches the jack of diamonds. Partner has a trump trick, but that's all we get. Making four.
| NORTH ♠ 10 ♥ K Q 8 6 2 ♦ K 4 ♣ K 10 9 6 2 | ||
| WEST ♠ J 9 ♥ J 7 ♦ Q 10 6 5 2 ♣ A 7 5 3 | EAST ♠ Q 8 5 4 2 ♥ 10 9 4 ♦ J 9 3 ♣ Q J | |
| SOUTH ♠ A K 7 6 3 ♥ A 5 3 ♦ A 8 7 ♣ 8 4 |
Was this a sensible line? At the point declarer ruffed a spade to dummy, he was looking at
| NORTH ♠ -- ♥ K Q 8 6 ♦ K ♣ K 10 | ||
| SOUTH ♠ 7 6 3 ♥ 5 3 ♦ 8 7 ♣ -- |
The uppercut doesn't hurt him. He can afford a trump loser as long as he gets to ruff both his clubs. But what was he planning to do if I don't uppercut him and if partner follows when he leads a club off dummy? If he ruffs, he risks going down on a three-two trump break. I might overruff and return a trump, leaving him with a club loser. If he pitches, I might win the club ace. Then if trumps don't break, he's down. The line I suggested above works against a bad trump break and three-three clubs. It's not clear to me this line is better than the one I suggested.
The auction is the same at the other table, and the play begins the same way. But in the end position, declarer chooses to draw trumps and concede a club. Making four. At the other table, West echoed in clubs. I wonder if that factored into declarer's decision. Perhaps my failure to echo persuaded declarer I couldn't have a doubleton, which makes playing for club ruffs more attractive.
Me: -620
Jack: -620
Score on Board 58: 0 IMPs
Total: +124 IMPs
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