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Hand played on |
26th April 2007 |
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Board number 13 |
Red Section |
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Dealer |
North |
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Vulnerability |
Both |
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Submitted by |
Alaric Cundy |
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North ♠ - ♥ AJ3 ♦ AKQ2 ♣ QJ9842 |
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West ♠ T98 ♥ 87654 ♦ J8 ♣ A75 |
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East ♠ K654 ♥ KT92 ♦ 953 ♣ 63 |
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North |
Bidding:
East |
South |
West |
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South ♠ AQJ732 ♥ Q ♦ T764 ♣ KT |
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1♣ 2♦ 3NT |
No No End |
1♠ 3♠ |
No No
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North's bid of 2♦ was of course a reverse bid, showing extra values. South's jump to 3♠ was understandable, but a fourth-suit forcing bid of 2♥ might have worked out better. South contemplated a while before passing out the 3NT bid.
East had no reason other than to make his natural lead of the ♥T - which offered Declarer an extra entry to Dummy at trick 1. There are 12 potential tricks at this stage - but it is not that easy to come to all of them due to entry issues, and 11 tricks would be par. I think the best line of play is to play on clubs. So long as West holds up the Ace for one round, Declarer cannot enjoy the Ace of spades without also conceding the King, so in practice the Ace of spades may go begging as Declarer claims 5 clubs, 4 diamonds, and two hearts, losing to the Ace of clubs along the way, and losing to the King of Hearts in the wash. At our table the play didn't quite go like that, as Declarer cashed the Spade Ace and conceded a trick to the Spade king before touching clubs. Had West held the King of Spades the contract would now have been in trouble, as he / she is able to clear the heart suit whilst still holding the Ace of clubs...
Some NS pairs found the excellent contract of 6♦ on this hand. With an opening hand opposite a reverse bid, in my book South should try 2♥ (fourth suit forcing) as his / her second bid. It is now enough for North to bid 2NT, which gives South the chance to show diamond support whilst in a forcing situation, but below the level of 3NT. North now needs to find out about South's club suit holding, and that isn't easy to do or to judge, and so subsidence into 3NT even after a more explorative auction is quite understandable, especially at match-pointed pairs when you cannot risk finishing up in just 5♦ on a hand like this.
It looks as though 6♦ could be beatable given the poor communications and given the potential for forcing the North hand, thereby cutting off access to the club suit, but on reflection I think it cannot even be defeated if NS contrive to have South as Declarer so West can start off with a heart.
Those who bid 6♦ deservedly got a good score.