The Aces on Bridge: Monday, November 28th, 2016
Life is merely a numbers game, a series of odds, and eventually we all lose.
Pete Wentz
| W | North |
|---|---|
| Both | ♠ A J 5 3 ♥ J 5 2 ♦ K 5 ♣ Q 7 6 5 |
| West | East |
|---|---|
| ♠ 7 ♥ K Q 10 4 ♦ 10 9 8 4 2 ♣ 9 3 2 |
♠ Q 9 6 4 ♥ A 8 3 ♦ Q 7 6 3 ♣ 10 8 |
| South |
|---|
| ♠ K 10 8 2 ♥ 9 7 6 ♦ A J ♣ A K J 4 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass | Pass | Pass | |
| 1 NT | Pass | 2 ♣ | Pass |
| 2 ♠ | Pass | 4 ♠ | All pass |
♥K
Today’s deal may look like another normal strong no-trump auction but it is worth considering if North should simply blast three no-trump in response, and conceal information about declarer’s hand from West.
Personally, I think North should use Stayman here. Whenever you have a little shape such as a doubleton and a weak three-card suit, you rate to want to find a fit if you have one.
Whether the defense starts by cashing three rounds of hearts or not, declarer will need to find the spade queen to make his game. The three heart losers won’t go away whether the defenders cash them immediately, or later.
Since you can pick up queenthird of spades in either hand, the best play here might look like a guess. But it isn’t. And no, the queen doesn’t lie over the jack, nor should you finesse into the defender you like more. There is a solid bridge reason to negotiate the spades correctly.
Pause to consider if you can guard against a possible 4-1 trump break in either hand. Here, the possession of the spade eight is the critical clue. You can’t guard against four spades to the Q-9 in West but you can pick up that holding in East. So start spades by leading to the ace and crucially, follow up by leading the spade jack from dummy, leaving yourself the option of the second finesse against the nine, if necessary. If you play low to the spade 10 on the second round, you will have blown it!
I’d normally advocate leading a top spade, but I risk losing my potential third trick in the suit. Leading from ace-king when there is length to my right and likely shortage to my left is not attractive. I’d like to get a side-suit going, and hearts looks our best bet for tricks. So I lead a low heart.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
| ♠ A K 9 3 ♥ J 5 2 ♦ 7 5 ♣ J 10 6 4 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass | 1 ♠ | ||
| Pass | 2 ♣ | Pass | 2 ♦ |
| Pass | 3 ♦ | Pass | 5 ♦ |
| All pass |
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Hi Bobby,
Should West play a 4th heart at trick 4, especially if he has the spade length? Such a defence would work well if South has K109x after all, and declarer may not dare to ruff in dummy for fear of being overruffed and losing control if trumps are 4-1.
regards,
Iain
Hi Iain,
Yes, a decent shot, but hoping declarer does not hold either: s. KQxxx, h. xxx, d. AQJ, c. Ax, or: s. KQ10x, h. xxx, d. AQx, c. AJ4.
However, even if he does, it is the Xmas season for gifts and after all, aggressively winning the day with that 4th heart, a reasonable compromise, will feel so good when it works.
Another plus for so doing is being able to blame partner for not just opting for 3NT (whether or not you would have chosen it with his hand, since partners who barely get along, usually enjoy piling up reasons why).
Alternate title of this response: “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”.