You say that your line will succeed if E is 3-4-3-3 or 3-4-4-2. I can’t see making if E is 3-4-4-2. You can make it if E is 3-4-2-4, but now you must hold off cashing the third D before ruffing C for the 3d time.

Hi Bobby, David,

If East has a doubleton club, doesn’t he ruff with the H8 on the 3rd round? I think this is what David is getting at. If east is 3-4-2-4, then presumably the third diamond winner forces him to ruff and endplays him after the three club ruffs first which David describes.

Would a diamond lead (if East is 3424) then mess up the timing sufficiently in this case? All West’s fault as usual, failing to find a double dummy opening lead.

Regards,

Iain

With BWTA, I suppose it helps to have some confidence in the quality of the 2C overcall. My inclination is to stretch to 2C to take away the one-level, especially when non-vulnerable. If that is the expectation, a 2NT advance is indicated. If the pointy suits were swapped all the way around and we are vulnerable, I would expect the overcall to be sound and I could see stretching to 3NT.

I (also) don’t see how the contract comes home after a ruff of the third club (and a diamond exit if allowed to win the trick).

Hi David,

Right you are, as if you didn’t know! Thanks for the necessary help, assuming, as it should be, the pride which goes along with making fewer errors than we do.

Your correction(s) should surely indicate how difficult our game can really be, with speed traps all around, and dangerous pitfalls at every street corner.

To add to the beauty and luster of our great game, in order to even think about achieving perfection, most advanced bids, plays, and defenses in bridge need to be proof read multiple times before 100% accuracy even begins to enter the room.

We’ll keep on trying, but cannot in good conscience promise succeeding, but with you around and all of our readers then checking our site on the internet (fat chance?) we may accomplish it.

Hi Iain,

Again after David, you clean up the details involved in a scholarly way, just like a how to book on how to manually put things together.

Thanks for the extra help and also your calling card, to inject humor into our careless act, sort of a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down.

Hi Slar,

No doubt, you make a very good point and only emphasizes the necessity for a bridge partnership to know each others tendencies.

The result then makes both 2NT and 3NT the recommended advance, depending on your partner (also considering the vulnerability with being vulnerable attracting the higher bid). At least, to me, both bids and whoever your partner is, becomes a better “run for daylight” effort than does 3 clubs.

Hi Jim2,
The good diamond is led at trick 11 and catches East with only his Q108 of hearts, giving him no option but to trump it and, of course, the final indignity of end playing oneself.
A kinder way of describing East's plight is to suggest that for him to defeat the slam he would have to renege (running the risk of being caught) and trump in earlier.
But of course, accurate card reading by declarer, is vitally necessary which to you would be impossible since with TOCM TM in full bloom, East's full distribution would not be determined until the declarer has selected his exact line of play.
Yes that would require the bridge genie to be paid overtime for his presence. I wonder if that would extend to the 31 employees allowed before taxes go up. No doubt our Congress considered this possible event (bridge with TOCM TM lurking) before enacting this current Obamalaw.

That is a different line. The column text:

“For this line to succeed you need East … or precisely a 3=4=4=2 pattern.”

Hi Jim2,

Yes, I agree. I was only talking about the original 3-4-3-3 line, with the 3-4-4-2 pattern an afterthought which should have remained such.