Another hand from the session I played with Eszter earlier this evening. I normally pick up balanced 6 counts, but the dealer was really smiling on Eszter and me tonight. We picked up 4½ 1
openers in the space of 7 Boards!!!
Game All, Dealer South. You pick up
AQJ1082
Q62
KQ
AJ
With silent Opps, the bidding proceeds:
1
- 1
1
- 2
??
Do you (1) Pass? (2) Blast 4
? (3) Make a trial bid in Hearts?
(1) is dangerous in that it potentially allows Opps a relatively low-level entrée into the bidding
(2) is punishing Partner for keeping the bidding open. Yes, they might have a singleton Heart and
Kxx and you will cruise home in 4
, but it's against the odds, especially with silent Opps
(3) is the best of both worlds, I feel, and was the route I chose.
Eszter declined my invitation and bid 3
and we played there. West led the Ace of Diamonds and Eszter put down
North 6543
1097
54
KQ74
South AQJ1082
Q62
KQ
AJ
Everyone follows to the first trick and West continues with the 8
, taken by your King.
How do you plan the play?
If you're in game, you have no real option. You have to play for the Clubs to be 4-3, take 3 quick rounds of Clubs, discarding a Heart and then hope that the Spade finesse is working.
At IMPs, however, when you are only in 3
, you have to reckon that it is highly likely that the vast majority of the other tables will be in 4
(1
- 2
- 4
), so you have to find the
safest way to try to make your 9 tricks on the
assumption that the line for 10 tricks is
not going to work. That suggests a very
different line of play:
I cashed the Ace of Spades (everyone followed low) and
now played 3 rounds of Clubs. East showed out on the second Club, but was unable to ruff because it was his Partner West who still had the King. My 9 tricks were secure and my 10th appeared as if by magic when West weirdly gave me a ruff 'n' sluff in Clubs rather than opening up the Hearts after I'd ruffed Eszter's 4th Club and put him in with the Q
.
My line guarantees 9 tricks if either
(a) the K
is singleton, or
(b) The K
isn't singleton but the Clubs are not
worse than 5-2 and the Spades 2-1, or
(c) The Clubs
are 6-1 or 7-0, but the player with short Clubs only has 1 Spade.
Playing to take the Spade finesse only works when the Clubs are 4-3, which is far less good odds.
So far as the bidding is concerned, the moral of this tale is not to punish partner. South might have a 19-count but it's really not a very
nice 19-count. It's worth an invitation to 4
but no more than that. And yes, the majority of pairs were in 4
going 1 or 2 off. Only 1 Pair bid and made it when West led Ace and another Diamonds. Declarer led Ace and Queen of Spades and West continued with a 3rd Diamond when in with the King of Spades, despite a signal for Hearts from his Partner on the second Spade. 3
+1 was worth 4½ IMPs
