Through the Pack at
Glenfield
The King of Clubs
Last Updated on 10th
June 2006
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I needed to come into the play sufficiently early in this
deal from Glenfield Bridge Club on 8th June 2006 to earn East/West
a decent score. |
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Board
11 Dealer
N Love
All |
North ª KJ7 © A5432 ¨ 9753 § Q |
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My
recommended sequence would see South open
one no trump, North transfer
to hearts by bidding
two diamonds and passing South’s two hearts. However, of seven
pairs, only Margaret Stone & Alan Pardoe and Cynthia & Dave McLoughlin
managed to reach this destination.
Decent bidding, but the cards lay well for North/South, ten tricks
being available in either major suit.
Unlucky. Not
so unlucky for the North/South winners, Peter Tyers & Margaret Glover,
who reached four hearts. With hearts
breaking 3-3 and the queen of diamonds well placed they were able to make four
spade tricks, three heart tricks, three diamond tricks and the ace of clubs. The
other pairs played in no trumps. Two
in two no trumps, one in three no trumps.
Three no trumps has no chance on a club lead
but many players dislike leading from four to the jack and would prefer the ten of spades. To succeed, declarer has to win in dummy,
abandon the heart suit, and run the nine of diamonds. West can win the ace and switch to a club
but it is too late. Declarer now has
four spades, three diamonds and two aces.
Well done to Gordon Musson & Geoff Day who bid and made the no
trump game. If
declarer does make the mistake of playing on hearts before diamonds, East can
win and switch to me, pinning
dummy’s queen of
clubs. This way, the defence
takes at least six tricks. In fact,
the East/West winners, Jenny Grant & Bharat Thakrar managed to make one
no trump in defence; defeating two no trumps by two tricks. |
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West ª T92 © Q86 ¨ A42 § J854 |
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East ª 653 © KJ9 ¨ Q8 § K9632 |
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South ª AQ84 © T7 ¨ KJT6 § AT7 |
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While East/West have twelve tricks without me, protecting
me from attack was a prime consideration in the bidding on 10th
August 2005 at Glenfield Bridge Club. |
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North ª J96543 © T3 ¨ 63 § T93 |
Board
4 Dealer
W Game
All |
The
problem was, if East bid a slam, how to deal with a club lead through the § KJ7. One approach is to declare six hearts, when
East’s singleton will take care of a club continuation. A better alternative is to bid six no
trumps from the West hand, when I will prevent the defence from taking more
than one club trick. At the table,
most pairs preferred to play in six hearts, but Sue Northen and Ron Ferguson
found the top spot of six no trumps by West.
Their top was just enough to put them into the lead for the monthly
prize. Of
course, pairs playing a weak no
trump, solve the problem of protecting me at the first bid. However, it is still not straightforward
to check that there are sufficient tricks available in no trumps. Perhaps the best bidding is for East to
make a slam try in hearts over one no
trump and for West to bid straight to Roman
Key Card Blackwood. East would
bid five clubs to show either three aces or two aces and the king of hearts. Now, it depends whether your partnership
agreement allows you to bid five no trumps with an ace missing. If it does, East will bid five spades to
show three kings and West can count twelve tricks and bid six no trumps. Another
possibility to reach the top spot came when the auction began one no
trump – two
diamonds and West broke the transfer by bidding three hearts. It was East now who asked for aces and
South attempted to apply pressure by bidding five clubs. West remembered his methods (DOPI)
and passed. East judged well to bid
six hearts (five clubs would have been five down – insufficient compensation
for a vulnerable slam). There was another
opportunity to punish South for his bid.
Perhaps West could now judge that his § KJ7 were well placed and
convert to six no trumps. |
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West ª A7 © Q942 ¨ QJ98 § KJ7 |
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East ª KT © AKJ875 ¨ AK72 § 4 |
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South ª Q82 © 6 ¨ T54 § AQ8652 |
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There were lots of possibilities on this deal from
Glenfield Bridge Club on 16th June 2004 and most of them centred
on me. |
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Board
3 Dealer
S EW
Vul |
North ª AK976 © 942 ¨ J643 § K |
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At most tables South passed and West opened one
heart. North has a close decision
as to whether or not to overcall. I just about tip the balance in favour of
bidding. A simple two
clubs from East then looks right.
An imaginative two spades from South may then lead West to expect East
to be short in spades and vice versa, leading to final contracts of five
clubs and four hearts for East/West.
These were not a success. Five
Clubs went two down providing a top for Cynthia and David McLoughlin as
North/South. Four hearts made, but
620 was not enough to outscore the other East/West pairs who played in three
no trumps by East. How
many tricks should be made in three no trumps? Well, it all depends on me.
South might well lead the five of spades even without
my owner’s overcall. At one table,
North took the ace and king of spades and played a
third round. Up to a point, this was
fine, but it did betray a certain confidence in possession of an entry. That, plus the overcall, pinpointed my
position and declarer duly dropped me under the ace for eleven tricks. Well done to Bill Youngs and Derick
Symonds, for that proved to be the top for East/West. What
would happen if my owner didn’t overcall
and ducked the opening spade lead? At
pairs East might well assume South had a hand such as ª AK75 © 862 ¨ 9875 § K5. Would it not now be tempting to take a
club finesse
with a chance of twelve tricks? |
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West ª T83 © AKT53 ¨ 2 § A843 |
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East ª QJ4 © Q7 ¨ AKT § QJ762 |
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South ª 52 © J86 ¨ Q9875 § T95 |
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The
next card is the Ace
of Clubs.
The
previous card was the Queen
of Clubs.
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Site Map Last Updated 13th May 2006 |
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1. Home Page |
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2. Newsletters, Photos and Correspondence |
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3. Competitions |
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5. Statistics |
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6.1 Bidding |
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6.1.1 Hand Evaluation |
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6.1.2 Opening Bids |
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6.1.3 Responding to an Opening Bid |
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6.1.3.1 Responding to 1NT |
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6.1.3.2 Responding to 2NT |
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6.1.4 Conventions |
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6.1.4.1 Conventional Opening Bids |
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6.1.4.2 Competitive Conventions |
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6.1.4.3 Slam Conventions |
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6.1.5 Doubles |
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6.1.6 The Protective Position |
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6.2 Declarer Play |
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6.2.1 General Technique |
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6.2.2 Trump Management |
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6.3 Defence |
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6.3.1 Defensive Tactics |
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6.3.2 Opening
Leads |
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6.3.3 Plays in Third Hand |
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6.3.4 Entry Management |
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6.4 Probability |
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