Play a Hand with the Expert
A series of 'step-by-step' articles
CHAMPIONSHIP QUIZ No. 8
Ron Klinger, Australia
With both sides vulnerable, you, South, hold:
9 6 4
10 9
Q 8 5 4 3
A 9 5
West opens 1NT (13-15) and your partner, North, bids 2, take-out for the majors. Pass on your right.
Your move?
Answer: You could certainly bid 2
but you do not have much support for either major. It will not hurt to try 2. This is a suggestion to partner, not a command to pass.
The bidding proceeds:
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| 1NT |
2
|
NB |
2
|
| Dbl |
Rdbl |
NB |
? |
Double is for penalties. The redouble shows equal length in the majors.
What do you do?
Answer: With excellent diamonds, you would be entitled to pass, but clearly that is not sensible here. As you have more spades than hearts, you remove the redouble to 2, with misgivings certainly, but there is good news. If things turn out badly, it is not your fault. Partner initiated this little excursion.
Everyone passes 2
and West leads 8 and this is what you see:
A K Q 3
7 6 5 3
2
K J 7 6
9 6 4
10 9
Q 8 5 4 3
A 9 5
You win with A, East following.
What next?
Answer: You should try to score a heart ruff in hand. The opponents are likely to continue trumps to stop any ruff, but it does not hurt to try. Some opponents are kind enough to continue hearts. There is no other urgent play.
You play a heart, West winning with Q, and a second trump is led. Dummy wins, and another heart goes to West's
K. A third spade comes, taken in dummy, East following with
J. Well, at least trumps were 3-3.
What now?
Answer: There is no rush to start clubs. You still have time to play West for
Q-x-x. You play another heart, West takes
A and switches to
10. You try
J,
Q,
A.
How do you assess the position?
Answer: West has turned up with three spades and A-K-Q only in hearts. He would have cashed a fourth heart if possible. West can have one of the top diamonds but not both (A plus
K would make 16HCP and the 1NT opening showed 13-15). West is likely to have five diamonds for the penalty double, and therefore a 3-3-5-2 pattern. That gives East four clubs and so
8 is more likely to be with East than with West.
This is your end position:
You have won four tricks, dummy's trump is five and K makes six. You need to score two club tricks, or one club plus one diamond.
If East began with Q-8-x-x as you expect, you need to reach
dummy with a ruff, finesse against East's remaining 8-x-x, and still be able to return to dummy to cash
K at the end.
Can you see any way in which you might manage this?
Answer: To make things a little easier, here is the complete deal from the 1996 World Open Teams Olympiad:
Sitting South was Mats Nilsland of Sweden, who managed to bring home his 2
contract.
This was the position at trick 8:
Nilsland led Q from hand and West, who had done very well so far, slipped by playing the King. He returned a diamond and declarer ruffed, noting the fall of
A from the East. Next came
6, ducked in hand when East played low. When
6 held, declarer led dummy's heart, discarding the blocking
9. East won with
J and was endplayed into giving dummy the last two clubs.
Well played!
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