Deals 49 - 52 : Bidding and Play

Lesson 15 - Links page

(Down - Deal 48)
Declarer (N *)
- K 8 6
- A J 10 3
- A 9 5 3
- J 9
East
- 7 5 2
- Q 9 7
- J 2
- A 10 8 6 4
West
- Q 9 4
- K 8 5
- Q 8 7 4
- K 3 2
Dummy (S)
- A J 10 3
- 6 4 2
- K 10 6
- Q 7 5

Deal 49 - Dealer is North - EW Vulnerable

Bidding : 1D (N) - 1S (S) - 1NT (N) - Pass (S)
(East is too weak to make an overcall of Clubs at the 2 level)

Opening Lead : 6 of Clubs (E) = 4th card from his longest suit

Declarer (N) counts 5 sure winners : The A and K in Spades and Diamonds plus the Ace of Hearts. Possible additional tricks can be developed by finesses in Spades and Hearts.
Extra tricks may also emerge in Clubs or Diamonds provided the Opponents lead the suit first ! The opening lead at once answers Declarer's prayers.

Declarer Play
Playing low to establish a winner holding only Q and J   -   Taking the safe finesse
Dummy plays low on the first trick, West wins with his Club King, then returns a small Club won by East with the Ace, a third Club lead is won in Dummy with the Queen, while Declarer discards a small Diamond.
Declarer must now chose which finesse to take. The double finesse of Hearts will bring the lead to the danger man East (with 2 extra Club tricks). The safe and better option is to select the Spade finesse. If it fails West gains the lead and a third Spade trick is provided anyway by Dummy's Jack (or 10).

Therefore, at trick 4, Dummy leads a small Spade to Declarer's King. Declarer (trick 5) returns a small Spade, Dummy plays the 10, captured by West with the Spade Queen.
In an attempt to bring his Partner on lead West now leads a small Heart. Declarer refuses the finesse, winning with his Ace. He then (trick 7) leads his last Spade to Dummy' Ace and Jack winners. The Ace and King of Diamonds are then cashed in, providing the 7 tricks required for the contract.

Score = 40 trick pts + 50 bonus pts = 90 pts total



(
Down - Up)
North
- K 6 5
- 6 4 3
- K 9 6 4
- 8 5 2
Declarer (E *)
- A 10 7 3
- A K 5
- 10 5 2
- A J 7
Dummy (W)
- Q 9 8
- J 10 9 2
- A Q J 8
- 6 4
South
- J 4 2
- Q 8 7
- 7 3
- K Q 10 9 3

Deal 50 - Dealer is East - All Vulnerable

Bidding : 1NT (E) - 2C* (W) - 2S (E) - 3NT (W) - Pass (E)
* = Stayman Convention, East showing a 4 card Spade suit

Opening Lead : King of Clubs (S) = top of touching Honours of an interrupted sequence

Declarer (E) counts 5 certain winners : Aces of Spades, Diamonds and Clubs, plus the Ace and King of Hearts.
There are finesse possibilities in Spades, Hearts and Diamonds.

Declarer Play
The Bath Coup   -   Preventing the dangerous Opponent of winning the lead.
Dummy plays low, North plays the Club 2 (a discouraging signal to his Partner) and Declarer ducks, also playing a low Club.
South also knows all about the Bath Coup, stops and thinks. The Opponents have, according to their bidding, at least 26 points between them, South holds 8 points himself, that leaves Partner with 6 points at the most, two Kings perhaps. His best chance of getting Partner on lead is therefore to lead a small Diamond, which he does at trick 2.
Declarer must see the danger and not take the finesse but win resolutely with Dummy's Diamond Ace.
At trick 3 Dummy leads the 9 of Spades (his best suit for extra tricks) for a double finesse against the K and J. North and Declarer play low, and South wins with the Spade Jack. South then (trick 4) leads his second small Diamond, on which Dummy plays low, and North the King, winning the trick.

North now leads a small Club, but Declarer has had all the 'breathing space' he needed and wins the trick with the Ace.
At trick 5 Declarer leads his last Diamond to Dummy's Queen which wins. Dummy proceeds by cashing the Jack of Diamond and then leads the Spade Queen, which wins as all others play low. At trick 8 Dummy leads his Spade 8, on which North drops his King, captured by Declarer's Ace. The 10 of Spade is now a winner, which together with the Ace and King of Hearts produce a final total of 9 tricks.

Score = 40 + 2 x 30 trick pts + 500 bonus pts = 600 pts total



(
Down - Up)
Dummy (N)
- K 10 2
- Q 10 9
- 6 5 2
- A 10 9 3
East
- A 7 5
- J 6 2
- J 9 8 4
- Q 8 5
West
- Q J 9 8 3
- K 3
- A 7
- J 7 6 2
Declarer (S *)
- 6 2
- A 8 7 5 4
- K Q 10 3
- K 4

Deal 51 - Dealer is South - None Vulnerable

Bidding : 1H (S) - 1S (W) - 2H (N) - Pass* (E) - Pass (S) - Pass (W)
(East with only 8 points should really Pass, rather than raise Partner's Spades, but if he does North should bid 3H)

Opening Lead : Queen of Spades (W) = top of a interrupted sequence

Declarer (S) counts 6 possible losers : two each in Spades, Hearts and Diamonds. There are finesse positions in both Hearts and Diamonds as long as one comes of he will make his contract.

Declarer Play
Covering an Honour to promote a trick   -   Free finesse
Declarer concludes that, since West made an overcall in Spades, his opening lead is probably from Q J 9 x x. (If he held A Q J x x instead it is unlikely that he would lead away from his Ace in a trump contract). Declarer decides to play a low Spade from Dummy. East too plays low and West wins the trick.
Whichever suit West now leads he will promote a trick for Declarer.
At trick 2 West leads the 8 of Spades, but Declarer is not fooled and plays the 10 from Dummy, which forces out East's Ace.
East, seeing that Dummy has no strength in Diamonds now leads a small Diamond. Declarer goes up with the King (deciding against a double finesse at this stage) and West wins with the Ace.

At trick 4 West returns a Diamond (unknowingly giving Declarer a free finesse), East plays the Jack, captured by Declarer's Queen.
At trick 5 Declarer leads the trump Ace which wins the trick, followed by a small trump from his hand. West's King drops winning the trick. No matter what West now leads Declarer's side will win the trick, draw the last trump with Dummy's Queen and make the remaining tricks which are all winners. A total of 9 tricks.

Score = 3 x 30 trick pts + 50 bonus pts = 140 pts total



(
Up - Top)
North
- Q J 10 6 2
- Q 10 7 3
- 10
- 8 7 4
Dummy (E)
- 7 4
- A J 9
- K 6 5 3 2
- A J 5
Declarer (W *)
- A
- 8 4 2
- A Q J 8 7 4
- K Q 3
South
- K 9 8 5 3
- K 6 5
- 9
- 10 9 6 2

Deal 52 - Dealer is West - NS Vulnerable

Bidding : 1D (W) - 3D (E) - 4NT* (W) - 5H (E) - 5NT* (W) - 6D (E) - Pass (W)
* Blackwood Convention : East shows two Aces plus one King

Opening Lead : Queen of Spades (N) = top of a solid sequence

Declarer (W) counts 2 possible losers : both of them in the Hearts suit.
Unfortunately both Declarer and Dummy hold only 3 Clubs, therefore the Club Jack will be wasted, falling under one of Declarer's Honours. Therefore Declarer's only chance of making the contract is a deep finesse in Hearts.

Declarer Play
Signal by the Defence   -   Deep finesse   -   Ruff and Sluff
On the opening lead Dummy plays low, South plays the Spade 8 (an unnecessary high card, an encouraging signal, showing Partner he holds the King), and Declarer wins with the Ace.
At trick 2 Declarer plays the Diamond Ace drawing both Opponents' trumps (as they break 1-1). Declarer then plays three rounds of Clubs, winning the third trick in Dummy's hand with the Club Ace. At trick 6 Dummy's remaining small Spade is lead and ruffed by Declarer. Both hands are now stripped of Spades and Clubs, leaving only Hearts and trumps.

At trick 7 Declarer leads a small Heart and when North plays low, Dummy plays the 9 for a deep finesse. South wins with the King. South is now in a no win situation. If he leads another Heart Declarer will have a free finesse against North's Queen. If South leads a Spade or his last remaining Club he provides Declarer with a ruff and sluff, discarding a small Heart loser in his own hand and ruffing the trick in Dummy (or vice versa). Either way Declarer makes the 12 tricks required to fulfil his contract.

Score = 6 x 20 trick pts + 800 bonus pts = 920 pts total


(Lesson 15 - Deal 45-48 - Deal 53 - Links page)

Copyright © 2006 Michael Furstner (Jazclass).