Deals 97 - 100 : Bidding and Play

Lesson 25 - Links page

(Down - Deal 96)
Declarer (N*)
- A Q 8 7
- K 3
- 7 6
- K Q 9 8 5
East
- J 10 6
- A J 10 4
- 10 9 8
- J 6 2
West
- 5 4 2
- Q 9 8 5
- K J 5
- 10 7 3
Dummy (S)
- K 9 3
- 7 6 2
- A Q 4 3 2
- A 4

Deal 97 - Dealer is North - EW Vulnerable

Bidding : 1C (N) - 1D - 1S (N) - 2H* - 2NT (N) - 3NT

* = 4th suit forcing. North has a Hearts stopper but is too weak to bid 3NT directly.

Opening Lead : ♦10 (E). East is keen to get his Partner on lead, so leads through Dummy's strength.

Declarer (N) counts 7 sure winners : three each in Spades and Clubs, and one in Diamonds.

Declarer Play
4th suit forcing bid   -   Refusing a finesse   -   Testing 3-3 card splits
If West gains the lead and can then lead through Declarer's unprotected ♥K the contract is doomed. Declarer must therefore refuse the finesse at trick 1 and win the trick with Dummy's Diamond Ace.
He then runs the Clubs (starting with Dummy's Ace) to test for a 3-3 split, which is the case, so he wins 5 Club tricks. Next he runs the Spade suit (King from Dummy first), and once more he is in luck, they too break 3-3. Ten trick in the bag.
Finally he leads a small Diamond to Dummy's Queen, but West wins, leads a Heart and it is all over.

Score = 40 + 3 x 30 pts + 300 bonus pts = 430 pts



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

Deal 98 - Dealer is East - All Vulnerable

Bidding : 1C (E) - 1D - 1S (E) - 2H* - 3NT (E)

* = 4th suit forcing. East has the Hearts well stopped so bids 3NT.

Opening Lead : ♦2 (S) = leading through Dummy's strength is the best option here.

Declarer (E) counts 5 sure winners : two each in Spades and Diamonds and one in Hearts. Four additional trick are most likely to come from the Club suit.

Declarer Play
4th suit forcing   -   spotting the distribution
Declarer notes the ♦2 lead (4th from the top), concludes with satisfaction that Opponents' Diamonds are evenly distributed (4-3), and wins the first trick with Dummy's Ace. The Jack of Clubs is now lead from Dummy and won by South with the Ace, who then leads another small Diamond. Dummy wins again with the Diamond King, then Declarer cashes the four Club winners he developed.

After that Declarer returns to Dummy with the Spade King. He now has the choice of two indirect finesses, one in Spades, the other in Hearts. The Spade finesse is clearly the better option for, even if it fails he still may gain an extra trick if Opponents' Spades break 3-3. The finesse is successful but the Spades break 4-2.

Declarer exits with a small Spade, won by North. North must now lead a Heart (not a Diamond!) to lead through Declarer's ♥ A Q, other wise Declarer will end up winning two tricks in Hearts instead of one.

Score = 40 + 3 x 30 trick pts + 500 bonus pts = 630 pts



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

Deal 99 - Dealer is South - None Vulnerable

Bidding : 1C (S) - 1H - 1S (S) - 2D* - 2H (S) - 4H

* = 4th suit forcing. South gives "delayed" 3-card support for North's Hearts, also showing a weak Opening hand.
LTC : 7 + 8 = 15 losers

Opening Lead : ♦A (E) = the Opposition is listening too!

Declarer (N) counts 3 possible loser : two in Diamonds and one in the trump suit. Nothing to worry about!

Declarer Play
4th suit forcing   -   the Opposition is listening too!
East concludes (correctly) from the bidding that the Declaring side has probably no stopper in Diamonds, so he leads his Ace, followed by a small Diamond to Partner's King.
Seeing that Dummy is now void in Diamonds West leads a small Heart. Declarer plays the Jack for a finesse but East wins with his trump King. But no matter what Opponents do next, Declarer will win the remaining 10 tricks comfortably.

Score = 4 x 30 trick pts + 300 bonus pts = 420 pts



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

Deal 100 - Dealer is West - NS Vulnerable

Bidding : 1D (W) - 1S - 2C (W) - 2H* - 3H (W) - 3NT

* = 4th suit forcing. West show a genuine Heart suit, having bid 2 other suits previously he clearly shows an unbalanced hand.

Opening Lead : ♣6 (S) = MUD (middle - up down), through the strength of Dummy's second suit.

Declarer (W) counts 7 sure winners : one each in Spades and Hearts, two in Clubs and three in Diamonds.

Declarer Play
4th suit forcing   -   Deep finesse   -   Double finesse
Declarer plays low in Dummy, trying a deep finesse towards his Club Ace and 9, but North has also the 10 which forces out Declarer's Ace.
Declarer now leads his ♥10 for a double finesse in Hearts, North winning the trick with the Queen.
North now leads a small Spade which Declarer wins with the Ace. Declarer continues with his double finesse, leading his remaining small Heart to Dummy's ♥9 which holds. Dummy's ♥A is played next which drops the King. The ♥J is now cashed in followed by five Diamond winners (Ace first!) and the King of Clubs for 11 tricks total.

Score = 40 + 4 x 30 trick pts + 300 bonus pts = 460 pts


(Lesson 25 - Deal 101 - Links page)

Copyright © 2011 Michael Furstner (Jazclass).