Counting the combined Points
Board 7 Dlr S All Vul
NORTH
SOUTH
Holding a balanced 19-count West opens 1¨ in second seat (with 4-4 in the minors open 1¨, with 3-3 1§). With silent opposition, East responds 1ª and West's rebid must be a jump to 2NT to show 18-19 HCP. A simple rebid of 1NT, remember, shows a minimum balanced opening hand of 12-14 HCP. East knows there should be enough for game but not slam and closes the bidding with 3NT.
Despite declarer's opening bid of 1¨, North's superb sequence makes ¨K an obvious choice.
As declarer you can count nine top tricks. Any possibility of extras in your long suit(s)? You hold seven cards in each minor, and the opponents thus hold six. Given the diamond lead, the diamonds are very unlikely to be breaking 3-3. North probably holds three or four diamond winners after your ¨A is played. Clubs, it is true, may break 3-3. But you will first have to lose the lead twice in order to score an extra trick. And by that time the opponents will then have enough tricks to defeat you.
And so discretion is the better part of valour on this deal. Take the money and run. And don't forget honour from the short hand in spades, or else the suit will be fatally blocked.
Nine tricks in your vulnerable game for a score of 3x30 + 10 + 500 = 600.
Board 8 Dlr W Nil Vul
NORTH
© AQ7
SOUTH
ª Q962
© K94
¨ Q5
§ KQ83
North opens 2NT in second seat, promising a balanced 20-21. South's arithmetic skills put the partnership assets on the game/slam cusp at 32-33. It's worth giving slam a whirl if opener is a maximum 21. Find this out by inviting small slam with a bid of 4NT. North is delighted to accept and bids 6NT.
East probably leads ¨J, distinctly unhappy at possessing ¨JT8 rather than ¨JT9.
¨ Try this tester:
Imagine dummy holds ¨Q95 and declarer AK62. Explain how declarer can now comfortably make 4 diamond tricks when you lead ¨J from JT874.
Luckily the lead does not cost on this deal since partner holds ¨9.
As declarer, you can count only nine top tricks - three each in hearts, diamonds and clubs. DON'T PANIC. By using one of your high honours to drive out ªA you can certainly make two more tricks with the two other honours. That brings the total to eleven.
What about a twelfth trick? The most likely source (mathematically) is your 8-card club holding. It should provide one more if the opponents' five cards are divided 3-2 (about 68% of the time). And if that likely possibility doesn't eventuate, there is always the additional 36% chance that your 7-card spade holding will produce an extra trick if the opponents' six cards break 3-3.
As you can see from the diagram of the deal, neither of these pleasant possibilities exists. Clubs are 4-1 and spades 4-2. Unkind.
But the contract succeeds in another way. The possession of ª9 adds the additional possibility of a twelfth trick. If the ªT is singleton or doubleton, then ª9 will give you a third spade trick and the slam.
So, win ¨Q in dummy - honour from the short hand. Note that West might encourage partner's diamond lead by playing a low ¨3 (you’re yet to learn about modern attitude signals, where low=like and high=hate).
Next play a low spade to the king. East wins with the ace and continues with ¨T - nothing looks any better since partner cannot hold more than 2 HCP.
¨ How do you know this?
What now for declarer?
Win ¨A (or king) and 'test the clubs' by playing a club to the king and another back to the ace. Alas, East shows out, discarding a low heart. You can thus score only three club tricks, not the hoped-for four tricks.
Now the last string to your bow - the spade suit. You have already played one round, the king losing to the ace. Cash ªJ (honour from the short hand). And what do you notice? The ªT appears from West! Now you can score not only a second spade trick with the queen but a third with the nine.
A non-vulnerable small slam bid and made with 3 tricks in every suit for a score of 6x30 + 10 + 300 + 500 = 990.
Board 9 Dlr N EW Vul
NORTH
§ T84
ª Q93 ª KJ52
© JT94 © Q62
¨ 82 ¨ AK4
§ AQ53 § K62
SOUTH
ª T4
© A83
¨ QJ953
§ J97
East opens 1NT in second seat. West, holding a balanced 9-count, invites game via 2NT. With better than a minimum 15, East accepts and bids 3NT. (You will learn later that West would choose to use the 2§ Stayman convention to check whether East holds four hearts, in which case 4© might be a better contract.)
South leads ¨Q (promising either QJT… or QJ9…) and you can count as declarer five immediate tricks - three clubs and two diamonds. At least four more are needed.
¨ Which diamond should North play on the opening lead? Why?
You are confident now about some of the ways to look for extras. You can establish two certain tricks with your secondary spade honours. That brings the total to seven. What else?
The bad news is that you will have to lose the lead to the opponents' ªA to win two spade tricks. And if they sensibly plug away at diamonds they will knock out your last diamond stopper. Now you need to make two more tricks without losing the lead because the opponents may have enough diamond winners to defeat you (if the diamonds break 5-3, as they do, rather than a friendlier 4-4).
How might this be possible? The only chances are a 3-3 break in clubs for one extra trick and another with your newly discovered friend, ª9, if spades are 3-3 or if ªT is short.
Note that you will need to try for the drop of the ªT first, before playing clubs, because the §K is the only entry back to your last spade winner.
And, lucky you, it all happens, and you win nine tricks and score 3x30 + 10 + 500 = 600 for your vulnerable game.
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