Hands illustrating Opener's rebid
Board 1 Dlr: N Nil Vul
NORTH
ª JT983
© A7
¨ A85
§ KQ6
WEST EAST
ª A4 ª 62
§ T84 § J9732
SOUTH
ª KQ75
¨ KJT63
§ A5
Bidding: N E S W
1ª P 2¨ P
2NT P 4ª
With 15TP, South is much too strong to jump immediately to game, proceeding there via a DGR. North shows a balanced 12-15 with her 2NT rebid and responder bids the 4ª game as planned.
East leads ©Q (promising only the jack against a suit contract and you take stock as declarer. You can count a trump loser, a heart loser and a possible diamond loser.
While it is often best to draw trumps as soon as possible, this deal illustrates one of those occasions when there is something more profitable to do first before letting the opponents in with the trump ace. Win ©A and immediately play three rounds of clubs (ace first from the short hand) and discard dummy's heart loser. With so few clubs it is extremely unlikely that the defenders will trump you.
Now play a trump to force out the ace, win the return and draw the remaining trumps. Next play diamonds, again ace first from the short hand. ¨Q falls on the second round, a pleasant bonus, and you make 12 tricks for a score of 6x30 + 300 = 480.
ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª ©
Board 2 Dlr: E NS Vul
NORTH
ª K83
© T94
¨ QJT82
§ A7
WEST EAST
ª 962 ª A75
§ T3 § KQJ62
SOUTH
ª QJT4
¨ 9653
§ 9854
Bidding: E S W N
1© P 3© P
6©
East revalues her hand to 22 TP. Opposite 10-12 she decides to go for slam with her shapely collection.
On South's ªQ lead you consider your plan as declarer. You will have to lose §A in order to make 4 club tricks, and so you cannot lose any spade tricks as well. You plan to make 4 clubs, 5 trumps, 2 diamonds and a spade for 12 tricks.
Win ªA, draw trumps (it will take 3 rounds -hope you noticed South’s failure to follow on the second round!) making sure you end in dummy so that you can discard your two losing spades on dummy's ¨AK.
Only then can you afford to let the opponents in. Drive out §A by playing §T first (our old friend ‘honour from the short hand’).
12 tricks made for a score of 6x30 + 300 + 500 = 980.
ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª ©
Board 3 Dlr S EW Vul
NORTH
ª K95
© A62
¨ K8
§ 95432
¨ A9764
§ AK
Bidding: S W N E
1ª P 3ª P
6ª
Opposite North's 10-12 TP jump raise, South boldly bids her revalued 22 TP to slam. West leads ©Q.
As declarer you can count 10 top tricks. The way to make two more is to trump two diamonds in dummy. Thus you cannot, once more, afford to draw trumps first.
Win ©A, play ¨K and cross to ¨A. Ruff a diamond with ª5 (it doesn't help West to ruff in). Return to §A and ruff another diamond with a low spade, collecting East’s last diamond.
Now, at last, cash the trump king and return to hand by ruffing a heart (much safer than a club with so many) so that you can draw the remaining trumps. Your hand is now ‘high’ because your last diamond is a winner.
You have made slam with an overtrick for a score of 7x30 + 300 + 500 = 1010.
ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª ©
Board 4 Dlr: W All Vul
NORTH
ª JT962
© Q832
¨ 976
§ A
WEST EAST
ª A5 ª Q74
SOUTH
ª K83
¨ 3
§ 9854
Bidding: W N E S
1¨ P 2NT P
4§ P 4¨ P
4NT P 5¨ P
6¨
Opposite East's balanced 13-15 2NT, West knows there is a fit in at least one of her two 5-card suits and that her hand is thus worth 20 TP. She shows her strong 5-5 by jumping to 4§. East gives preference to her longer diamonds. West checks via Blackwood that 2 aces are not missing before bidding slam.
As declarer you consider your assets after ªJ lead. (Note that a sensible South will play ªK only if dummy’s ªQ is played.)
You should be able to make 5 trumps, 4 clubs and 3 top major suit tricks. That is very good news.
The bad news is that the spade lead, although won by your ace, exposes a spade loser in addition to §A. Something will have to be done about that spade loser. Evaporation is less effective than eradication.
Win ªA, draw trumps in three rounds. There is no reason to defer drawing trumps this time since you have plenty of winners without using dummy’s trumps separately.
Before switching to a club to establish your club winners by driving out §A make sure you first play ©AK to discard your losing spade.
Now your slam will be safe for a score of 6x20 + 500 + 750 = 1370.
ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª ©
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