Hands Illustrating Responder taking charge
Board 1 Dlr: N Nil Vul
NORTH
ª KQT
© K3
¨ A9852
§ J64
WEST EAST
ª A32 ª 54
© J8 © QT94
§ Q953 § T872
ª J9876
© A7652
¨ 4
§ AK
Bidding: N E S W
1¨ P 1ª P
1NT P 4© P
4ª
Responder takes charge after the 1NT rebid. With two 5-card suits South knows there must be a fit opposite a balanced hand, and game is the target. It would be a bad error to bid only 2©, showing a mini. North would be entitled to pass with a doubleton spade and 3 or 4 hearts. A 3© bid is okay – at least it is game-forcing. But responder would do the same with a 5-4 shape. Thus a jump to the four level is even better, promising at least 5-5 in the majors (since it goes beyond 3NT). North ‘gives preference’ back to spades, the longer major.
West's 'natural' lead is ¨Q, top of the sequence. As declarer you realize something must be done about the losing hearts. With only a doubleton in dummy, the scene is set for ruffing with the trumps in the short trump hand - the dummy. Therefore you cannot afford to draw trumps yet.
Win ¨A and immediately play ©K and ©A and ruff a heart. West cannot profitably ruff high. Return to hand with a club and ruff a fourth round, drawing East's last heart. Now make sure you draw all the enemy trumps as soon as possible. 12 tricks if you are careful for a score of 6x30 + 300 = 480.
What lead could hold declarer to eleven tricks?
ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª ©
Board 2 Dlr: E NS Vul
NORTH
ª QJT93
© 7
¨ 965
§ AJ98
WEST EAST
ª A5 ª K7
© Q98642 © AKJ
¨ 42 ¨ AJ83
§ T73 § K652
¨ KQT7
§ Q4
Bidding: N E S W
1¨ P 1©
(1ª) 2NT P 4©
Responder takes charge when opener reveals a balanced 18-19. With a 6-card suit, there must be a fit and just enough for game.
ªQ is led and as declarer you can count one loser in diamonds and maybe three in clubs.
The best chance to reduce your club losers is to hope that North holds §A (more than likely if he has overcalled). By leading a club from the West hand towards §K (called taking a finesse) you will always make a trick with the king whenever North holds §A (a 50% chance), either at once if North ducks the first round (= plays low) or later after North has taken the ace.
So you win ªK and draw trumps immediately- it takes three rounds - ending in hand. There is no reason to delay as you are not planning to trump in dummy. Now lead a club towards the king and win 10 tricks, scoring 420.
ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª ©
Board 3 Dlr: S EW Vul
NORTH
ª K84
© AJT5
¨ 653
§ AQ3
WEST EAST
ª 95 ª QT72
© 84 © 962
¨ 984 ¨KQJT
§ KT9742 § J6
ª AJ63
¨ A72
§ 85
Bidding: N E S W
1¨ P
1© P 2© P
4©
Over opener's simple raise, showing a mini 12-15 TP, responder takes charge and bids game with her 14 TP.
¨K is led and as declarer you can see the unpleasant possibility of two losers in diamonds and one each in clubs and spades. The third club can be turned into a winner by ruffing it in dummy.
However, there are chances of no losers at all in the black suits with the aid of a successful finesse in each.
Win ¨A and draw trumps in three rounds ending in hand. Play ªK and a low spade towards the ªAJ6. A sensible East will play low and you must finesse the jack. 50% of the time it will work.
When it does you can then lead a low club towards your AQ. When West plays low - nothing else is better - you can finesse the queen. It's your lucky day – the finesse works.
Play §A next and ruff your last club in dummy for 11 tricks & 450.
Note that if East is silly enough to discard a spade on the third club (a useful defensive principle: keep equal length with dummy's - or declarer's - long suit) declarer can ‘drop’ ªQ by playing the ace and then discard a losing diamond on dummy's fourth spade, making two overtricks. It's a tough game.
ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª ©
Board 4 Dlr: W All Vul
NORTH
ª QT932
© 965
¨ 7
§ AT98
WEST EAST
ª 4 ª A85
§ KQ732 § J6
¨ QJT863
§ 54
Bidding: N E S W
1§
P 1© P 3©
P 4NT P 5©
P 6©
Opener reassesses the hand as a midi, 16 TP with the heart fit, & thus jumps to 3©. Responder might boldly jump to slam but checks first to see they are not missing two aces via the 4NT Blackwood convention. (Remember the answers:
5§ = 0 or 4 aces, 5¨ = 1, 5© = 2, 5ª = 3.)
¨Q is led and you survey the possible ways of justifying your slam bid. You plan to make five trumps, ªA and two spade ruffs in dummy, two top diamonds and two clubs. Your diamond loser will be discarded on a high club.
Win with ¨K in hand (useful principle: preserve high cards for later entry to the hand with the long suit - here you want to preserve ¨A as a means of access to dummy's clubs).
Play ªA and ruff a spade with a low heart. Return to hand with a low trump to the king. Ruff your last spade with ©A. Return to hand with dummy's last trump to your queen. Another round of trumps will be necessary to draw North's last trump. You hadn't lost count, had you?
Ruffing with ©A looked rather showy but note that it was a sensible way to leave a low heart in dummy to enable you to return to your hand and draw the last trump. If you try to return with a diamond, North will trump and you will go down.
Now turn your attention to clubs, playing the jack first (honour from the short hand). Even if North holds off with the ace the first time (usually best) and wins the second you will still be able to reach your winning §Q via the carefully preserved ¨A.
Are these hands too hard for beginners? Rather hard for them to manage all on their own, but hopefully intriguing enough for them to glimpse the endless fascination of bridge.
ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª © ¨ § ª ©
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