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            Equal and Unequal Length.

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice Players… and others. It’s Fri - Day.

There’s a message here for all grades, even if the play may seem rather hard.

There’s some good basic rules to learn from today’s deal and also to learn when one rule or guideline can be broken!

 

Your system is that 1 promises at least 4 clubs. South’s 2 jump is a Weak Jump Overcall. The bidding thus accelerates up to 3 from your partner. What now?

At one table, West did not know what to bid and rather in a state of panic or being unsure, they passed which was kind of the worst decision they could make. As we soon see, there are exceptions to most rules at bridge but one good rule to follow is that when a new suit is introduced at the 3-level in a constructive auction, that that bid should be forcing for one round.

That was one reason why West should bid. Another is that they did not like spades. They might have bid their own reasonable suit a second time but there is also the fact that when a player first bids one suit and then a second suit, the first suit may well be longer than the second, rather than the other way round.

East may have only 4 spades but they should have more than 4 clubs. (If East had only 4 clubs and 4 spades, they should have made a negative double after 3, rather than bid a second suit.) If West was stuck for a bid, they could have chosen East’s first bid suit, even though to do so would have taken the partnership to the 4 level and even though West did not like clubs any more than spades. The difference in length of East’s two suits may not always be as wide as in this example but that principle applies.

 

Had West bid 4, East may well have raised to game, with 5 having a reasonable chance of success. We will return to that contract shortly.

There was one other bid West might have made and that is 3NT with what they hope might be a hold in hearts. The most difficult lead against 3NT for West that North could find is a low heart to South’s K. South will return J. Hoping that South did not start with AKJ, West must play low to J. They know from South’s 2 bid (showing 6 hearts) that North has 3 hearts. A cunning South holding a suit headed by AKJ might win A and then play J. West needs to hope South played an “honest” K and did not hold A. On the above lay-out, as long as West plays low on the second heart, the defence can only take 3 heart tricks, at least straightaway.

A guideline to be broken

When we hold 9 cards in a suit between our two hands and we are missing the queen, the normal recommended line is to play AK hoping the queen will fall. That rather changes when one opponent has shown 6 or 7 cards in a different suit and a weak hand, as South did here. The odds do now favour playing the partner of the pre-emptor, here North, for 3 or 4 clubs rather than South holding 2 including Q.

North wins A at trick 3 and switches to a low spade. West must take A and can then play A (in case the Q is singleton in the South hand) and then play a diamond to their own hand. Although finessing the K here does work, we do not want to risk a second finesse. If the club finesse works, West will have 9 tricks (7 clubs and 2 aces). It would be a shame if the diamond finesse failed and the club finesse worked. Even if South held doubleton king, the suit would not run for declarer. 

So, A and then a second club. West must be sure to play J from dummy as otherwise, they will be stranded in the West hand. When J scores, West can breathe a big sigh of relief and play out all their club tricks to make 3NT.

What then of 5?

The same conclusion about the club suit can be drawn here. However, East has 3 losing spades with which to deal. There are different successful approaches after South starts with J and continues the suit forcing East to ruff. One way is for East to give up a low spade. Again the defence play a heart. Now comes A and a spade ruff to be followed by a club to the J, two more rounds of clubs and then a successful diamond finesse. This time the finesse is necessary as East’s remaining spade needs to be discarded on A.

Neither 3NT nor 5 are easy contracts to make while the defence may be more helpful than shown above. It is useful to remember a few rules in the bidding and the rule declarers need to break in the play of the hand.

Richard Solomon

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