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but strange.

That seems to sum up our feature deal for today. There was a little sting in the tail for some of the East-West pairs when this deal was played out. Firstly, we gave you a slightly strange question to East who held:

 

 

1 was 4+ clubs with North-South reaching the 5-level very quickly. As East, you have two absolutely certain tricks in defence..but are you beating 5? Which is more likely here, that we are beating 5 or making 5.

Our Panel are as one:

Nigel Kearney “5: Who knows? There is a good chance both contracts are down so it would be harder at matchpoints. But at IMP scoring it's usually worth bidding one more when anything could be making.”

Bruce Anderson “5: obviously this will be wrong if we have a red suit trick on defence. In all probability we don’t have a spade trick, with North being void and holding 6/7 clubs. And it is more likely A is with South, meaning the odds favour sacrificing. So, 5 it is.”

Andy Braithwaite “5: May make on a club lead to pitch hearts but only 1 off when 5 could be making.”

Peter Newell “5: reasonable chance of making as likely partner is short in hearts and has some diamonds….and the opponents could make 5 quite easily too. We probably do not have a spade trick, and the A is likely sitting over the king…so unless partner has a diamond trick, 5 could easily make. So, 5 wins if it makes or is a good sacrifice.”

Michael Cornell “5: I am going to make a lot of the time when we have only 1 heart loser. If we have 2 heart losers, they will usually be making unless partner has a diamond trick.”

“The 5-level” may “belong to the opponents” but not on a deal like this. Despite having two certain defensive tricks, and an ace and a king, we cannot be sure of beating 5 while 5 just has to be a cheap save or even better.

The pair who doubled 5 and led the J were in for a rude shock:

 

 

Well, maybe West should not have held 8 spades and from their point of view, there was no reason why their partner held the other 5, but the opening lead really suited South who discarded a heart from dummy and was able to make a quick claim for the loss of two trump tricks.

The same fate met those Wests who made the same lead against 6x though at least East could not be denied their two club tricks. You have to be fairly sure of your ground in going to the 6-level vulnerable against non-vulnerable opponents.

The majority bid on to 5 after a large leap by West. 3 or 4…it did not matter which because either way, it was virtually impossible for the defence to take a spade trick against a club contract. East’s double of 6 might have worked in a strange way in East-West’s favour. West would consider it a “Lightner” double suggesting a different lead from a spade. As you can see, it does not matter which red suit queen West leads. The result will be +500. (You can make a Lightner Double if you do not mind which suit partner leads. That is certainly the case for East here.)

Meanwhile, the A was where all our panel predicted but West’s Q ensured there could not be more than 2 tricks for the defence against 5, whether or not a club was led at trick 1.

One West in 5 started to draw trumps by leading 4 from dummy and played 2 from their hand (amid a cry of anquish!) showing great relief to a bemused dummy when 4 won the trick! Now, that’s something you cannot achieve on on-line bridge!

Taking insurance

With so many spades, and the vulnerability in your favour, it does seem the obvious action to bid 5 even if one incurs a small minus in the process. Bridge rules work in more normal situations and for East, the spade suit meant this occasion was far from normal. Some days, you will find you could have done better by defending, but on balance, taking insurance against a freakish break is worthwhile if it is to be cheap.

After all, one hopes that the other pair (s) in your seat are faced with the same problem and also take out the same insurance.

What to open: and for your next bid?

There was a divergence of opinion over the choice of opening bid on this hand:

Teams.

 

If you choose to open 1, your partner will bid 1. What is your next bid? The opposition are silent.

Richard Solomon

 

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