Better Bridge in Barry County
By
Gerald Stein
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North
♠ Q 10 5 4
♥ K
♦ Q J 7
♣ Q J 9 5 2
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West
♠ A K 7 2
♥ J 10 6 5 3
♦ 9 5
♣ A 6
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East
♠ 8 6
♥ Q 9 8 4
♦ K 10 6 4
♣ 8 7 3
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South
♠ J 9 3
♥ A 7 2
♦ A 8 3 2
♣ K 10 4
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Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
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East
Both
A♣
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North
Dbl (1)
2♠
3♠
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East
Pass
Pass
3♥
Pass
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South
1♦
1♠
Pass
Pass
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West
1♥
Pass
Pass
Pass
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(1) Negative
Double promising 4 of the unbid major and six high card points.
The spade suit is your best friend if you are
declarer. In a recent duplicate club game, today’s hand was played nine times,
but only three times in the spade suit for North/South. Five North/South pairs
chose to let East/West play in hearts. One East/West team chose to let
North/South play in clubs. Of the three pairs who played in spades, however,
for the North/South pair, two went down to defeat by being set one trick at the
low level 3♠ contract. Did East/West steal the contract away from North/South
on five of those hands? Did North/South fail to use their bridge skills to bid
to the proper spade contract and then fail to make the contract by faulty play
of the hand? Let’s take a look and see what happened to the North/South team
and what should have happened. Remember the spade suit is your best friend if
you are declarer.
East as dealer passed as first bidder, and South
opened the auction with 1♦, a convenient minor,
promising twelve high card points and at least three diamonds. West overcalled
with 1♥, promising at least five supposedly good
hearts and ten high card points or more. North used the effective bidding tool
of the Negative Double, a handy use for the double at low levels. It has
nothing to do with penalty at that low level, but it gives partner South a lot
of information without using up any bidding space. A double in this situation
promises four cards in the unbid major, in this case your favorite suit,
spades, and at least six high card points. If North would have had five spades,
he would have bid 1♠, and his partner would have known that he had five spades,
bypassing the Negative Double.
East passed again, and a reluctant South duly bid
the spade suit, knowing that she only had three spades, but also knowing that
she must not pass the Negative Double for fear that it would be turned into a
penalty double of 1♥. South bid 1♠. Some tables
had aggressive bidders for the East/West team and continued the bidding to 3♥. Most North/South teams folded and gave away the
contract to the five pairs that bid up to a 3♥
contract. Did they just give away the farm?
Three North/South pairs bid up to 3♠ of the nine
pairs playing, but two of the three played the hand poorly and allowed
East/West to gain points by setting the spade contract by at least one trick.
There is reason to believe that faulty play of the hand was at work here. Is
there a way to play the hand better than the way most of the North/South pairs
played it? Let’s see.
With South as the declarer in a 3♠ contract, West
led the unsupported A♣, probably thinking that he could lead the 6♣ next and
also have a chance to look at the dummy. The A♣ held, and West shifted to a
heart, thinking perhaps that East might have the A♥.
No such luck as the K♥ held the second trick.
Here was the crucial time for South to make this hand. Even though South had
only three spades and the dummy had four, South can always hope that the
outstanding spades will split 3-3. No such luck, as most of the times, that
outstanding combination will split 4-2. The correct play of the hand is a lead
of the 4♠ from the dummy to the J♠ in the declarer’s hand. West took the K♠
trick for their first trick.
West shifted to the 9♦
on the next trick, Q♦ from the board, K♦ from East, and the A♦
from South. South continued the trump-pulling by leading a 3♠ from her hand to
West’s waiting A♠. The dummy and East followed each with a spade. A small heart
lead from West allowed South to discard the 7♦
and win with the A♥ in her hand. Using her last
trump, the 9♠, from her hand, South led to the board, and overtook the 9♠ with
the 10♠ with West playing a small spade and East showing out. South played the
top spade, the Q♠, and drew West’s last spade, pitching her loser 7♥. Once on the board and all trump accounted for,
South played the J♦ winning, led a small club to
the K♣ in her hand, led her last club to the board, overtaking the 10♣ with the
Q♣, and played the last two good club tricks, making ten tricks in spades.
South was able to take ten tricks while East/West
took the A♣, the A♠, and the K♠. Astute playing of the cards by South gained a
well-deserved top on this hand with a score of 170. It is easy to see that the
plan was there to make this contract. What was the deciding factor in making
this contract? The basic rule of bridge once again came into play: “Get the kiddies
off the street.” Draw the trumps and let the opponents make the mistakes. With
the side suits of clubs and diamonds set up, essentially by the defense, it was
just a matter of letting the defense take their two spade tricks and their one
club trick, and no more. Once again, it is important to remember: the spade
suit is your best friend if you are the declarer. The takeaway? If you have the
spades, you should have the bid.
Gerald Stein
October 28, 2013
Number of words: 1038
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