Better Bridge in Barry County July 3 2014

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  K 10 2  ♥  K 2  ♦  8   ♣  A K Q J 10 6 2
West ♠  A 8 6 3 ♥  10   ♦  9 5 4 3 2   ♣  8 7 3		East ♠  J 9 5 4 ♥  J 8 7 6 5 ♦  J 7 ♣  9 5
	South ♠  Q 7 ♥  A Q 9 4 3 ♦  A K Q 10 6 ♣  4

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West North/South Pick it!

 

North   1♣ 4♣ 5♠	East   Pass Pass Pass	South   2♥ 4NT ?	West Pass Pass Pass

Getting to a slam in a bridge game is always exciting. Getting to the right slam in a bridge game is even better. Let’s take a look at today’s hand, and let’s look for the best slam contract.

Played online in a recent duplicate bridge tournament, North opened the bidding with 1♣ with all of those beautiful clubs. With 16 high card points, and lots of playing cards in the club suit, this looks to be a club contract all the way. How high will the contract go depends on South’s response after East passed.

South with an even stronger hand than North opted to use the Solaway jump shift, a jump in another suit, showing seventeen or more points and a good biddable suit. In this case, South had two choices: the diamond suit was especially strong with four of the five honors, and the heart suit, not as strong perhaps, but most bridge players want to show the major suit first and then if necessary the second suit. South bid two hearts showing a strong response, and it was forcing to North.

North did not need much encouragement to also jump in clubs, showing a strong club suit and forcing to game at least and slam if possible. Accordingly, South bid 4NT, Roman Key Card Blackwood, where the king of trump is the fifth key card along with the four aces in ordinary Blackwood. North responded that she had two key cards of the five as well as the Q♣, the response that would suggest that the clubs were indeed a solid suit for a slam try.

Upon hearing about the two key cards and the location of the queen of trump, South paused to reflect on the information given: with two aces in his hand, South knew that the North/South team was missing one key card. Which key card was it? A bid of seven seemed impossible with that missing key card, but where should the contact be placed?

While many North/South teams played the contract in 6♣, making the six clubs and on occasion making an overtrick if the East/West team does not lead a spade, still the best contract for this hand is the one that South chose after evaluating the information from his partner North. South bid 6NT, and all passed.

With little to go on, and reluctant to lead out the A♠, a confused West chose the passive lead of the 3♦. Diamonds had not been bid, a wise move by South, and this lead was a perfect lead for the declarer, and not the defenders. One look at the beautiful dummy put down by partner North, including a thank you for her, and South saw no losers at all and claimed the small slam, taking all thirteen tricks in quick order and a score of 1470.

A more confident West on other hands led out with the A♠, making sure that the East/West team would get at least one trick and hold the North/South team to twelve tricks instead of the thirteen as taken above. That strategy paid off for that defending team as they held the North/South team to a 64% game and a 1440 score. What about the team that scored all thirteen tricks on the diamond lead? They scored exceptionally well by bidding no trump and taking all of the tricks. They scored an impressive 87% over the rest of the players.

And what about those teams who thought that they had just the ticket with a slam in the six club area? Those who made 6♣ plus one earned a score of 1390 and a 54% score. Those who bid and made 6♣ exactly earned a score of 1370 and a 46% score. The takeaways? While the club suit looked to be the best place to play this contract, in reality, those bridge players who thought about those extra points that the no trump contract will provide did exceptionally well on today’s hand. They scored almost double in percentage points compared to the players who played in a 6♣ contract. As a bridge player looking for the maximum score on a hand, consider carefully the final options. Safe is good sometimes, but competitive bidding can often pay great rewards. Think no trump when you can!

 

Gerald Stein

June 27, 2014

Number of words: 829