IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

 

When defending, suit preference signals must be an important part of your game.  Here is a hand that drives home that point.

 

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

Hand#30

Dlr

E

Vul

E/W

S

AK

H

K753

D

10754

C

J105

S

2

H

109864

D

AK

C

KQ863

  pad  

S

98

H

AJ2

D

J986

C

9742

 

S

QJ1076543

H

Q

D

Q32

C

A

West

North

East

South

  

  

    Pass

    4S

   Pass

   Pass

    Pass         

    

    

 

 

   

             

   

 

 

 

BIDDING:  South’s preemptive bid ended the auction.

 

PLAY:   West’s standard lead from an ace-king combination would be the ace, but holding a doubleton he reversed this by starting with the king.  East assumed the lead was from the KQ and encouraged by playing the nine.  West continued with the ace making it clear he started with only two diamonds so East played the jack to show an entry in the higher ranking suit.  If he had followed with his lowest diamond, he would be suggesting an entry in clubs.  Trusting partner, West next led a heart to East’s ace and a third diamond ruffed by West quickly defeated the contract.

 

This hand was played in a major championship and at the other table the contract was allowed to make.  That pair employed an upside-down method of showing suit preference and the play of the six did not convince West that a heart shift was right.  This resulted in a costly loss of ten IMPs.

 

 

 

Copyright ©2010 Larry Matheny