IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

 

 

There are bidding conventions available to handle many types of hands.  But, sometimes a hand comes along where it is difficult or impossible to discover which cards your partner holds.  This hand is one of those.

 

 

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

#10-38

Dlr

E

Vul

E/W

S

1094

H

A654

D

1087

C

Q64

S

J87653

H

Q10

D

52

C

1095

  pad  

S

KQ2

H

KJ9873

D

9

C

J32

 

S

A

H

2

D

AKQJ643

C

AK87

West

North

East

South

  

 

     2H

   DBL

   Pass

    2S

   Pass

    3H

    Pass      3NT      Pass       6D

    Pass     Pass      Pass

   

 

 

 

BIDDING:  It was South’s birthday and so far the session had been very kind to him.  He loved this hand but while he was considering how to bid it, his right hand opponent rudely interfered with a weak-two bid.  South doubled and now North panicked.  North had no suit other than hearts and decided to bail out into his three-card spade suit.  But, it wasn’t over; South now cue-bid 3H and North reluctantly obeyed and bid 3NT to show a stopper in that suit.  At this point South wasn’t sure if his partner held the ace, the king, or something smaller in hearts.  He also didn’t know how to find out about North’s club holding.  But, it was his birthday and he decided to just bid the slam.

 

PLAY:  West led a heart and declarer soon had all thirteen tricks.  He won the opening lead, drew trumps, and smiled when the opponents’ clubs divided 3-3.  This made him think, “Perhaps I should have bid the grand slam”.  There were several different results for this hand: some were 3NT, others stopped in the diamond game, and only a few bid the slam.  His right hand opponent sighed, then smiled, and said “Happy Birthday”.  South took another bite of birthday cake and then looked at his next hand. 

 

 

 

Copyright ©2010 Larry Matheny