IMPROVE YOUR PLAY

with Larry Matheny

 

Hands with wild distribution don’t always lend themselves to scientific bidding.   Sometimes you just have to take a stab at the right bid.  

 

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

Hand #12-37

Dlr

S

Vul

none

S

Q987

H

J853

D

Q6

C

J93

S

 

H

 AK1097

D

 K753

C

 A1075

/images/pad.bmp

S

 64

H

 Q642

D

 10

C

 KQ8642

 

S

AKJ10532

H

 

D

AJ9842

C

 

West

 North

East

South

 

 

 

1S

 2H

3S

4H

6S

   Pass

    Pass

  Pass

  

 

 

 

 

 

BIDDING:  I loved my hand with 7-6 distribution and started the auction by bidding 1S.  West overcalled and my partner sitting North surprised me with a preemptive spade raise.  Knowing there were 4+ spades in his hand, I jumped to the slam hoping for a favorable diamond layout.

 

PLAY:  West led the ace of hearts that I ruffed.  I drew trumps followed by the queen of diamonds from dummy.  West won the king but I had the rest.  Unfortunately,  several N/S pairs were doubled in slam so my +980 did not score as high as I hoped.  Perhaps a slower sequence would have prompted a double.

 

 

Copyright ©2012  Larry Matheny