IMPROVE YOUR PLAY

With Larry Matheny

It’s nice to pick up strong hands but they are not always easy to bid. This pair reached the second best contract.

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

#14-17
Dlr	W
Vul	N/S

	AKQ62
	AKQ2
	KQJ2

	10874
	J10873
	85
	86

	J93
	4
	K10942
	10543

	5
	965
	AQJ763
	A97

West	North	East	South
Pass	2	Pass	2
Pass	2	Pass	3
Pass	3	Pass	4
Pass	5	Pass	6NT
Pass	Pass	Pass

Bidding: North loved his huge hand and opened 2. South considered jumping to 3 but hated to take up too much bidding room. Instead he made a game forcing response of 2. North continued to bid his suits and South ended the auction by bidding 6NT.

Play: West led a low club and declarer counted 11 tricks: 3 spades, 3 hearts, 1 diamond, and 4 clubs. He saw a 12^th trick could be developed if the spades broke 4-3 or if the hearts divided 3-3. He also realized he needed to keep the club entry to his hand in order to later cash the ace of diamonds. So he won the first trick in dummy and started on the spade suit. When both opponents followed to the first three rounds, he conceded a spade to West and soon claimed his slam.

One pair reached the cold grand slam in clubs and a few went down in 6NT when they won the first club trick in their hand.

Copyright 2014