IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

There are many conventions available for you and your partner but you still need good judgment.  Take a look at this hand.

Scoring:  Matchpoints (Pairs)
 
Hand #25
Dlr  N
Vul E/W
S AKQ43
H 963
D Q73
C A10
S 10
H A1054
D 854
C QJ987
    
S J76
H QJ72
D 6
C 65432

S 9852
H K8
D AKJ1092
C K
West North
 East
 South

1S Pass
 2D
  Pass     3D    Pass     3S
  Pass
     4C     Pass
     4NT
  Pass
     5D    Pass
     5H
  Pass
     6S    Pass
     6NT
All Pass

BIDDING:   Sitting South, after my partner raised diamonds, I set spades as the trump suit.  Next she cue bid clubs and I bid 4NT.  We use Roman Keycard Blackwood (four aces + trump king) and her 5D bid showed three keycards.  I then bid 5H to ask if she held the spade queen.  Her leap to 6S showed the queen but no outside king.  I could now count thirteen tricks (five spades, six diamonds, and two clubs) but the opponents held the heart ace.  I next bid 6NT to protect the heart king from the opening lead.

PLAY:   West did not lead the ace of hearts so I took all thirteen tricks.  Note that 6S is doomed with a heart lead.  The convention helped us get to the slam but realizing the danger of a heart lead saved it.

Copyright ©2007 Larry Matheny.