23.07.13 Board 20

The bidding and defence are of interest this board.

Four spades cannot be defeated . Nobody at Woodberry found the best defence of a club lead, diamond switch and club ruff, to hold the contract to ten tricks. All those pairs in spades made 11 tricks.

In common with several other pairs, we found ourselves in 3NT by East. Nigel led the diamond ace followed by another diamond to the queen. Anne cashed the ace of clubs and returned a diamond for one down. This achieved a top - all other pairs in 3NT made the contract. I suspect that south led a club or a heart at those tables.

V North ♠ 10 5 4 ♥ Q J 10 9 8 2 ♦ Q 4 2 ♣ A
D V West ♠ A K Q J 7 3 ♥ 5 4 ♦ 7 ♣ K Q 7 3	Board20	V East ♠ 6 ♥ A K 6 3 ♦ J 9 8 6 3 ♣ J 6 4
	V South ♠ 9 8 2 ♥ 7 ♦ A K 10 5 ♣ 10 9 8 5 2	9 9 15 7

21.05.13 Board 1

My partner, East, opened a Benji 2 clubs on this board. South made a rather fanciful overcall of 2 spades. I bid 3 hearts, and partner bid 4 diamonds. We then reached 6 diamonds after a RKCB sequence.
The 3-0 diamond split was a slight problem, but a diamond finesse and a spade ruff enabled the contract to be made.
I was surprised that we were the only pair to have found this slam. I invite readers to contribute their ideas for a good bidding sequence (with or without the intervention).

D NV North ♠ 10 5 2 ♥ J 9 3 2 ♦ Q 8 3 ♣ 9 8 5
NV West ♠ 7 4 ♥ A Q 10 8 5 ♦ 7 6 5 ♣ A 6 3	Board1	NV East ♠ A Q 8 ♥ - ♦ A K J 10 9 4 2 ♣ K 10 7
	NV South ♠ K J 9 6 3 ♥ K 7 6 4 ♦ - ♣ Q J 4 2	3 17 10 10

07.05.13 Board 23

"Careless Defence Costs Tricks"

This was board 23 of the EBU Spring Simultaneous Pairs on 7th May.

Brian Senior's commentary correctly states that 6 spades cannot be made because of the identical N-S distribution. However, at Woodberry 8 out of 11 pairs in spade contracts were allowed to make 12 tricks (6 of these were in the slam).

How could this have happened?

On a club lead from West, South should draw trumps and eliminate clubs. Declarer may elect to take a heart finesse at this stage, but life is more difficult for the defence if declarer plays ace and another diamond immediately.

West must win this trick, because if East wins he will be endplayed.

If West now leads the 10H, North will cover, and the contract will be made by a finesse of the 8H.

So West instead leads 5H. North plays low, and East must play 9H to defeat the contract.

If you got this wrong, console yourself with the thought that this was a pairs competition. If you had been playing teams, a 17 IMP swing would be likely to have cost the match!

V North ♠ K Q J 9 3 ♥ Q 4 3 ♦ A 8 ♣ A K 9
V West ♠ 2 ♥ 10 7 5 ♦ K 10 9 6 2 ♣ J 10 8 7	Board23	V East ♠ 5 4 ♥ K 9 6 2 ♦ Q J 7 4 ♣ 6 4 3
	D V South ♠ A 10 8 7 6 ♥ A J 8 ♦ 5 3 ♣ Q 5 2	19 6 4 11

02.04.13 Board 20

V North ♠ A 10 7 ♥ J 9 7 2 ♦ 10 9 ♣ Q J 6 4
D V West ♠ Q J 6 5 ♥ K 10 4 ♦ A J 7 4 2 ♣ 5	Board20	V East ♠ K 9 8 4 2 ♥ 8 3 ♦ K 6 ♣ K 9 7 2
	V South ♠ 3 ♥ A Q 6 5 ♦ Q 8 5 3 ♣ A 10 8 3	8 9 11 12

I am writing about this hand to illustrate a principle about opening fourth in hand.

I suspect that most players West players would open one diamond as dealer. However, at our table, there were three passes to South. I passed the hand out because my singleton was in spades. At most tables, East played in 2S making with overtricks due to the fortunate lie of the cards. So we achieved a good pairs score.

The point I wish to make is that, where the points are equally shared between the two partnerships, the side with a spade fit will usually win the contract. Therefore, if you do not have spades, you need a good hand to open in 4th position. 

A good rule of thumb is the "rule of 15". You should open in 4th position only if your high card points plus your number of spades equals 15. The extra "spade points" are sometimes known as "Pearson points".

05.03.13 Board 3

Should you make a passive or an attacking opening lead?
Often a passive lead is better in pairs scoring, because an attacking lead could give away a vital overtrick - not so important in teams where your priority is to defeat the contract. But there are exceptions.

NV North ♠ 5 3 ♥ K J 8 6 ♦ 9 7 5 ♣ K 7 3 2
V West ♠ K Q J 10 9 7 ♥ 9 7 2 ♦ Q J ♣ Q 10	Board3	V East ♠ A 8 4 ♥ A 10 4 ♦ K 8 4 3 2 ♣ J 8
	D NV South ♠ 6 2 ♥ Q 5 3 ♦ A 10 6 ♣ A 9 6 5 4

On this board, South dealt and N-S passed throughout. The bidding was 1S-2D-2S-4S.
North can tell that the diamonds are likely to break, and the bidding suggests that West may have losers to discard on the long diamonds.
So it is important to cash your winners before declarer can establish his suit.
The North players who found a heart lead (or cashed their club winners first) were rewarded; and those who made a "safe" lead of a diamond or a trump were punished.