A
simple stayman sequence carries you to game in spades. West leads the
ace of hearts and switches to a low club. East playing the queen. How
would you play the hand? Everyone is familiar with the hold-up of an ace
at notrumps. The technique can prove just as valuable in trump
contracts. Suppose you win with the ace of clubs. draw two rounds of
trumps, and turn to the diamond suit. East will ruff the third round, as
you get one club away. You still have three losers in the side suits and
will go one down. It was unlucky that East could ruff in so soon.
admittedly, but you didn’t make the most of your chances. Try holding
up the ace of clubs for one round. You win the second round of clubs.
draw two rounds of trumps, and turn to the diamond suit as before. What
a difference! When East ruffs the third diamond he has no club to play.
He has to switch to a heart and you ruff in the dummy. then throw two
club losers on the surplus diamonds. A trump remains to ruff your last
heart. There is barely any lie of the cards where a hold-up of the club
ace will not improve your chances.
What would you say now?
Answer You are rather strong for a 2NT rebid and if you rebid 3NT you might
miss a better 5-3 fit in spades. A rebid of 3C would nowhere near do
justice to the hand. The best move, albeit an artificial one, is to ‘reverse’
to 2D. This is forcing and will allow you to find out more about your
partner’s hand.
A
simple stayman sequence carries you to game in spades. West leads the
ace of hearts and switches to a low club. East playing the queen. How
would you play the hand? Everyone is familiar with the hold-up of an ace
at notrumps. The technique can prove just as valuable in trump
contracts. Suppose you win with the ace of clubs. draw two rounds of
trumps, and turn to the diamond suit. East will ruff the third round, as
you get one club away. You still have three losers in the side suits and
will go one down. It was unlucky that East could ruff in so soon.
admittedly, but you didn’t make the most of your chances. Try holding
up the ace of clubs for one round. You win the second round of clubs.
draw two rounds of trumps, and turn to the diamond suit as before. What
a difference! When East ruffs the third diamond he has no club to play.
He has to switch to a heart and you ruff in the dummy. then throw two
club losers on the surplus diamonds. A trump remains to ruff your last
heart. There is barely any lie of the cards where a hold-up of the club
ace will not improve your chances.
