North’s
3H showed a sound raise to 3S at least. 4H would surely have gone down
but South chanced his luck in 4S. See if you can spot why his line of
play was wrong as he tumbled to defeat. West led the seven of hearts, to
the nine, jack and ace. Declarer played a trump to the 10 and king, East
switching to the king of clubs. Declarer ducked the first round of
clubs, won the second, and ruffed a club. When he then played a second
round of trumps, East rose with the ace and exited with a trump.
Declarer had lost three tricks already and had to bring in the diamonds
without loss. He chose to play the suit from the top and had to concede
a trick to West’s queen. One down! What did you make of that? The clue
to the right play in diamonds lies in the bidding. West had summoned a
raise to 2H on an extremely weak hand, as it was. In the early play his
partner had shown up with the A-K of spades, the K-J of hearts, and at
least the K-Q of clubs. Would West have raised to 2H on a near
yarborough? It was unlikely. Surely he was marked with the queen of
diamonds and declarer should therefore have finessed, making his doubled
game.
What would you say now?
Answer You should pass/n overall of 1NT shows about 15-18 points and you have only 13 points. An overall of 2C on a 4-card suit is unthinkable; more often than not, such an overall would be made on a 6-card suit rather then a 5-card suit. Nor is a take-out double a sound idea, with only a doubleton in the unbid major. If partner has fair values, he can protect in the fourth seat.
North’s
3H showed a sound raise to 3S at least. 4H would surely have gone down
but South chanced his luck in 4S. See if you can spot why his line of
play was wrong as he tumbled to defeat. West led the seven of hearts, to
the nine, jack and ace. Declarer played a trump to the 10 and king, East
switching to the king of clubs. Declarer ducked the first round of
clubs, won the second, and ruffed a club. When he then played a second
round of trumps, East rose with the ace and exited with a trump.
Declarer had lost three tricks already and had to bring in the diamonds
without loss. He chose to play the suit from the top and had to concede
a trick to West’s queen. One down! What did you make of that? The clue
to the right play in diamonds lies in the bidding. West had summoned a
raise to 2H on an extremely weak hand, as it was. In the early play his
partner had shown up with the A-K of spades, the K-J of hearts, and at
least the K-Q of clubs. Would West have raised to 2H on a near
yarborough? It was unlikely. Surely he was marked with the queen of
diamonds and declarer should therefore have finessed, making his doubled
game.
You should pass/n overall of 1NT shows about 15-18 points and you have only 13 points. An overall of 2C on a 4-card suit is unthinkable; more often than not, such an overall would be made on a 6-card suit rather then a 5-card suit. Nor is a take-out double a sound idea, with only a doubleton in the unbid major. If partner has fair values, he can protect in the fourth seat.