SITTING West, you lead the seven of hearts. East produces the jack and declarer wins with the king. Note that this is good play because it does not give away the position of the queen. If South had won with the queen of hearts, you would know that he also held the king (otherwise your partner would have played the card). Declarer now plays the ace and king of diamonds. How will you defend? It depends on partner’s count signal in diamonds. Here he will play the 3, showing an odd number of diamonds. Your best chance is to unblock your queen on the second round. When declarer plays a third diamond, your partner will win with the jack and kill the contract with a heart return. What if the lay-out was different and partner played the six of diamonds on the first round? Suspecting that South held A-K-J-x, you would not unblock the queen. You would win the third round of diamonds and attempt to enter partner’s hand in one of the black suits for a heart return.
What will you say now?
Answer
Partner surely has at least one four-card major and chances of game your way are reasonable. Indicate your strength with a cue bid of 2C. If partner bids one of the major suits, you will raise to the three-level, issuing a strong game invitation. When the opponents had bid two suits, it is normal to choose the lower suit for your cue bid. A response such as 2S would show reasonable values but would not be forcing.
SITTING West, you lead the seven of hearts. East produces the jack and declarer wins with the king. Note that this is good play because it does not give away the position of the queen. If South had won with the queen of hearts, you would know that he also held the king (otherwise your partner would have played the card). Declarer now plays the ace and king of diamonds. How will you defend? It depends on partner’s count signal in diamonds. Here he will play the 3, showing an odd number of diamonds. Your best chance is to unblock your queen on the second round. When declarer plays a third diamond, your partner will win with the jack and kill the contract with a heart return. What if the lay-out was different and partner played the six of diamonds on the first round? Suspecting that South held A-K-J-x, you would not unblock the queen. You would win the third round of diamonds and attempt to enter partner’s hand in one of the black suits for a heart return.
Partner surely has at least one four-card major and chances of game your way are reasonable. Indicate your strength with a cue bid of 2C. If partner bids one of the major suits, you will raise to the three-level, issuing a strong game invitation. When the opponents had bid two suits, it is normal to choose the lower suit for your cue bid. A response such as 2S would show reasonable values but would not be forcing.