SITTING East, you open 1NT and West’s 2D is a transfer showing at least five hearts. North bids 2H for takeout and South ends in 4S. How will you defend when West leads the nine of diamonds and declarer plays low from dummy? Your partner would lead second-best from a bad suit (the 7 from 9-7-6-4), so the lead of a 9 implies a singleton or doubleton. You win with the diamond queen and cash the ace of diamonds, West following. What now? You must hope that partner has the heart ace. If he has only five hearts you can take two heart tricks, defeating the contract. If partner has six hearts, you have only one heart trick. You would have to lead another diamond, hoping that partner had a big enough trump to dislodge one of dummy’s honours. To discover how many hearts partner has, you lead the king of hearts, requesting a count signal. When partner plays the 7, you know that he has six hearts. You therefore switch back to diamonds. Partner’s trump 9 forces dummy’s king and your queen of trumps is promoted. If partner had given you an odd count signal, showing five hearts, you would have played another heart instead.
What will you say now?
Answer
East has spurned the chance to rebid his hearts, so you cannot expect there to be a 5-3 heart fit. If partner has 5-4-1-3 shape, what is the chance of a club slam? Not particularly good because you have a void opposite his main suit in spades. It seems to me that you should call it a day and pass.
SITTING East, you open 1NT and West’s 2D is a transfer showing at least five hearts. North bids 2H for takeout and South ends in 4S. How will you defend when West leads the nine of diamonds and declarer plays low from dummy? Your partner would lead second-best from a bad suit (the 7 from 9-7-6-4), so the lead of a 9 implies a singleton or doubleton. You win with the diamond queen and cash the ace of diamonds, West following. What now? You must hope that partner has the heart ace. If he has only five hearts you can take two heart tricks, defeating the contract. If partner has six hearts, you have only one heart trick. You would have to lead another diamond, hoping that partner had a big enough trump to dislodge one of dummy’s honours. To discover how many hearts partner has, you lead the king of hearts, requesting a count signal. When partner plays the 7, you know that he has six hearts. You therefore switch back to diamonds. Partner’s trump 9 forces dummy’s king and your queen of trumps is promoted. If partner had given you an odd count signal, showing five hearts, you would have played another heart instead.
East has spurned the chance to rebid his hearts, so you cannot expect there to be a 5-3 heart fit. If partner has 5-4-1-3 shape, what is the chance of a club slam? Not particularly good because you have a void opposite his main suit in spades. It seems to me that you should call it a day and pass.