WHY did North raise to 2S on his 3-3-3-4 shape? Was he playing a five-card major system? No, but he was playing a strong 1NT system on which his partner would open 1C on all weak no-trump hands. His partner would therefore hold either five spades or a balanced hand of at least 18 points. In the latter case, he would rebid 2NT. How would you play the spade game when West leads two top clubs and you ruff the second round? If you start by playing the ace and king of trumps you will lose control and go down. You should play just the king of trumps and then run the queen of diamonds. Suppose East wins with the diamond king and forces you with another club. You ruff and cash the queen of trumps, discovering that you now have fewer trumps than West. You cash the ace and king of hearts and play two more rounds of diamonds, everyone following. The fourth round of diamonds is ruffed with dummy’s bare ace and your jack of trumps will bring you a tenth trick. Suppose instead that East allows your diamond queen to win. The safest continuation is to play a diamond to the ace, ruff a club yourself, cash the top hearts and exit with a diamond. Again you will be able to ruff the fourth round of diamonds with dummy’s ace of trumps.
What will you say on the West cards?
Answer A raise to 3 C would be pre-emptive, showing long clubs but very few points. On this relatively strong hand you should bid 2NT to indicate that you have (at least) a sound raise to 3C. There is no point whatsoever in a redouble, which would allow North to enter the bidding cheaply. You should redouble only when you are interested in taking a low-level penalty.
WHY did North raise to 2S on his 3-3-3-4 shape? Was he playing a five-card major system? No, but he was playing a strong 1NT system on which his partner would open 1C on all weak no-trump hands. His partner would therefore hold either five spades or a balanced hand of at least 18 points. In the latter case, he would rebid 2NT. How would you play the spade game when West leads two top clubs and you ruff the second round? If you start by playing the ace and king of trumps you will lose control and go down. You should play just the king of trumps and then run the queen of diamonds. Suppose East wins with the diamond king and forces you with another club. You ruff and cash the queen of trumps, discovering that you now have fewer trumps than West. You cash the ace and king of hearts and play two more rounds of diamonds, everyone following. The fourth round of diamonds is ruffed with dummy’s bare ace and your jack of trumps will bring you a tenth trick. Suppose instead that East allows your diamond queen to win. The safest continuation is to play a diamond to the ace, ruff a club yourself, cash the top hearts and exit with a diamond. Again you will be able to ruff the fourth round of diamonds with dummy’s ace of trumps.
Answer