NORTH’s hand was not appropriate for any jump raise in spades, mainly because he had only three-card support. He made the waiting bid of 2D and bid game on the next round when he heard that partner held a two-suiter. (Although the 1S opening did not promise five spades, the rebid of 2H indicated at least 5-4 shape in the majors. When 4-4 in the majors, South would open 1H). West led the club queen and the defenders took three tricks in the suit. Suppose you had been the declarer. How would you have played when East shifted to a heart at Trick 4? It is a reasonable line to draw two rounds of trumps followed by two more rounds of hearts. You will succeed when hearts are 3-3 or when the last trump lies with four or more hearts. Better odds are available with a dummy reversal (taking several ruffs in the long-trump hand). After winning the heart switch with the king, you cash the ace of diamonds and ruff a diamond high. You then cross to the queen of hearts and ruff another diamond high. A trump to the nine is followed by a third diamond ruff high and you can then draw trumps in the dummy. This line is about 10 per cent better than hoping for a favourable heart position.
What will you say now on the West cards?
Answer An overall of INT will describe your hand well. You hold around 16-18 points and a good stopper in both the enemy suits. A double would not be so good because you have only a doubleton in the unbid major suit.
NORTH’s hand was not appropriate for any jump raise in spades, mainly because he had only three-card support. He made the waiting bid of 2D and bid game on the next round when he heard that partner held a two-suiter. (Although the 1S opening did not promise five spades, the rebid of 2H indicated at least 5-4 shape in the majors. When 4-4 in the majors, South would open 1H). West led the club queen and the defenders took three tricks in the suit. Suppose you had been the declarer. How would you have played when East shifted to a heart at Trick 4? It is a reasonable line to draw two rounds of trumps followed by two more rounds of hearts. You will succeed when hearts are 3-3 or when the last trump lies with four or more hearts. Better odds are available with a dummy reversal (taking several ruffs in the long-trump hand). After winning the heart switch with the king, you cash the ace of diamonds and ruff a diamond high. You then cross to the queen of hearts and ruff another diamond high. A trump to the nine is followed by a third diamond ruff high and you can then draw trumps in the dummy. This line is about 10 per cent better than hoping for a favourable heart position.
Answer