Hand of the day #176
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff Opening Lead: ♥Q When South played four spad...
This conundrum was written by Mark Horton and was originally published in the book Misbid these hands with me - you can find out all about it further down the page.
During a Mixed Teams event where all the players are internationals, I pick up these cards as North. We are vulnerable, and the dealer is East.
♠ K Q 5 4 2 ♥ 8 3 ♦ A Q 10 2 ♣ K 8
When my partner opens 2NT promising 19-20 points, I know we are in the slam zone. I start with a transfer bid of 3♥ and over partner’s 3♠, I introduce my second suit with 4♦. When all that elucidates from partner is a return to 4♠, I decide to ask for keycards with 4NT. Partner’s reply of 5♦ confirms she has the missing aces. If partner has both red kings and the ♣Q we may have a grand slam, but recalling the advice of Bob Hamman, ‘Never play me for the perfect hand,’ I content myself with 6♠, giving us this auction:
West leads the ♥Q and this is what partner can see:
She wins with the ace, cashes the ♠A and continues with the nine. West follows to the first round with the ♠8, but then discards the ♥2, at which point partner concedes one down. This was the disappointing layout:
Post-Mortem
There was no indication from the auction that South held more than two spades. In a situation where your side has most of the high-card points it is usually best to play in 6NT, as you may be able to survive a bad break in a suit.
One can also consider South’s initial action. Opening 2NT as opposed to 1♣ will make it difficult to locate an eight-card fit in clubs. It has been suggested that 5-4-2-2 is not a notrump pattern, and there is an element of truth in that.
In 6NT, declarer can test the spades and when West discards on the second round, there is time to play for a 3-3 club break. It appears that on this occasion that contract will fail, but at one table North ended up in 6NT after a long relay sequence and East led the ♥10. Declarer won with dummy’s ace, overtook the ♦J with the queen and played the ♠2. When East followed with the three, declarer, having observed an almost imperceptible hesitation, put in dummy’s nine and had twelve tricks. East can upset declarer’s applecart by putting up a spade honor on the first round of the suit, but that only works because West’s singleton is the eight!
In 2007, Horton wrote Misplay These Hands with Me, a deliberate homage to Reese's classic, Play These Hands with Me. The difference was that the declarer in Horton's book always made an error, sometimes obvious, sometimes not so much. This successful book was the basis of a long-running column in the ACBL's Bridge Bulletin, a sequel in 2019, and earlier this year, Misdefend These Hands with Me. Now the same author turns to the topic of bidding, and once again gives the reader a chance to learn from someone else's mistakes. All the deals are taken from top-level play.
