Hand of the day #622
You can now play the hand of the day on BBO+ and compare how you get on with the...
You can now play the hand of the day on BBO+ and compare how you get on with the players in the article.
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♥7
West leads a fourth-highest heart seven against three no-trump, and East plays the queen. What is your plan to make nine tricks? After taking the heart queen with the king, you note that six diamond tricks will be enough for the game. Is that too much to ask? Maybe! Suppose the full deal is similar to the layout shown here.
If your next move is to play the diamond ace and king, then when West shows out on the second round, you will have nowhere to turn. Even if the club queen were doubleton, you would not be able to play the suit to score five club tricks. Even if the ace and king drop the club queen, you will find that dummy’s club jack blocks the suit.
The solution is to test diamonds in a way that allows you to recover from a bad break there, so long as the club suit lies favorably for you. You should cash the diamond king at trick two and return to hand with a diamond to your ace. Whenever the diamond suit breaks 3-2 you will take your nine top tricks as before. However, when the cards lie as shown here, you will tackle clubs by leading a low one to the jack next. When that holds, you cash the diamond queen, throwing a heart, followed by the ace and king of clubs.
That allows you to make a heart, three diamonds and five clubs, because your communications have been left sufficiently fluid.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 3♣
Since the two-spade response should be played as natural and forcing, if not to game, you have way too much to sign off with in three diamonds but no convenient call. The best way to suggest your extras is to bid three clubs, describing your values accurately and helping partner to work out what you have. You can support spades at your next turn if convenient.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
You can now play the hand of the day on BBO+ and compare how you get on with the players in the article.