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Test Your Bridge Skills #41

This quiz was written by Oren Lidor.

Test Your Bridge Skills #41

Test Your Bridge Skills #41

Hand 1

What will you bid as South?

Best Answer: 3♥

So, what does partner have? Since you bid 3♣, to show an invite point hand, it is clear that partner has more than minimum for their bid (otherwise they’d Pass 3♣) and is looking for at least game. In which suit? In Club (as you supported Club).

It's true that partner is likely to have 6 Diamonds for their bid, but even if you had only 4 Clubs, it would be better to play in Clubs, given that a 4-4 fit is better than 6-2 and a 5-4 is better than 6-3.

You can see that 6♣/♦ is easy to make (but if the ♦QJ was missing then 6♣ still makes while 6♦ is almost sure to fail).

Bid 3♥. Doing so shows you have a good hand. Your aces, (especially the ♦A) are very valuable, with a control in Heart leaves all options open – whether to bid slam as per the hand above or stay in game.

Also a 4♣ bid would be good as it shows a Slam interest (or you would just bid 5♣). It’s better if partner asks for aces, knowing their shortness (single Spade here) allows them to bid slam with enough key cards.

Note:

  • Why is your 4-4 fit normally better? Because it allows you to ruff, pull trumps and later discard losers on the side 5-3 suit, whereas if the 5-3 suit is the trump, you will not be able to discard losers on the 4-4 side suit later. Example:
    Which slam would you rather play, 6♥ or 6♠?The 6♠ hand has no chance of making. You have a maximum of 11 tricks, no matter what you do and you can’t avoid losing two Clubs.Whereas 6♥ can be made with an overtrick. All you need to do is ruff 2 Diamonds in dummy, pull out the trumps and discard two Clubs on the long Spades.
  • You can make an agreement with partner that a 3♣ rebid shows a weaker hand to put opponent off entering the bidding. Here the agreement was that 3♣ is an inviting (ps – should it be invitational?) hand. Therefore 3♦ must be a good hand and not a correction (if partner didn’t have Clubs they would've bid 2/3♦)
  • The 2♣ rebid by partner shows12-17 points (so it could be a medium hand too). If they rebid 3♣, they’re showing 18-21. So by bidding 2♣ and later 3♦ this shows the 2♣ rebid was a maximum.
Hand 2

What will you bid as South?

Best Answer: 4♦

As a responder, you have an excellent hand and slam could be possible. You have a very good fit with partner's 6 cards suit, a long, and very good side Spade suit and a singleton in Diamond.

Bid 4♦, splinter. That way you show a good fit in Hearts, a singleton or void in Diamonds and a hand which has an interest in slam (vs a suitable hand).

Another way to show the strength in your hand is by bidding a new minor suit at the 3-level (3♣ or 3♦). This bid is forcing, which means asking your partner to keep bidding. It doesn't necessarily show you have 4 cards in the suit you bid (Clubs or Diamonds), although usually, you should have some strength in that suit (which you don't have in either minor suit here). The idea is to set a plan to bid 4♥ later, but you're showing an even stronger hand than just directly bidding 4♥. Example:

You can see that partner got really encouraged by your splinter as it gives an answer to their 3 Diamond losers problem. Plus, as they have strength in Clubs they ask aces and bid slam.

Note:

  • Splinter shows a good fit (normally 9+ cards) and singleton or void in the bidden suit, and lets your partner evaluate their hand. If they have lots of losers in that suit and strength in another (as with the above hand), they should continue to slam. If they have wasted values in that suit (say ♦KQx), they should settle for game (4♥ here).
  • A rebid of a new minor suit by the responder (3♣/♦ here) is called New Minor Forcing. It's game forcing (and could be artificial) and asks partner to continue bidding in order to find the best game/slam; such as finding a 5-3 fit in responder's suit, 3NT or slam in opener's or responder's suit.
  • How should the hand be played? On a Diamond lead, followed by a 2nd Diamond – Ruff, pull ♥A, play ♣AK, ruff the 3rd Diamond, play ♠AK (discarding the Club loser), return to hand via ruff and then you should have only trumps left in your hand to play. On a trump lead (or any other lead) – it’s best to win in hand, play ♠A, ruff Spades, return to dummy via trump and ruff high another Spade (if opponents have no more trumps, it’s best to play ♠K). Return to hand via the 3rd trump (pulling out opponent's last trump) and on the promoted ♠KXX, discard 3 losers from hand.
Hand 3

Against 3NT your partner led the ♠7. The declarer followed with the ♠10 from dummy. What will you do?

Best Answer: ♠9

Against 3NT your partner led the ♠7. The declarer followed with the ♠10 from dummy. What will you do?

What do you learn from partner's lead? Assuming it’s not a singleton (because if it is there’s no chance to set), it has to be doubleton.

That means the declarer has ♠KX (without a stopper in Spades, they would not bid 3NT).

Therefore, it would be best to NOT play the ♠A at trick 1. Play another card to keep communication with partner, in the hope that partner has an entry to his hand.

So, follow with the ♠9 to encourage the suit.

When partner makes their ♥A, they will continue with a 2nd Spade and you will make 5 Spade tricks (your ♠A will drop the ♠K and your ♠Q will drop the ♠J).

And why not play the ♠Q at trick 1? After all, declarer will win the ♠K and later you will have the ♠A9 over dummy's ♠J6. No? – Not if the declarer plays low at trick 1 and allows your Q to win. You can now play the ♠A, dropping the K, but dummy's ♠J will stop you from making anymore Spade tricks.

A good defense will get 6 tricks for the defense - 2 down!

Note:

  • DUCK is when you play LOW as 3rd hand in order to keep communication with your partner (either on play or defense) when there are no other entries to your hand.
  • HOLD UP is when you play low as 2nd or 4th hand, when opponents are attacking with their long suit. You hold up in order to CUT communication between your opponents. DUCK is when you play low as 1st and 3rd hand in order to KEEP communication with partner (you initiate that suit and still choose to lose the 1st trick).
  • If you win with the ♠A at trick 1 and play another Spade, partner will have no more Spades and the declarer will be able to develop Hearts, losing to partner's ♥A making 10 tricks (Spades, 3 Hearts, 3 Diamonds and 3 Clubs).
  • Lebensohl is a convention that you can use after your partner doubles a weak 2 opening by the opponents: at a basic level (there’s a lot more to this convention), a direct bid at the 3 level shows 8-11 points. With less (0-7), the responder bids 2NT, and when partner (who doubled) bids 3♣ (automatic response if they’ve 12-17 points) then the responder passes or corrects to their long suit to sign off.
Hand 4

You play 5♣ and West led the ♥Q. You ruffed. What now?

Best Answer: ♣ to the ♣9 and if wins – Spade to the ♠Q

You play 5♣ and West led the ♥Q. You ruffed. What now?

There are 3 options for finesses (in 3 different suits).

So how can you tell which suit to play first and how? Play to maximize your chances – first play Club to the ♣9. The Club finesse gives a much better chance than dropping a stiff ♣K in East. It's also important to play the Club to the dummy and to not run the ♣Q to create another entry to the dummy. Without capturing the ♣K you have no chance to make, because even if the Diamond finesse works you will still lose Club, Diamond and Spade.

After the Club finesse succeeded and the ♣9 won the trick, you need to play Spade to the ♠Q. Doing so doubles your chances of winning! In this case, East will jump with the ♠K (otherwise they will not make any Spade tricks) and continue with Hearts. Ruff, play the ♠Q, return to dummy with the ♣A (pulling West's ♣K on the way) and discard a Diamond loser on the ♠A.

You can now try the Diamond finesse for an overtrick. The finesse fails, but you still make 11 tricks.

If you try the Diamond finesse first, West will take the ♦K and continue Hearts (or Diamonds) and you will go down, as now you have no entries to develop a Spade trick and eventually you will lose another Diamond and a Spade.

Note:

  • In this example, Diamond finesse doesn't give you chance to win extra tricks, if it fails, there's no way to recover. Playing Spade to the ♠Q will give you a chance to develop the ♠Q and discard a diamond later, on the ♠A. But even if that fails, you still have the option to later finesse in Diamonds to bring your missing trick (hoping the ♦K in East and using the ♣A as an entry).
  • In other words, after the Club finesse works, you have a 75% chance to make, failing only if the ♦K and the ♠K are both in West.

About the Author

Oren Lidor is considered one of the best bridge teachers in Israel, is the author of 5 bridge books, and teaches bridge to people from all over the world on BBO.

18 comments on “Test Your Bridge Skills #41”

  4. On 1 you have at most 24 hcps between you. 3h virtually guarantees a 3n or 4 minor contract. Is that what you want?

    Reply

  8. If you play the queen of spades, declarer can duck and prevent you from running spades when they have Kx and partner has xx.

    Reply

  9. Hand 3. Can't get why S9 instead of Q is a better play since in case partner had a stiff S, we donate an extra S trick. Unless I play with a moron, partner won't switch once on lead.

    Reply

  10. Anonymous
    says:
    October 6, 2023 at 12:41 pm
    In hand 4 I was worried about East flying with the king of spades, and returning another club (West had a singleton king). After that I don't see a way to unblock the spades? Yes, you still make if the diamond finesse works, but may be 75% is an exaggeration?

    If the club finesse succeds, East wont have a club to return.

    Reply

  11. In hand 4 I was worried about East flying with the king of spades, and returning another club (West had a singleton king). After that I don't see a way to unblock the spades? Yes, you still make if the diamond finesse works, but may be 75% is an exaggeration?

    Reply

  14. On hand 4, if East plays diamond after the K of spade, take with A, unblock Q of spade and play club to the A to insure the contract. If you finesse diamond and it fails, West may play back a club and contract will go down.

    Reply

  15. The examples you chose are very descriptive and instructive. I thank you very much. I think it is a very useful resource for those trying to play bridge. love and greetings,

    Reply

  16. I came here to comment the exact same comment as Josh Sinnett. Nor is the diamond shift double-dummy ... declarer has shown a heart void, so East will lead up to the diamond weakness even if they can't work out the spade blockage, and then West has to work it out. Oddly, if declarer plays low, West has to overtake, which seems counter to normal play in a suit combination like this, but the trump lead is essential and it can only come from the West hand.

    Reply

  17. One important note on hand 4 is that East, after winning trick 4 with the king of spades, is likely to shift to a diamond rather than continuing hearts. If that occurs, declarer must NOT finesse, as West could win the king and return a trump, removing the entry to the ace of spades before the queen can be unblocked.

    Reply

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