Do you know where you are going to play?
The purpose of the bidding is to find the right contract for the partnership. So if you know what contract you would like the partnership to play, simply bid it!
South Deals
N-S Vul |
♠ |
A 5 |
♥ |
6 5 3 |
♦ |
8 7 6 |
♣ |
A K Q 5 4 |
|
♠ |
J 9 2 |
♥ |
K Q 4 |
♦ |
4 3 |
♣ |
J 9 8 3 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
♠ |
K 10 7 6 |
♥ |
A J 10 9 |
♦ |
10 9 5 2 |
♣ |
7 |
|
|
|
♠ |
Q 8 4 3 |
♥ |
8 7 2 |
♦ |
A K Q J |
♣ |
10 6 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
|
|
1 N |
Pass |
3 ♣ |
Pass |
3 N |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
West - deterred from leading a ♣ in the light of North’s 3 ♣ bid - led ♥ K. East encouraged by signalling with ♥ J so West continued with ♥ Q. East overtook with ♥ A, cashed ♥ 109, then switched to ♦ 2. South won ♦ J, led ♣ 6 to ♣ A, cashed ♠ A, crossed back to ♦ Q and cashed ♦ AK. Dummy’s last three cards were ♣ KQ5 but West had correctly kept ♣ J98 and discarded all his ♠s (though if he had held ♠ K he would have been “squeezed” - forced to let go of ♠ K or discard down to two ♣s). South led ♣ 10, covered by ♣ J and won with dummy’s ♣ Q. ♣ K was cashed but, at trick 13, West beat dummy’s ♣ 5 with ♣ 9. The contract had failed.
The villain of the piece was North. If he had not bid 3 ♣, West would surely have led ♣ 3 rather than ♥ K. In that case declarer, expecting ♣ J to be with the opening leader, would have played ♣ 4 from dummy, won the first trick with ♣ 10, and made 3 NT easily. When asked why he bid 3 ♣, North replied “I was hoping South would bid 3 NT”. In that case why didn’t North simply bid 3 NT himself - surely it would be an easier contract than 5 ♣?
ANDREW’S TIP: When you know the correct contract, bid it!