Two In The Bush

East Deals Both Vul	♠ Q J 10 7 2 ♥ Q 8 3 ♦ K Q 6 ♣ A 2
	N W E S	♠ A 9 5 4 ♥ 7 4 2 ♦ 2 ♣ Q 8 7 4 3

West	North	East	South
		You
		Pass	1 ♥
Pass	1 ♠	Pass	2 ♦
Pass	4 ♥	All pass

Your partnership leads are fourth best from power, and second best from three or more spot cards. Partner led the ♦ 7; declarer played ♦ K from dummy and ♦ 9 from hand, you of course played the deuce.

Declarer led the ♥ Q from dummy, you started a trump echo with the ♥ 4, and declarer followed ♥ 5; partner wins the trick with the ♥ K.

Partner then led the ♦ 8: ♦ Q from dummy, you ruffed with the ♥ 2 completing the trump echo 😎 as declarer played the ♦ 10.

Your trick. Now what?

ANSWER: Underlead your ace of spades!

Partner's ♦ 8 is a suit preference signal for the higher-ranking suit. Based on the other diamonds played so far, you can see that there several low diamonds still lurking somewhere. They must be in partner's hand; she realized from the auction -- and her diamond holding -- that you might be short in diamonds. 

You went to some effort to tell partner that you have a third trump and want another ruff. Partner led a high diamond rather than a low one or a non-committal middle-ish one. Partner definitely signaled a spade entry, and since you have the ace she must therefore have the king.

Why not cash the ace of spades?

Declarer opened hearts (5+) and rebid diamonds (4+),  thus declarer has at most four black cards. You can count nine spades between your hand and dummy. If declarer is void in spades, it doesn't matter what you do. If declarer has two spades, your ace will still be good later. But if declarer has a singleton spade, you won't get to partner's hand if you cash your ace. So, forget the bird in your hand. Instead, trust your partner and get two in the bush -- the spade king and another diamond ruff -- for down one.

	♠ Q J 10 7 2 ♥ Q 8 3 ♦ K Q 6 ♣ A 2
♠ K 8 3 ♥ K 9 ♦ 8 7 5 4 3 ♣ K 9 6	N W E S	♠ A 9 5 4 ♥ 7 4 2 ♦ 2 ♣ Q 8 7 4 3
	♠ 6 ♥ A J 10 6 5 ♦ A J 10 9 ♣ J 10 5

-- Ray 
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes.  Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

Echo Chamber

East Deals Both Vul	♠ Q J 10 7 2 ♥ Q 8 3 ♦ K Q 6 ♣ A 2
	N W E S	♠ A 9 5 4 ♥ 7 4 2 ♦ 2 ♣ Q 8 7 4 3

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1 ♥
Pass	1 ♠	Pass	2 ♦
Pass	4 ♥	All pass

Partner led the ♦ 7; how thoughtful that partner led your singleton! (Your partnership leads are fourth best from power and second best from three or more spot cards.) Declarer played the ♦ K from dummy, you followed low, and declarer played the ♦ 9 from hand.

Then declarer calls for the ♥ Q from dummy. Which heart do you play?

ANSWER: Play the ♥ 4, not the ♥ 2, beginning a high-low sequence in trump; at your next opportunity you'll play the ♥ 2. This standard sequence will show partner that you have a third trump card and want a diamond ruff!

THE PRINCIPLE: A trump echo -- playing high-low in trump -- specifically shows at least one more trump and a desire to ruff. Even if declarer draws two rounds of trump, partner will know that you still have a trump remaining and want to ruff a side suit.

If both you and dummy are short in the same suit, only give a trump echo when you can overruff dummy. Also, you will infrequently run into a situation where you don't want a ruff even though it is available; by playing your trumps up-the-line you can indicate your lack of enthusiasm for a ruffing defense.

A note of caution: do not use the trump echo unless you have a ready ruff in a side suit. Because declarer also knows that your echo shows a third trump, declarer will sometimes then know to fell a doubleton queen from partner's hand. So only reveal that information when there is a clear reward available.

One way to remember this is that playing high-low always shows a desire to ruff. Playing high-low in a side suit shows a doubleton and a desire to ruff that suit; playing high-low in trumps shows a desire to ruff some side suit. In either case, you promise a trump to ruff with!

Lastly, a note from the Department of Dogs That Didn't Bark: A corollary to the trump echo is that if partner does not give a high-low in trumps, then she either does not have a third trump card or does not want a ruff. For example, if you're wondering whether partner started with a singleton or a doubleton in a side suit (after playing only one round in that suit), her failure to give a trump echo would suggest she still has a card remaining in the side suit.

We'll continue with this deal in the next episode; stay tuned!

-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes  Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

The Director's Last Name

Monday 5 Dec 2016

Board 3 South Deals None Vul	♠ J 9 6 5 ♥ — ♦ Q 8 6 5 3 ♣ K 8 3 2
♠ 10 ♥ A K 10 9 7 4 3 ♦ A J 4 ♣ Q 5	N W E S	♠ A K Q 8 3 2 ♥ J ♦ — ♣ A J 9 7 6 4
	♠ 7 4 ♥ Q 8 6 5 2 ♦ K 10 9 7 2 ♣ 10

EW 6♥; W 6♣; W 5N; EW 5♠; E 4N; E 5♣; NS 1♦; Par -980

This is just a wild distributional hand that several of us found intriguing. The possible results shown are for perfect declarer play against perfect defense, determined using the double-dummy solver in Bridge Composer.

6 ♥ makes from either side, though of course West would be the likely candidate.

6 ♣ by East goes down one on a heart lead (ruffed) and then North must play the ♠ J . Declarer's only entry to dummy then is to ruff a spade, giving up the ability to take the club finesse twice. Declarer must then lose the ♣ K unless North makes the mistake of covering the ♣ Q. 

If West is declarer, 6 ♣ makes because North doesn't get a heart ruff, only the ♣ K. Alas, I don't see any normal auction that would let West be declarer in clubs.

If there is a lesson here, it is that you should always summon the Director in the event of an irregularity. If East is declarer in 6 ♣ and North faces an opening lead out of turn, East may accept the lead out of turn... and make six!

From the ACBL Laws of Duplicate Bridge:

LAW 54: FACED OPENING LEAD OUT OF TURN

When an opening lead out of turn is faced and offender’s partner leads face down, the director requires the face down lead to be retracted. Also:

A. Declarer Spreads His Hand

After a faced opening lead out of turn, declarer may spread his hand; he becomes dummy. If declarer begins to spread his hand, and in doing so exposes one or more cards, he must spread his entire hand. Dummy becomes declarer.

B. Declarer Accepts Lead

When a defender faces the opening lead out of turn declarer may accept the irregular lead as provided in Law 53, and dummy is spread in accordance with Law 41.

1. The second card to the trick is played from declarer’s hand. 

<...> 

There's more to Law 54, but that's the relevant part.

So, always make your opening leads face down. And in the event of an irregularity, summon the Director.  By the way, the Director's last name is Please, as in "Director, Please!"

The Buck Stops Here

Matchpoints, you (South) are the dealer. You hold
♠ K J 4    ♥ K J 9    ♦ 4    ♣ A K J 9 4 3

West	North	East	South
			1 ♣
1 ♦	1 ♥	2 ♠	3 ♥
Pass	4 ♥	Pass	Pass
4 ♠	Pass	Pass	??

The auction got crowded there for a moment, and West decided against letting you play 4 ♥. What now?

ANSWER: You must not pass. There are reasons to double, and there are reasons to bid higher, but you must not pass.

THE PRINCIPLE: When our side has freely bid a game, or even committed to a game-forcing auction, we will not let the opponents buy the contract undoubled. Either we bid again or we double them, period, full stop. In this auction, over 4 ♠ partner's pass is forcing you to either bid or double. If she had a particular preference for bidding on or doubling, she would have done so. Instead, she has a hand that has no clear indication either way, so she is leaving it up to you. Partner passed the buck -- well, the buck stops here.

So should you bid again (5 ♣ or 5 ♥) or double? You have values that are useful on offense or defense. I would double; if you play in hearts the defense can tap your hand with diamond leads and declarer could lose control of the trump suit. If you defend, you can get off to a good start by leading your singleton diamond.

A better reason to double, though, is that it smells like West has made a big mistake. West sold out to 3 ♥ instead of bidding 3 ♠. West doesn't think they can make three spades, much less four! Note that even 3 ♠ down one doubled (-100 EW) would be a better result for them than your 3 ♥ making (-140 EW). So if West thinks that they are down two (or more) in 3 ♠, then they must be down three or more in 4 ♠. Yippee, the opponents are handing out +500's, better get yours! 

This hand is from a Common Game session last February; +500 was worth 97% of the matchpoints. With absolutely perfect defense you would have done even better at +800.

We'll see more of this hand in the near future, so no peeking at the complete deal just yet...

-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes  Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)