Splinters and Voids and The Rabbi, Oh My! Part 2

The hands are rotated from Part 1 so that South is Declarer.

Matchpoints, both sides vulnerable.

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

West	North	East	You
	1 ♦	1 ♠	Dbl
Pass	3 ♠	Pass	4 NT
Pass	5 NT	Pass	6 ♥
All pass

 You had a lovely auction to reach 6 ♥. West led the ♠ 2. Let's start with Declarer's ARCH:

• ANALYZE the lead: East bid spades, it looks like West is leading low from a three-card holding. If it was a singleton, that would mean that east bid only 1 ♠ with a seven-card suit? Seems unlikely. If West had a doubleton spade, she would have led the higher of the two cards. So East has five spades.
• REVIEW the auction: East overcalled spades at the one-level. There aren't many high cards left out there, it seems that East is a favorite to have all the missing kings.
• COUNT your tricks: Two spades, given the opening lead (yay!) and a spade ruff in the North hand. Three top clubs. Two diamonds and a diamond ruff in the South hand, playing East for the ♦ K. Three top heart tricks, expecting to lose one heart to the ♥ K on your right. That adds up to twelve tricks, losing only one trick to the ♥ K, making your contract.
• HOW to play: Always make a plan before playing.
  .. Win the opening spade lead as cheaply as possible (East will probably play the ♠ K)
  .. Unblock the ♦ A, so that you can take a ruffing finesse against East.
  .. Ruff a spade in dummy before drawing trump, just in case the hearts split 4-0.
  .. Take the ruffing finesse in diamonds: lead the ♦ Q, playing East for the ♦ K.
  .. Draw trump, expecting to lose a heart to East's king.
  And play the hand out, making six hearts.

Wonderful, a small slam nicely bid and made. BUT this is matchpoints; can you make seven?

ANSWER: It seems most likely that East has the ♥ K, so the heart finesse is destined to lose. What if the ♥ K is singleton? If you play the ♥ A immediately and East has the guarded king, well, East is always going to score the king. You have all the other high hearts. But on a good day, East's ♥ K will be a singleton. It costs you nothing to start with the ♥ A, and you win big if you drop the singleton king. And dropping a singleton king always feels great! 

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

West	North	East	You
	1 ♦	1 ♠	Dbl
Pass	3 ♠	Pass	4 NT
Pass	5 NT	Pass	6 ♥
All pass

In a really strong field -- say, the Blue Ribbon Pairs -- 6 ♥ making seven will be an average or maybe average-plus result. But in our typical club game or a typical BBO online game, 6 ♥ making seven will be a cold top board. And it doesn't require anything flashy or complicated, just a series of solid intermediate-level skills that you've already learned. Nothing to be afraid of here!

• Negative double
• Splinter raise
• Void-showing responses to 4 NT
• Declarer's ARCH
• Room Measurements
• The Rabbi's Rule: When the king is singleton, play the ace!

-- Ray

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

Splinters and Voids and The Rabbi, Oh My! -- Part 1

Here is a hand from a recent online game that I thought was a lot of fun. It brings together a half-dozen themes that we've discussed in the past. Both vulnerable at matchpoints, you are the dealer. You hold:

♠ -- ♥ A Q 7 6 ♦ Q J 8 6 3 ♣ A K Q 4

Of course you make a plan before making your first call. What is your plan for this auction?

You'll open 1 ♦, and if partner peeps you'll almost certainly want to be in game. If partner bids hearts, diamonds, or clubs, you will definitely get excited and force to game. But if partner bids spades, you might want to allow for the possibility of partner having a bare minimum hand with only a couple of spade honors. Over a 1 ♠ call from partner, you can reverse to 2 ♥, forcing one round and almost-but-not-quite forcing to game, to allow partner to sign off with a weak spade hand.

West	Partner	East	You
			1 ♦
1 ♠	Dbl	Pass	?

Good news! Partner's negative double shows at least four hearts, and at least 6-7 points. You definitely want to be in game. Partner could even have a good hand -- negative does not mean nothing -- slam is not out of the question. Your call?

ANSWER: Get the tweezers, you have a splinter! Bid 3 ♠, a splinter bid showing four-card heart support, game-forcing values, and a singleton or void in spades. It's true that partner didn't actually bid hearts, but her bid showed hearts and she'll know that you are supporting hearts. And in the event that she thinks you might be asking for a spade stopper and bids 3 NT, you'll correct to 4 ♥ and she'll get the message.

You hold: ♠ -- ♥ A Q 7 6 ♦ Q J 8 6 3 ♣ A K Q 4

West	Partner	East	You
			1 ♦
1 ♠	Dbl	Pass	3 ♠
Pass	4 NT	Pass	?

Well! Partner definitely likes the slam idea; 4 NT is a keycard-ask with hearts as trump. Don't worry, one of us will get around to bidding hearts eventually... You play 1430 responses to keycard-asking bids. Your call?

ANSWER: You could bid 5 ♠, showing two keycards and the trump queen. That will commit us to at least a small slam. But there is a much better call available. Bid 5 NT, showing an even number of keycards and a useful void. A void in the opponent's suit is always useful. If partner is only worried about a spade loser, knowing that you are void will make it easy for her to bid a grand slam.

West	Partner	East	You
			1 ♦
1 ♠	Dbl	Pass	3 ♠
Pass	4 NT	Pass	5 NT
Pass	6 ♥	All pass

Partner signed off in 6 ♥. As you can see below, she knew we were missing a key card outside of spades. Fun auction, eh? A small slam and no one actually bid the trump suit until the very end!

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

It looks like a good contract. This is a robot event, so you'll have to play the hand. Stay tuned for Part 2.

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