Help Stupid Partner, Episode 4

Playing matchpoints, you are sitting East. South deals.

  ♠ J 5    ♥ J 8 7 5 4 3   ♦ K 7 2    ♣ Q 5

South 1 ♠

West 2 ♦

North 4 ♠

East (you) All Pass

Partner leads the ♥A (your partnership agreement is A from A K).

North
♠ 10 9 7 4 2 ♥ 2 ♦ A 5 ♣ J 8 6 4 2
	East (you)
	♠ J 5 ♥ J 8 7 5 4 3 ♦ K 7 2 ♣ Q 5

♥A from partner, singleton ♥2 from dummy… what do you play?

ANSWER: Play the ♥8, indicating preference for a diamond lead toward your king. A high card suggests the higher-ranking of the other two suits (diamonds, in this case); a low card suggests the lower-ranking suit (clubs).

THE PRINCIPLE: When continuing the suit is clearly not a good idea, or known to be impossible, the defense is in a suit-preference situation. The card you play (high or low) indicates a preference for the higher- or lower-ranking of the other two suits outside of trump.

The complete hand:

	North
	♠ 10 9 7 4 2 ♥ 2 ♦ A 5 ♣ J 8 6 4 2
West		East (you)
♠ A ♥ A K 9 ♦ Q 10 9 8 6 4 ♣ 9 7 3		♠ J 5 ♥ J 8 7 5 4 3 ♦ K 7 2 ♣ Q 5
	South
	♠ K Q 8 6 3 ♥ Q 10 6 ♦ J 3 ♣ A K 10

Notice that if you simply follow with a low heart, partner will interpret that as a preference for clubs. Declarer wins, knocks out the ♠A, wins the return in any suit, draws the last trump and sets up dummy’s club suit in order to discard her diamond loser; making five. If West switches instead to a diamond, declarer must lose a diamond either immediately, or, if she plays the ♦A immediately, then later when West is in with the trump ace; thus making only four.

My friend Steve liked to say, "When I'm your partner, the secret to this game is Help Stupid Partner." Not that partner is stupid, not by any means. She can't read your mind, but she can certainly read your signals.

a practice finesse

Practice is always a good thing, right?

A variation of this hand came up about a month ago. After a spirited auction, you are declarer in 7♣.

North

♠ Q J 6 4 ♥ Q J 8 2 ♦ A Q ♣ Q J 5

South

♠ A 8 ♥ A K ♦ 7 3 ♣ A K 9 8 7 4 3

West leads the 6♦. Do you take the diamond finesse now, or play the A♦ and take the spade finesse instead?

ANSWER: Don’t take either finesse!

You have 13 top tricks here: 7 clubs, 4 hearts, and the other two aces. Play the A♦ on the first trick. Then play two rounds of trump ending in your hand, unblock the ♥ A K, and cross to the Q♣ in order to cash dummy’s ♥ Q J, discarding the spade and diamond losers from your hand. The only possible way you can go down is if one of the opponents has a singleton heart and all three of the missing clubs – less than a 5% chance of that. Compare that to the 50% chance of a losing finesse. And oh by the way, if the diamond finesse works, you still have to deal with the spade loser. If you put your hopes on both finesses working, your chances are only about 25% -- bleah!

A “Practice Finesse” is a derogatory term meaning a finesse that gains you nothing if it wins, and puts you in worse shape if it loses. If you take the time to think the hand through, you can avoid taking those practice finesses.

THE PRINCIPLE: As declarer, before playing to the first trick, remember to ARCH. Analyze the lead, Review the bidding, Count your tricks, and decide How to play the hand. Then, only after all that, play to the first trick.

Maintaining control

You are sitting East, the opponents are vulnerable. Partner is the dealer.

  ♠ J 6 5 2    ♥ A K 7 4   ♦ 8 6 5 3   ♣ 7

West		North	East (you)		South
1 ♣ 2 ♥		1 ♦ 3 NT	Double All Pass		1 NT
North
♠ 10 8 3 ♥ 2 ♦ A K Q J 9 7 2 ♣ 6 4
				East (you)
				♠ J 6 5 2 ♥ A K 7 4 ♦ 8 6 5 3 ♣ 7

Partner leads the ♥8 to your ♥K. Now what?

ANSWER: Switch to the ♣7. Yes, it’s usually a good thing to return partner’s lead. Especially when defending notrump, and in a suit that you and partner have bid and raised. But partner’s ♥8 is a top-of-nothing lead, denying any heart honors; declarer has them!

Note that declarer has 7 diamond tricks, and after you cash both top hearts, she’ll have 2 heart tricks. Not to mention whatever tricks she has in the black suits.

So which tricks does declarer have in the black suits? We can’t tell; she probably has a club stopper for her 1NT bid, and she might have a spade trick as well. But partner did have an opening bid, and it obviously didn’t contain any red-suit honors. All of partner’s strength is in spades and clubs, so you need to lead through declarer’s hand in those suits. By switching now, partner can get back to your hand with the ♥A so that you can lead a black suit again.

THE PRINCIPLE: When defending notrump, don’t cash top tricks in a suit if that would set up tricks for declarer. Maintain control of the suit, and save those high cards for use as entries.

The complete hand:

	North
	♠ 10 8 3 ♥ 2 ♦ A K Q J 9 7 2 ♣ 6 4
West		East (you)
♠ A Q 4 ♥ 8 6 5 3 ♦ 10 ♣ A Q 10 8 3		♠ J 6 5 2 ♥ A K 7 4 ♦ 8 6 5 3 ♣ 7
	South
	♠ K 9 7 ♥ Q J 10 9 ♦ 4 ♣ K J 9 5 2

You switch to clubs, partner wins as cheaply as possible, and returns her highest heart (the ♥6) showing preference for spades. You then switch to spades, partner wins two spade tricks and another club trick for down two.

BONUS MINUTE: By convention, after the 1♦ overcall your negative double promises both major suits, at least 4-4. With only one major suit, just bid it naturally.

Help Stupid Partner, Episode 3

You are sitting East, vulnerable against not, and pick up

  ♠ A 10 3    ♥ 4 3   ♦ 7 6 3 2    ♣ A K 6 5

South, on your left, is the dealer and starts the auction.

South	West	North	East (you)
1 ♥ 3 ♥	Pass All Pass	2 ♥	Pass

Partner leads the ♣9, and you get a look at dummy.

North
♠ J 7 6 ♥ K 6 2 ♦ K 10 8 ♣ 10 8 7 3
	East (you)
	♠ A 10 3 ♥ 4 3 ♦ 7 6 3 2 ♣ A K 6 5

Partner’s ♣9 goes to your ♣K, as declarer follows with the ♣2.

You play the ♣A, declarer the ♣4, and partner shows out with the ♦4. Now what?

ANSWER: Give partner a ruff by leading the six of clubs – not the five! The ♣6 suggests to partner that she should return a spade.

THE PRINCIPLE: When giving partner a ruff, the card you lead indicates suit preference with respect to the other two non-trump suits. A higher card suggests the higher-ranking suit (spades, in this case), a lower card suggests the lower-ranking suit (diamonds here).

In this hand, you now know declarer has a fourth club. You are indicating to partner how to get back to your hand so you can give her another club ruff. By playing the ♣6, the higher of the two clubs you hold, you suggest to partner to lead the higher-ranking suit. She’ll lead a spade to your ace, and you’ll lead another club for her to ruff. Two club tricks, a club ruff, the ace of spades, another club ruff; the defense takes the first five tricks for down one.

Will partner really notice the difference between the ♣6 and the ♣5? Yes, she will. Having led her singleton club, and hitting the jackpot with your ♣A and ♣K, partner has been watching the club spots very carefully. She saw the ♣2 and ♣4 and ♣J from declarer’s hand, and the ♣3 and ♣7 from dummy. When you play the ♣6, she will realize the ♣5 has not been played and must still be in your hand. She’ll then know to return the higher-ranking spade suit.

Note that even in cases where partner won’t get any more ruffs, you have the opportunity to signal to partner how best to proceed with defense on the rest of the hand; take advantage of that opportunity!

The complete hand:

	North
	♠ J 7 6 ♥ K 6 2 ♦ K 10 8 ♣ 10 8 7 3
West		East (you)
♠ Q 8 5 4 2 ♥ J 7 5 ♦ Q 9 5 4 ♣ 9		♠ A 10 3 ♥ 4 3 ♦ 7 6 3 2 ♣ A K 6 5
	South
	♠ K 9 ♥ A Q 10 9 8 ♦ A J ♣ Q J 4 2

If you play the ♣5 at trick three, partner will dutifully return the lower-ranking suit (diamonds). Declarer will win, draw trump, and take the rest of the tricks except for the ♠A – making three. Not so good for the defense.

My friend Steve liked to say, "When I'm your partner, the secret to this game is Help Stupid Partner." Not that partner is stupid, not by any means. Though she can't read your mind, she can certainly read your signals.

Partner, that's super!

Here’s a simple and useful tool that should be part of your bidding arsenal.

In this example, you and your partner are playing 15-17 HCP for a 1 NT opening. After a 1 NT opening, your agreed responses include Stayman and Jacoby transfers.

♠ K Q x x   ♥ A K x x   ♦ Q x x   ♣ K x

You	Partner
1 NT ??	2 ♦

Partner’s 2♦ bid is a transfer to hearts. Your call?

ANSWER: Bid three hearts, a “super-accept” of the transfer to hearts.

THE PRINCIPLE:  A “super-accept” of a Jacoby transfer – accepting the transfer, but one level higher – tells partner that you have a "super" hand for playing in the transfer suit. Specifically, you should have very good four-card support, and be at the upper end of your notrump range. Partner can take it from there based on her hand.

When I held that notrump opener recently, my partner had a weak hand with an unimpressive six-card heart suit. He was planning to pass after a routine heart transfer:

♠ x x   ♥ 10 9 7 6 x x   ♦ K x   ♣ Q x x

But after my super-accept 3♥ bid, partner realized that four hearts was now within reach. The heart suit split 2-1, so we only lost the obvious 3 aces, making four. Other pairs, who didn’t play the super-accept bid, were only in two hearts.

So the super-accept can help you find skinny game contracts, but where it really pays off is slam bidding. Recall that responder, holding game-going values but only a five-card major suit, usually bids 3NT after opener accepts the transfer. If opener has a three- or four-card fit, opener can correct to four of the major. But the correction to four of the major doesn’t show extra values, and opener has no way to know if responder has extras.

For example, suppose partner holds a decent hand for game but not quite enough to push for slam:

♠ A x   ♥ Q 10 x x x   ♦ K x   ♣ A x x

Without the super-accept, your auction will probably go

You	Partner
1 NT 2 ♥ 4 ♥	2 ♦ 3NT Pass

Partner is stuck after your bid, knowing you might have three baby hearts and a minimum 15-point hand. If that’s really the case, you’ll be lucky to make four, much less five or six.

But look what can happen when partner knows you have good four-card support and a maximum. Now she knows the heart suit has, at most, one loser. From there it’s just a matter of making sure we have enough aces, either by Blackwood or a cue-bidding sequence. Partner’s hand again:

♠ A x   ♥ Q 10 x x x   ♦ K x   ♣ A x x

You	Partner
1 NT 3 ♥ 5 ♦	2 ♦ 4 NT 6 ♥

Super-accepts are also on after a 2NT opening and a Jacoby transfer at the three-level; in this case, opener jumps to four of the major.

Shapes in the fog

Some hands are easy to bid: a straightforward opening, a raise, a pass. Others are more complicated. This hand came up last week; play along with me while we sort out the puzzle.

 ♠ x    ♥ x x   ♦ A K 10 x x x   ♣ K Q 10 x

Both sides vulnerable, against silent opponents, partner deals and passes. My plan is to bid diamonds, diamonds again, and then clubs if necessary to show the 6-4 shape in the minors.

Partner	You
Pass 1 ♥ 2 ♠	1 ♦ 2 ♦ --

How many spades does partner have? How many hearts?
Partner has at least five hearts, and at least four spades. She knows that I don’t have four spades, else I would have bid 1♠ over her 1♥. So with 4-4 in the majors, there isn’t much reason for her to bid spades. By bidding spades, she’s strongly indicating at least five hearts. Her major suit shape could be 4-5 or 5-5 or 4-6 or even 5-6.

How could partner hold 4-6 in the majors when she didn’t open a weak 2♥?
Two possible reasons: (1) her heart suit is lousy, not good enough for a weak 2♥ opening, or (2) she’s following conventional wisdom of not opening a weak two with a side four-card major, particularly in first or second seat.  

How strong is partner’s hand?

She passed originally, so she holds less than an opening hand. Since she’s willing to bring in a new suit at the 2-level, she probably has at least invitational values; but she might be looking for a safe landing place with a weak 4-5-0-4 hand. With a weak 4-6 hand, she would have tried to sign off in 2♥.

I’m sticking with my original plan, bidding 3♣ to indicate my 6-4 shape. It’s tempting to bid 2NT, but I’m worried about transportation problems in a misfit no-trump contract.

♠ x    ♥ x x   ♦ A K 10 x x x   ♣ K Q 10 x

Partner	You
Pass 1 ♥ 2 ♠	1 ♦ 2 ♦ 3 ♣

How many hearts have I shown partner?
I just denied a three-card heart holding. Her 2♠ bid indicated five hearts, so I would have raised hearts with three.

♠ x    ♥ x x   ♦ A K 10 x x x   ♣ K Q 10 x

Partner	You
Pass 1 ♥ 2 ♠ 3 ♥	1 ♦ 2 ♦ 3 ♣ ??

Uh-oh, a whiff of disaster. I’ve shown partner a hand that is most likely 3-0-6-4, 2-1-6-4, or 1-2-6-4. It’s also conceivable that I hold seven diamonds for this auction.

• If partner holds 2 diamonds, she would correct my 3♣ to 3♦, an eight-card fit. Any port in a storm! 
• If she has only 1 diamond, she could have passed 3♣ if she held three clubs. Correcting to 3♦ would be okay as a desperation move, a 6-1 fit might be the safest landing if she’s 5-5 in the majors. 

So it looks like her minor suit holding is at best 1-2

What is partner’s shape?
Most likely 4-6-1-2. Second most likely is 5-5-1-2. In either case, she doesn’t want to put me in a 6-1 diamond fit, and she knows I will correct to 3♠ if I hold three spades and a heart void.

What is your call after 3♥?
ANSWER: Pass. Partner’s shape is 5-5-1-2 or 4-6-1-2. We’ve found at least a seven-card fit, maybe even an eight-card fit. With hands that don’t seem to fit together very well, and less than game-going values, any port in a storm!

THE PRINCIPLE: In a complicated auction, try to visualize possible hands for partner that are consistent with her bidding and yours. The shapes of the two hands and how well they fit together is usually more important than combined point count.

Passing the buck, again

In this example, you and your partner are playing the modern bidding system “2/1 Game Force.” After an opening of 1 heart or 1 spade, a new suit response at the two-level shows at least an opening hand and is forcing to game.

Vul: Both

You hold:

♠ Q 9 x x 

♥ J x

♦ A Q J 10 x x x 

♣ --

North	East	You	West
1 ♥ 2 ♥	1 ♠ 3 ♣	2 ♦ (a) ??	Pass

 (a) 2♦ is forcing to game

ANSWER: PASS, forcing partner to either double or bid again.

THE PRINCIPLE: When our side is in a game-forcing auction, either we bid game or the opponents buy the contract doubled. Period. No exceptions. A game-forcing auction creates forcing pass situations just the same as if we had bid all the way to game.

Yes, it is very tempting to rebid the diamond suit. But there’s no way to tell whether partner has any diamonds at all. Partner’s 2♥ rebid might only be a five card suit, temporizing without taking up any bidding space from you. East is doing a lot of bidding, who has all the clubs? What if partner has a fistful of clubs and would like to double? By passing, you indicate that you don’t have a strong preference whether to defend or keep bidding, and want to hear partner's opinion. Maybe the opponents will bid some more, clarifying the situation for you. Because it is a forcing pass situation, partner cannot allow 3♣ to be passed out; she must bid or double. 

The auction continues... you still hold:

♠ Q 9 x x   ♥ J x   ♦ A Q J 10 x x x   ♣ --

North	East	You	West
1 ♥ 2 ♥ Double Pass	1 ♠ 3 ♣ Pass Pass	2 ♦ (a) Pass Pass ??	Pass Pass 3 ♠

ANSWER: Double. This is a fun game, eh? Partner doubled 3♣ for penalty, but her pass over 3♠ is forcing because you are still in the game-forcing auction that your 2♦ bid created. Now you have to either bid or double. It looks like the opponents have wandered in where they don’t belong, solving your side’s misfit problem.

The complete hand:

	North
	♠ A ♥ K Q 10 9 x x ♦ 9  ♣ K 10 9 x x
West		East
♠ x x x  ♥ x x x ♦ K x x x ♣ x x x		♠ K J 10 x x ♥ A x ♦ x ♣ A Q J x x
	South (you)
	♠ Q 9 x x ♥ J x ♦ A Q J 10 x x x  ♣ --

It’s a tricky hand to play in any contract in either direction, but I think careful defense will set 3♠ by three tricks for +800.