BARELY ENOUGH.
by Jos van Kan.
Playing teams (imps) against one of the stronger OKB players (we shall call
bigcat to protect his identity) with a reliable partner you get on the very
first board in fourth seat as west (no one vulnerable of course) a hand
that you regard as due recognition of your merits:
Not surprisingly the auction starts with two passes, but S does surprise you
by opening 1
, which is alerted and explained as precision. (At least 16
HCP, any distribution). You have read somewhere that with a strong balanced
hand you should not act immediately over a strong 1 and now is as good a
time as any to test that theory.
So you pass, and LHO bids 1
,
conventionally, showing 0-8 points with any distribution. Partner is silent
throughout the auction and RHO now introduces his suit: 1
. If you had been
short in Spades you might have doubled at this point (still take out) to
contest the partscore but now that is too dangerous because of the shortness
in 
. So you pass again, willy-nilly, and LHO raises, 2.
Since 1 was
not forcing this shows that he isn't completely broke and has a couple
of scattered points.
You're in for a new surprise when S now introduces his second suit: 3,
as
a natural game try (in Spades of course, that is the agreed trump suit)
and even more when, after you pass his partner accepts:
4!
Could it be your birthday? After two passes you think you're looking at
5 defensive tricks and your double shatters a couple of windows. Your
surprises aren't over yet because S redoubles.
So this was the auction:
| West | North | East
| South |
| p | p | 1 a |
| p | 1
b | p | 1 |
| p | 2 | p | 3 |
| p | 4 | p | p |
| X | p | p |
XX |
| p | p | p |
|
- How many points do dummy and your partner hold
together at most?
- Do you think dummy has a picture card? Yet his partner's bid must have improved his hand in some way. In what way?
- What do you lead?
Answers
- You hold 18 HCP, declarer at least 16. That makes 34. Since the whole
deck has 40 HCP dummy and your partner share the remaining 6 at
most.
- That is next to impossible. The only picture that would make a
difference in his hand would be K, but it is a moral certainty that
S who holds at least 4 Clubs and quite possibly 5 is not looking at
three toplosers in that suit. Not with that redouble.
So N is probably short in and accepted the game try thinking his
partner could establish them by ruffing.
- So in order to protect your holding you must play trumps. Fortunately
you are on lead, so you resist the impuls to lead one of your top
s, but lead a trump immediately. Those s tricks cannot
possibly run away.
You're right. Dummy comes down with:
You admire him for his bravery, to bid so much on so little.
Dummy plays 4 on your 2, partner contributes the 8 and declarer
wins the T. Now he plays a small to the T, you win the Q partner the
3. You continue with a second trump and partner discards a as
declarer wins the K. King of clubs follows A, ruff, 6.
- Are you still very confident of beating this hand?
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copyright© 1997 by Jos van Kan. All rights reserved.