You're on your own
 

Your 1♥ overcall of East's opening 1♦ didn't get you very far. West raised to 2♦, your partner passed, East has leapt to 3NT and it's your lead. What's it to be?

Well, it's no use looking to your partner for help. You have 14 points, and if EW do indeed have the 25 points they need for game, that leaves partner with almost nothing. So you'll have to try to get them off on your own. What to lead, then?

You could try a spade, but if partner's got nothing that's just going to give a trick away. A heart must surely be the best bet. East presumably has the K♥. but how many hearts does she have? If she has four – say, the ♥K10xx – she's probably OK – with you leading the suit, that'll be two stops. But if she only has three, things are looking good. You can force out her ♥K and then when you come in with your ♦A you can bang out your hearts and take the contract off. 

It doesn't seem likely that she's got 4 hearts. Why? Because she opened 1♦: she'd have to have 5 diamonds, 4 hearts and just a couple of doubletons in the black suits. Possible, sure, but unlikely. Besides, hearts are the only hope you've got. So which heart do you lead?

From AQJxx, the normal lead is the Q (top of the 'sequency' bit of a broken honour sequence), but as partner's never going to get the lead, the ♥A would do, followed by the ♥Q. What you mustn't do is lead your 4th highest ♥8: they might win with the 9 or 10, and then East will have a second heart stop with the ♥Kx. If you lead a heart it has to be a big one. Let's say you lead the ♥Q ... *
 

What happens?

Take a look at the whole deal. East (not knowing you have almost all the missing points) will hold up for the first round, but has to win the 2nd. She then has to set up her diamonds. In you come with your ♦A, and you can cash three further heart tricks, taking the contract off.

But if you lead a low heart at trick 1 it's disaster. East wins with her ♥9, knocks out your ♦A and she still has a heart stop with her ♥Kx. Contract made with overtricks!
 

Frisky EW

So how did EW get into this unmakeable 3NT contract with just 23 points? Well, West got a bit frisky: with 5-card diamond support, she stretched to 2♦ with just 4 points and East, thinking she had 6+ points, punted a very reasonable game.

If she passes, on the other hand, East will keep the auction going with a X (Come on partner, for goodness' sake bid something. I've got a good hand here) and she can now bid 2♦. East will now realise that her partner was too weak to reply immediately and will therefore stop in a diamond part-score, which makes.

What all this adds up to is that if EW mess up and bid to an unmakeable 3NT, it's up to you to get them off – it they make it, it's disastrous!

Note that because EW have overbid, it follows that your partner does have a few points, including 5 spades to the Q109 ... so in fact a low spade lead is even better than a heart. Partner's 9 wins trick 1, a low spade return fetches East's ♠A and your ♠K (!). When you come in with the ♦A you can now give your partner 3 spade tricks, after which she leads a heart for a further two tricks ... and declarer's not one but three off. Lovely!
 

On the night

In the posh session, 6 of the 8 EW pairs were in 1NT (2), 2NT (1) or 3NT (3). Most led the ♥A or ♥Q and kept declarer to 8 tricks. One led a small heart and gave away 10 tricks. At the other two tables, NS made 2♥ +1.

In AP, 3 EW pairs were in 2NT or 3NT. No one led a high heart, with the result that a couple of declarers made 10 and 11 tricks. 

cj

* This accords with standard lead practice vs NT. The preferred leads are (in order)

1. Top of a sequence, eg AKQ, QJ10, J109 ...
2. Top of a 'broken sequence', eg AQJ, KJ10, KQ10 ...
3. 4th highest of your longest and strongest suit, eg KQ642, J942, Q10765 

X for takeout

Partner's X of East's opening 1♦ promises (in theory!) at least an opening hand and support for all of the other three suits. It's a takeout double, asking you to bid your best suit. If opener's partner passes (which she does), you have to bid - otherwise opener will be playing in 1♦X - probably making with overtricks for a delectable score (for them).

It's pretty obvious that you're going to be showing partner your heart suit, but should you be bidding 1♥ or 2♥? Since you have to bid even if you have zero points, there's a sliding scale of responses:

• with 0-6 (or maybe 7) respond the minimum 1♥ 
• with 8+ (maybe 7+) jump to 2♥ 
• with 11+ (10+?) go even higher.

This is pretty reasonable: with an opening hand, partner needs to get some idea of your strength as well as which suit you prefer. As things are, you decide to respond the minimum 1♥ (though with 6 points and a 6-card suit you're on the cusp of a jump to 2♥).

What happens next? East rebids her diamonds and your partner raises you not to 2♥ but to 3♥, inviting you to game ...

... which gives you a chance to say more about your hand. Partner knows that you have 0-7 points, and her invitation is asking you to pass if you're minimum (say, 0-4 points) or go on to game if you're a maximum 6-7 - which you are. So accept the invitation. Bid 4♥.

How does it go?

Very well, as you'll see if you check out the whole deal. You have only 22 points between you, but you're only losing two tricks - to West's ♥K and East's ♠A. 

Note that East can do worse than sacrifice in 5♦ (which will, of course, be doubled). Provided she can discard a losing spade on the ♥K, she's only going 2 off for -300. By the same token, a bold NS pairing will go on to 5♥, which makes, as we've seen.

On the night

In the posh session, 5 NS pairs played in (and made) 5♥ - meaning that most Easts did sacrifice in 5♦. Just two NS pairs stopped in 3♥.

In AP, 3 NS pairs bid and made game in hearts, and one stopped in 3♥. One East got away with 5♦-2 undoubled for a great result.

What to take from this hand

While South could happily overcall 2♣ over 1♦, a takeout double's a far better bid, as it brings both major suits into play and in this case happens to lead to game in one of them.

Because doubler's partner has to bid (unless opener's partner bids something and lets her off the hook), she should bear in mind that she might need to jump to show her strength. And when partner invites her to game, she needs to decide whether she's at the upper or lower end of the point range.

What about South? She knows that her partner has a maximum of just 7 points, and she herself has only 16. But she has a void in the opps' suit, a good heart holding, and some great clubs for discarding losers on - an excellent 4-loser hand which must be worth an invitation to game.

cj

Missing Aces

South leads the ♦4 against your contract of 3♥ ...

... and it looks as you've landed in a very reasonable contract. If you're lucky enough not to lose more than one heart trick, that's 4 tricks. Plus 3 diamonds. Plus (eventually) a club ruff in dummy. That's 8. So all you need is to make a trick with either of your two black Kings and you're home. Time to plan the play. Here are a couple of questions to help make a plan:

• Q1 (as always) Do you want to clear trumps immediately, or is there a good reason to delay?
• Q2 How many points do you think N and S hold?
• Q3 How do you play the black suits? Which King is more likely to be worth a trick?
• Q4 So where do you win trick 1 and what do you do next?

Here are my answers:

• Q1 Yes, I do want to clear them immediately. If I don't, I may end up getting one of my diamond tricks ruffed!
• Q2 We have 22, so that leaves them 18. South opened, so must have 11 or 12, which leaves 6 or 7 for North's 1NT response, which seems about right. Looks like at least one of the black Aces must be with South.
• Q3 When you've just got an unsupported King, the only way of making a trick with it is to finesse: you lead a low card towards the King and hope that the Ace lies in front of it and not behind it. South is the clear favourite to hold the ♠A as (a) she has more points than N and (b) she has at least 5 spades. And she might hold the ♣A too!
• Q4 As I need to clear trumps asap, and since I prefer to lead towards my King when I'm missing the Ace, I'm going to win trick 1 in dummy and immediately lead a low heart towards my ♥K.

As luck would have it, North wins with the ♥A and returns a diamond, presumably in the hope that South will ruff. But happily South follows with the ♦3 (she had a doubleton, then!) and I win the trick. Right. Time to draw the rest of their trumps. When I lead my ♥K, both opps follow, so that's the trumps cleared, then. It only remains to finesse dummy's two black Kings. Let's start with the odds-on favourite - spades. South duly wins with the ♠A and leads another spade, which I win in dummy with the ♠K. What now?

Well, I need to get back into my hand so that I can repeat that towards-the-King finesse with the clubs. Any old way will do: a diamond to my ♦A or a small heart - or I can simply ruff a spade. Then I lead a low club towards dummy's ♣K ... and South goes up with the Ace – I'm going to make my ♣K too! That's ten tricks with just 22 points, losing tricks only to the three missing Aces. Take a look at the whole deal.
 

On the night

In the posh session, 5 of the 9 pairs ended up in 2♥ or 3♥, all but one making 10 tricks.

In AP, all 7 Easts were in 2♥ or 3♥. Two made 10 tricks, the other five just 9.
 

What to take from this hand.

It's not difficult to make 10 tricks on this hand. You just have to follow two very basic principles. The first is to clear trumps at the first opportunity unless there's a good reason not to (and here there isn't). And the second is to lead towards unsupported honours like the two black Kings in this deal.

Here's what happens if you don't clear trumps immediately:

• Say you win trick 1 in hand and lead a low spade towards dummy's ♠K (a great idea, but you should be clearing trumps first!)
• South wins with the ♠A and leads a second diamond, the ♦3 (that's high-low, showing a doubleton).
• You win and decide that maybe you should be clearing trumps after all. You lead the ♥K ...
• ... and North wins with the ♥A. She then leads a 3rd diamond and gives her partner a ruff.

Sure, you still end up with 9 tricks, but unfortunately all the other Easts in the room cleared trumps first, before they touched the spades, and so made 10 tricks. 0% for you!

cj

Punting a slam

Here's a very easily makeable slam, either in spades or hearts - but one that very few pairs found either in AP or the 'posh' night. How to do it?

It's probably easiest to find if South opens 1♠ * instead of 2♣. Opening 1♠ is risky, mind, because if partner passes you're not even going to be in game. On this hand, though, partner will raise to 2♠ and you can go straight to RKCB. Then, when she confirms that she has one key card (the trump King) you can punt 6♠. It's a punt, but one with a good chance of success if partner can help in hearts or clubs - which, as you can see, she can!

A safer way to proceed, though, is to open 2♣: that way, you can be sure of reaching game, at least. One pair reached the spade slam on the auction shown. Can you translate?
 

A sample auction

• South's opening 2♣ is strong and game-forcing. It shows either a balanced 23+ points or a strong, unbalanced hand, as here.
• North's 2♦ bid simply means 'Tell me more'. Some players will respond 2♥ to show a 5-card major and significant points, though I think that with just 6 points North's a bit weak for that.
• South now shows one of her suits: 2♠ - same reasoning as * below.
• North's next bid is the key to the whole auction. If she had absolutely nothing at all, she could now bid 2NT (a 'second negative' bid), releasing her from the obligation to bid again. That clearly isn't the case here, as she has spades and points, so you're going to be in game, certainly. The choice North has to make is between:
  - 3♠: I agree spades, partner, and I've got values.
  - 4♠: OK, partner. You wanna be in game? Here you are then. I've not got much, so don't go any further!
  Note that because you're in a game-forcing situation, 3♠ is (strangely) stronger than going straight to 4♠. 
  So what does she bid? 3♠, of course. If partner's strong enough to insist on game on her own, your Kxxx plus potential in hearts (and shortages in the minors - a ruff, maybe?)  must be worth an extra trick or two.
• At this point, it's (finally!) time for RKC Blackwood again, with the same result as in our first auction.
   

Hearts are better!

With a double fit, NS can make a slam in either major. But interestingly, whereas in spades you have 12 tricks, in hearts you can make all 13. Why's that?

It's because the hearts are of equal length (5-5) and the spades aren't (5-4).

• If spades are trumps, you can bang out 12 tricks, but you're left with a losing club in both hands.
• If hearts are trumps, however, you can discard one of North's little clubs on the 5th spade, and then you can ruff your last club in dummy.

Which points to a very useful general rule: with a choice of two trump suits, you can often make more tricks if the even-length fit (4-4 or 5-5) is trumps, and the odd-length trick (5-3, 5-4) is the side-suit. **
 

On the night

In the posh session, only 2/8 found the spade slam - one made it and one (somehow) went off. Most of the others were in hearts (probably because N responded 2♥ to South's opening 2♣ bid), mostly making 13 tricks.

In AP, just one pair found the slam (with John sitting South and me hovering around the North chair). None of the three pairs in hearts made 13 tricks - worth another look if you were declarer!

cj

* NOT 1♥. With two 5-card suits, ALWAYS start with the higher-ranking one. That way you can offer partner the choice between them without forcing her too high.

** Say partner opens 1♠ and in response to your (say) 2♣ then bids 2♥, promising at least 5-4 in spades and hearts. If you have eg ♠ K Q x and ♥ J 10 7 4 go for the hearts - with luck the odd-length fit in spades (5-3?) will provide you with discards.

An alertable bid

Sitting West, you rightly or wrongly decide not to open 1♦ (not quite a Rule of 20 opening) or a weak 2♦ (a bit strong with 10 points and two Aces). Partner opens 1♥ and South (who had passed originally) overcalls 2♣. You now bid 2♦, North passes ... and partner then bids 3♣, leaving you scurrying for the  Alert  card. Can't be natural, can it?  So what does it mean?

Well, if you know your auction priorities * you'll see it immediately. You haven't got a major fit, so partner's looking for no trumps as a second best instead. She's happy with three of the suits, but hasn't got a stop in the opponents' suit - clubs. Her 3♣ means Can you stop their clubs, partner? If so please bid 3NT.

And you can - twice if South holds the ♣KQ (as she probably does). So 3NT it is. If you didn't have a club stop, you'd revert to 3♦, of course.

Tricks galore

North obediently leads the ♣5 - her partner's suit, down goes dummy and you beat South's ♣Q with your ♣A. Take a look at the whole deal.

It's looking good. Cash a diamond to make sure they're split 2-1 (they are), then you can simply concede a club trick and claim the remaining 11 tricks. Not a slam you can bid, really, but it's always nice to get more tricks than you need.
 

Alternative auctions

There are various other ways of reaching 3NT:

• If you do open 1♦, it's much the same: partner responds 1♥, South shoves her oar in with 2♣, you rebid 2♦, partner makes her 3♣ cue-bid and you bid 3NT.
• If you open 2♦ instead, partner can use Ogust ** to find out more about your hand. She bids 2NT, you respond 3♥ (= rubbish suit but maximum points) and this time it's East who bids 3NT.
• After 3 passes, East opens 1♥ and South doesn't overcall. You say 2♦ and partner will now rebid 2NT, showing 15+ points. Now it's your turn to remember the Holy Grail. Abandon your diamonds and raise her to 3NT. Your diamonds aren't great but partner should be able to set them up, and if she runs out of diamonds you have two entries to your hand in the ♥A and ♣A. 

The crucial thing in all of these auctions is that both players know what they're aiming for: a major fit as the number 1 priority, NT as second best, and a minor suit as a last resort. The 3♣ tests the water: if there's no club stop then sure you want to be diamonds. But if you have a stop there's no contest. 3NT with overtricks is worth more than 5♦ with overtricks. And if West persists with diamonds, you might not even find game - see below.
 

On the night

In the posh session, no fewer than 3 tables ended up in 3♦. Pretty miserable when there are 12 tricks on offer. Most of the others were in 3NT - all by West, by the way - all making 12 tricks.  

In AP, just two pairs found 3NT - both played by East and both making 13 tricks. Everyone else was in diamonds - but two pairs had the consolation that at least they bid game!

cj

* As laid out in the Holy Grail handout that I bang on about week in and week out:

** The Ogust convention is a way of getting partner to describe her hand further when she's opened a weak two. You bid 2NT, and her response tells you how strong she is and how good her suit is. Here is a link to three previous HOTWs on Ogust. Read them from the bottom up: Ogust in action, Ogust revisited and It's that Ogust again.

Talk to your partner

Most pairs probably won't risk 3NT on this hand, but that's all the better for the defenders! Can you get them down? Sitting North, it's up to you to get the ball rolling. What do you lead?

First some revision:

• The lead. Usually your best suit, especially if the opps haven't bid it. The conventional wisdom says to lead 'top of an honour sequence' if you have one, and if not, your 'fourth highest'.
• Responding to partner's lead. If you're free to choose, you either encourage partner to continue the suit (play high) or ask for a switch (play low).

Here, then, a heart is the obvious choice. What might not be so obvious is that you have a sequence, albeit a broken one: the ♥A109. With a broken sequence, lead the top card of the 'sequency bit': the ♥10. 

Down goes dummy, and declarer puts up the ♥K. Your partner plays the ♥7 and declarer follows with the ♥6.

Your thoughts? Partner's ♥7 seems to be a high card (where's the ♥2?) and therefore encouraging. Must have the ♥J or ♥Q then. If partner can get the lead, then, things are looking very promising.

What happens next? Declarer attacks clubs: she cashes the ♣A, then leads a low club to your partner's ♣K. Partner now leads the ♥J, declarer following with the ♥8. You play low, fairly * certain that partner has another heart ... and she has. Next comes the ♥2, catching declarer's ♥Q, and you have a club and four heart tricks. One off.
 

Can declarer do better?

Take a look at the whole deal. 

Declarer can indeed do better, but if the defence can add up to 13, it doesn't help. West should duck the first trick, allowing the ♥10 to win, and then hope that the defenders can't resist dropping the ♥K under their Ace. She will then win the 3rd heart trick with her ♥Q ... and then, when South gets the lead with her ♣K, she will no longer have a heart to lead to her partner. 3NT bid and made. Instead, North should lead low, allowing the ♥K to win. South now retains a last heart to take the contract off. Try it and see!
 

Try it the other way round

Let's imagine that it's East in 3NT instead of West, and it's South's lead. Would a diamond do the trick? Which one?

Just as before, lead the ♦J from your broken sequence. West plays low and holding the ♦Q, North encourages with the ♦9. A second, small diamond is taken with declarer's Ace, and again she attacks the clubs. Now, when South comes in with her ♣K, she can two more diamond tricks, and the ♥A is the fifth trick. One off again.

Be careful, though: if West gets the lead again, she has has 9 tricks (the ♦A, 4 spades and 4 clubs) so you have to take your ♥A before you let her in again. If North comes in with her ♦Q, she can cash it straight away.
 

On the night

In the posh session, only two EW pairs were frisky enough to try 3NT, and they both went one off. Most of the others were in 2♠ or 2NT, making. One somehow ended up in 3♣ making 10 tricks.

In AP, everyone was, sensibly, in either 2♠ or 2NT, all but one making.
 

What about the auction?

The bidding is also quite instructive – if you'd like to know more, click on Show Answer below.

cj

* Just from the cards played, you can't be absolutely certain that West doesn't have the remaining ♥Q2, but the auction leaves you in no doubt at all: West can't have 4 hearts. If she has 4 hearts and 4 spades, she's opening 1♥ and not 1♠ – and if she's got 4 hearts and 5 spades, they would now be in spades, not NT. It's 100% certain that the ♥2 is with South and the ♥Q with West.

Put your hands together

Points aren't everything. In suit contracts, anyway. Sure, in no trumps you'll usually need 25+ points between you for game to be on, but in a suit you can often get away with quite a lot fewer. With distributional hands, a deciding factor is often how well your and your partner's hands fit together. This hand's a good example.

When East opens 1♥, you consider passing smoothly, but with 13 points you decide on a 2♦ overcall instead. West passes and your partner bids 3♠ - presumably showing a weak hand with 7 spades - and East now passes.

What to do? If your partner's 'weak', you won't have more than 20-22 points between you ... but hang on. Might the two hands not fit together rather nicely?
 

Winners and losers

Let's put partner at the upper end of her pre-emptive range: say, 8 or 9 points. If most of those points are in spades, you've probably got 7 trump tricks. In which case you can provide 3 more - the ♥K is surely worth a trick after East's opening 1♥ bid, and you have two black Aces. With luck, you might be worth a club ruff as well ...

But if she's missing a top spade - thus reducing you to just 6 trump tricks - she might well have a high-ranking diamond or club for the 10th trick instead.

So much for winners. As far as losers are concerned, partner has only 6 non-spades in her hand. You can take care of 3 of them yourself - and maybe that club ruff, too. Call it 3½ tricks. So if partner can manage just a tad more than 6 tricks -  let's say 6½ - things are looking pretty good. Reach for the 4♠ card.
 

How does it go

Take a look at the whole deal. With a bit of luck, East will lead her ♥A ... and maybe one more, hoping her partner's the one with the singleton.

If so, you're in clover. How does it go? Throw away a losing club on your ♥K and cash your ♣A. Then over to your hand with the ♦K and ruff your last club. Now it only remains to concede one more trick to the trump Ace and you have 11 tricks. *

You can actually make 11 tricks against any defence without much difficulty. The tricky bit is bidding to game in the first place.
 

On the night

In the posh session, four pairs bid and made 4♠ and one stopped in 3♠. At the other three tables, EW somehow found themselves in a club part-score, going off very cheaply.

In AP, six of the seven tables were in spades, but none reached game.
 

Putting your hands together

Trevor points out that it's actually quite reasonable for North simply to jump to 4♠ on her first bid. She has great spades, a singleton in East's hearts, and a King in partner's suit. For her part, partner has shown a hand with diamonds and decent points with her vulnerable 2-level overcall. So if she has a couple of spades as well, there could well be discards on the diamonds, making 4♠ a decent punt. 

So one way or another, either North or South can virtually put their hands together and find game.

cj

* This is one of those times where you have a job to do before you clear trumps. If you lead a trump straight away, the opps might lead a second trump and that's your club ruff gone west. So get the ruff done first and then clear the trumps.

Handy Landy

Q Why don't people find themselves in a 2♣ contract after the opps open 1NT?
A Because 2♣ is usually a conventional bid, often some form of a handy little convention called Landy. 

You use Landy when you have a reasonable point-count (8+, say) and (at least) 5-4 in the major suits. And it's up to partner to choose which one she prefers. Sometimes it's not immediately clear and some extra bidding is needed to find the best fit *, but on this deal it's pretty obvious that West will prefer spades: she bids 2♠ and that's the end of the auction.

What do you think of the contract? It's not bad, is it? You have 20 points and an 8-card fit. If you're going to be in anything, 2♠ is the place to be!

And crucially, without a convention like Landy, you'd have no hope at all of landing in spades - instead you'd end up in 2♥, which isn't nearly as comfortable a place to be, or having to leave NS in 1NT.

So how does it go?
 

Playing the hand

You're West, declarer in 2♠. Let's say North begins by cashing the ♦A and (with her partner playing a discouraging ♦2) switches to a heart, which you win in dummy.

And as always in a suit contract, your first question is 'Is there any reason i shouldn't clear trumps immediately?', to which the answer is 'No'. You've got plenty of winners in the side suits, and you don't want them ruffed, so get in there now and start to get rid of their trumps. A low spade to the ♠K wins, they win the 2nd round with the ♠Q (both following) and that leaves just the ♠A outstanding. 

Eventually, you'll come to two more heart tricks, a diamond, a spade and maybe a club or club ruff, as you'll see if you look at the whole deal.

South's best play after winning the ♠Q is to cash her ♠A (taking 2 of your trumps for one of hers) and to switch to a club, in which case they'll end up with 2 diamond tricks, 2 club tricks and 2 trumps tricks for one down.

Note that 2♠-1 (though not as good as 2♠ making!) is still a good result: -50 is better than the -90 you'd get if you'd left them in 1NT. And it's miles better than going two off in 2♥, where you might have ended up without Landy.
 

On the night

In the posh session, only two pairs found 2♠ - and both of them made it! Three pairs plumped for 2♥, going 1, 2 and 3 off. One North was allowed to make 1NT+1 and another went 1 off in 3♦.

In AP, one pair made 2♠-1, for an outright top. Two went too high: one in 3♠ and one in a very optimistic 4♠! The other two were in 2♥ , going 2 and 3 off. 

cj

* Typically, if West had (say) ♠1043 and ♥J85, she'll respond 2♦ , asking partner to name her longer major, and in this case they'd end up in their 5-3 heart fit. For a couple more examples of Landy in action, separated by more than a decade, see the HOTWs below:

Landing game with Landy, Jan 2012. Click here.

Major disruption: the Landy convention, Jan 2024. Click here.

An open book

You're sitting South. Trying not to look at the North hand (cover it with a Post-it?) look at the auction so far and have a go at this question:

Q How many points does East have? How do you know?

A Not a lot! West and North are both passed hands, yet West's just made a takeout double (so must have very nearly an opening hand) and North's just replied '2-over-1', promising 10+ points. So, as you've got 18 points yourself, that leaves East with a maximum of just 2 points.

Leaving you with the next bid. With 18 points, you're way too strong simply to rebid 2♠ - this is the time for a jump rebid: 3♠. This promises 16-18 points and a good 6-card suit, so is perfect for this hand. And partner, with 3 nice spades, will raise you to game. *

West leads the ♦2, down goes dummy, and - as always - you're searching for the maximum number of tricks ...
 

Playing the hand

That ♦2 promises an honour (unless it's a singleton, which it won't be on this auction) so it's worth trying the ♦J, just in case West's honour is the ♦Q. It isn't, though, as East goes up with the ♦Q and you win the trick with the ♦A.

OK. What's next? How are you going to play the trumps? And the hearts?

Not difficult, as you now know that all the remaining high cards must be with West. 

Pointless, then, to finesse the spades, as West has the ♠Q. Hopefully, either a singleton or doubleton (her X suggests that she's likely to be short of spades). So bang out the ♠A ... and West drops the ♠Q! Job done.

It remains only to cash the ♦K and ruff a diamond (even if East is out of diamonds, she can't overruff), then clear East's remaining trumps and concede a trick to the ♣A.

Later on, you're quite safe to take the heart finesse, as you know that West has the ♥K, so that's 12 tricks to the good guys.
 

Things to take from the play

• West's hand is an open book. Once you see East's ♦Q, playing the spades and hearts (and clubs, for that matter) is simple, as you know that West has all the remaining high cards.
• This is one of those situations where you don't want to clear trumps asap, because you want to use one of dummy's trumps to ruff a diamond. BUT there's no reason why you can't cash your ♠A immediately and see what happens. When the ♠Q drops, you can get to work on the diamonds and THEN clear the rest of the trumps.
• Is there a danger that your second diamond trick will get ruffed? No. That would require the diamonds to be 7-1. In which case, they would surely have been bid by either West or East.
• After taking the diamond ruff, you lead a spade from dummy, overtaking with your ♠K. This allows you to use your ♠9 to clear East's remaining trump.
• I think I'd now lead the ♣Q. Then you can throw your 3rd heart away on dummy's ♣K later.
• And finally, don't forget to come back to your hand to lead hearts, catching West's ♥K between your ♥AJ.

On the night

In the posh session, six pairs played in 4♠ but two somehow stopped in just 2♠. Five declarers made 12 tricks and the other three 11.

In AP, five pairs found 4♠ and just one stopped in 2♠. Half the declarers made 12 tricks and the other half 11.

cj

* You don't have to worry about your 3♠ being passed by partner: she's promising 10 points for her 2♣ bid and you're showing 16+ for your jump rebid, so you both know that you're in a game-forcing situation: partner must bid something.

Same again, please

Last week's HOTW offered two key principles that come up time and time again, one for bidding and one for play, viz:

• Bidding: look for a major fit and prefer it to NT
• Play: in a suit contract, clear trumps as soon as possible unless there's a good reason not to.

Here they are again ...
 

Finding the best contract

When her partner opens 2NT (with a balanced 20-22 points), East knows that her 6 points are enough for game. But which game? If partner has 3 or more hearts, 4♥ is likely to be a better game than 3NT, and the way to find out (as always!) is to use a transfer bid. By transferring partner to hearts (via 3♦) and then bidding 3NT, she is able to pass on the dual message: we have enough points for game, but you might like to know that I have 5 hearts, in case you prefer to be in the major.

And with 4 hearts, West will bid 4♥.

As you can see, with the clubs wide open, 4♥ is a much safer contract than 3NT, so we're half-way there: we're in the right contract.
 

Making the maximum number of tricks

You're West, declarer in 4♥, and North leads a club. What are your thoughts? And are you going to clear trumps as soon as possible, or is there a good reason not to?

Well, you're going to lose two club tricks and maybe a trick to the ♥Q (if North holds Qxx or, heaven forbid, Qxxx). Otherwise, you're solid: no losers in spades or diamonds and you can ruff dummy's last club in your hand. 

There is, therefore, no reason to delay clearing trumps. As soon as you get the lead, cash the ♥A and - as you'll see if you look at the whole deal - South drops a singleton ♥Q. * The rest is simple: two more rounds of hearts clear North's remaining trumps, and the rest of the tricks are yours: the ♠AKQ, ♦AK and a club ruff. 11 tricks.

All pretty straightforward, so why make it a HOTW? Well ....
 

On the night

In the posh session, everyone was in game in hearts, making 11 tricks (and in one case 12).

In AP, most EW pairs found 4♥, but they all made just 10 tricks - no one made 11.
 

How come?

I don't know! Maybe declarer played a 4th (unnecessary) round of hearts, and so didn't have a heart left in hand for the club ruff?

Another, more likely, explanation, is that declarer didn't clear trumps immediately, and so North was able to ruff the second round of diamonds. 

Or maybe declarer thought it was OK 'just to make the contract' and gave up after 10 tricks. Bad idea at pairs, where every trick counts: any declarer making 11 tricks on this deal would have earned a 100% top.

cj

* How to play the trumps? With 9 trumps to the AK, the chances are better than even that the Queen will drop, either as a singleton or part of a doubleton. So start with the Ace. If North should show out, you can now pop out to dummy (via the ♠A) and finesse. Otherwise, just continue with the King. Here it's easy, as the Queen is singleton.

Two keys to success

You don't need to be a genius to get the best out of most bridge hands. Fancy conventions and squeezes are all very useful, but what really counts is simply following the sound principles that come into play hand after hand after hand ...

This pays off doubly on this deal - in the auction and in the play.

Finding the best contract

With a balanced 16-count, South opens her longest suit - 1♦ - intending to rebid NT and after partner's 1♠ response rebids 1NT. This is the key moment - what should North do?

North has advertised a minimum of 4 spades, but in fact has 5, so should not yet abandon the search for a major fit. If South has 3 spades, 4♠ will probably be a better place to be than 3NT.

So don't raise straight to 3NT, which would be giving up ... Instead, bid 3♠. This forces partner to game, but tells her in passing that you have 5 spades, just in case she has three ...

... which (as you can see) she does, and so prefers 4♠ to 3NT. *

Making the maximum number of tricks

OK. You're North. Let's say that East leads the ♣4 against your 4♠ contract. How many tricks do you think you might make? And how do you think you can make them? Hint: You have a pretty solid trump suit.

Remember the declarer mantra 'Clear trumps as soon as possible unless there's a good reason not to' ? You should always apply this right at the start of any suit contract.

And in this case, it's clear that you have work to do before clearing trumps, as you have three heart losers in your hand. One of these is an inevitable loser (because you have 2 hearts in dummy) but the others aren't because you can ruff them in dummy - provided you haven't denuded dummy of trumps by clearing trumps first, that is. So how does it go?

Playing your cards right

• Win the opening trick in dummy, then (key moment no 2) immediately give them a heart trick.
• If the opps are any good, they'll see what you're up to and try to shorten dummy's trumps by leading trumps themselves. But it doesn't do them any good ...
• Win the trump trick in hand, cash the ♥A and ruff a heart with the ♠Q (your trumps are solid so you can afford it!)
• Now back to your hand with the ♦K and ruff your last heart with the ♠A.
• Now it remains only to get back to your hand via a club or diamond ruff, clear trumps and the rest of the tricks are yours. That's 12 tricks. Lovely.

On the night

In the posh session, nearly every NS pair found 4♠, mostly making 12 tricks. One other pair got a poor result in 3NT (there are only 10 tricks in NT) and one other went off in a very frisky 6NT. 

In AP, 4 pairs were in 4♠ and one was in 3♠: no one made 12 tricks and only one made 11. The one pair in 3NT scored well, but only because the declarers in 4♠ didn't take their chances!

Conclusion

There's nothing fancy here. Just two basic principles that permeate almost every hand and will bring you rewards time after time:

• In the auction, follow the time-honoured principle of preferring (and therefore actively looking for!) a major fit, rather than just lumping into NT.
• And in the play, check whether there's work to do before clearing the opponents' trumps.

cj

* There is a convention which allows you to check for a 5-3 major fit in this situation. It's called Checkback Stayman, and it's very useful and not particularly fancy. If you'd like to know more, I'd be glad to help.

Depends where you start

The same deal can have several routes to the final contract, depending on who's the dealer, whether there's interference, etc. On this deal, you have a decent chance of making 4♠, but how to get there? Forget the auction in the diagram and suppose for a moment that South's the dealer. How does it go?

Dealer South

South opens 1♦, North responds 1♥ and South now bids 1♠ (she's not strong enough to make a game-forcing jump to 2♠). North raises to 2♠ and with a spade fit and just 5 losers, South punts 4♠.

Fine. But suppose West shoves his oar in ... ?

Dealer South - with interference

This time when South opens 1♦ West comes in with a 2♣ overcall. What does North do now?

Well, every week we come across the negative double, which is designed just for this purpose. *  Here, West's overcall is perfect for North: since neither major has yet been bid, her negative X allows her to tell her partner about both her major suits in just one bid: X.

At which point, South (as above, with a known spade fit and just 5 losers) can jump straight to 4♠. 

Dealer West

Neither of these auctions applies here, of course, since West is the dealer. He opens 1♣, North passes, East responds 1♥ ... and it's down to you, sitting South. What do you bid?

Well, you could simply overcall 2♦, but that would lose you the chance to find a 4-4 spade fit. Much better is to make a straightforward takeout double. This promises at least opening points and support for any unbid suit, major or minor. Perfect, as you have both diamonds and spades. West raises his partner to 2♥, North shows her spades and again South raises to game.

But a decent EW pair will have other ideas, as you can see if you click to see the whole deal.

For a start, West will probably raise his partner not to 2♥ but to 3♥, making it much more difficult for North to bid - she'll probably pass, and now you'll have to double again if you're to find your spade fit.

That's always supposing East doesn't bid 4♥ before you get the chance. Now the only option open to you is to double for penalties, which EW don't mind at all, as they're not vulnerable and you are **. In fact, since you can make 4♠ (providing you can locate the ♠Q), EW's best contract is 5♥X, which goes just 2 off for -300 - a lot cheaper than the 620 it'll cost them if you're allowed to make 4♠.

So there you are: if South's the dealer, EW don't get a chance to find their heart fit, and so can't sacrifice in 5♥. But with West as dealer, they can - and did on the night!

On the night

In the posh session, just three NS pairs found 4♠ (all making). At 6 other tables, West's raise to 3♥ was all it took to stop the auction dead in its tracks, mostly making 8 or 9 tricks. One NS pair somehow reached 6♠X going 4 off for -1100, but let's not go there.

In AP, the spades didn't get a look-in. Everyone was in 3♥ or 4♥, making 7, 8 or 9 tricks. 

cj

* Negative Double  If partner opens a suit and the opps overcall in another suit, a X from you means that you've got at least four cards in any unbid major. So if partner opens 1♣ and they overcall 1♠, a X from you means that you have at least 4 hearts - in effect you're saying 'I would have bid 1♥ if they hadn't got in the way.' 

** How do you know that the double's for penalties and not for takeout? Well, most pairs play that doubles up to and including 3♠ are for takeout and those at the 4 level are for penalties. Makes sense, really.

You can't always bid what you want

Here's a hand you always want to play in 4♥ - and if you were dealer, that's what you'd open. It gets a bit trickier, though, when your partner opens 1♠. What do you respond?

Well, you still want to be in 4♥, don't you? Even if partner's got 5+ spades, your hand is going to be much more useful in hearts than spades and you don't have to worry about whether you've got a heart fit - with 8 of them you've got a heart fit on your own! 

The difficulty is that a 4♥ response to partner's opening 1♠ means something completely different: it's a splinter bid, agreeing spades as trumps and telling partner you've got a singleton or void in hearts - about as far from the truth as you're likely to get! *

So what to do? A raise to 2♠ isn't much use, because partner might pass, and you can surely make game in hearts. Same goes for 1NT.

So what about 2♥? The problem here is that a 2-over-1 response promises at least 10 points, and you've only got 7. On the other hand, partner has to respond to 2♥, giving you a second bid - and if you use that second bid to bid 4♥, that will clarify things: you've got a a self-supporting suit and want to play in 4♥. And unless she's very strong and looking for a slam, partner will pass.
 

What happens on this hand?

Partner will probably rebid either 2♠ or 2NT over your 2♥ response, and you can now bid 4♥, confident in the knowledge that it will be passed out, which is exactly what you want.

And how do you do? Take a look at the whole hand: you're probably going to lose one heart and (unluckily) two spades, but that still leaves you with 10 tricks - enough for your contract. **

You may have noticed that EW have a good sacrifice on: either 5♦X or even 6♦X (if NS bid on to 5♥), but they're only likely to find this if East overcalls 2♦ with a particularly rancid diamond suit ... There will be those, however, who will try anything!

On the night

In the posh session, most NS pairs were in 4♥ or 5♥ (obviously some Easts tried their diamonds, then) all making, and one EW got away with 4♦X, which went just one off. One NS pair languished in 3♥: it's no good inviting partner to game with that heart holding, you've got to bid it yourself! 

In AP, three tables played in 4♥ and one in 3♥ (see above). No EW pairs saw fit to overcall in diamonds (I agree!), and two NS pairs ended up, quite reasonably, in 4♠, one making and one going off. 

cj

* Splinter bids are one of the basic slam-seeking tools of bridge bidding, and should be part of your bidding armoury. Here are a few previous HOTWs which feature them:

• There are two here: 13 Sept 2017: Splinters and 26 Sept 2018 Another splinter
• And another two here: 6 Oct 2020 Using a splinter bid to find a slam and 20 Oct 2020 Another splinter bid

** Actually, if you play the spades cunningly, you'll only lose 1 spade trick, but that's beyond the scope of this quick article.

Light bulb, anyone?

You'll be aware of the denomination 'pecking order' in bridge: if you've got a major fit, go for it; failing that, try no trumps as a second best ... and as a last resort, you can lump it in a minor fit. That works most of the time. The only time you'd prefer a minor to a solid no trump contract is if you think you might get a slam in the minor suit. *

What about this hand? Your partner replies 2♣ over your 1♥ opening, and with a balanced 17-count you now bid 2NT. (NOT 2♠! For one thing, that would be promising at least 5 hearts and for another, you're in no danger of missing a spade fit: if your partner started with 5 clubs and 4 spades, she'll now bid her spades). So you're now both in a game-forcing situation (your partner's 2♣ promises 10+ and your 2NT promises 15+, so you've got at least 25 points between you). What will your partner bid now?

You'd expect either 3NT or maybe 3♥ (if she has 3 hearts, just in case you started with 5 – searching for the 'Holy Grail' of a major fit). But her next bid surprises you: 3♦. What would that mean, then?

A light-bulb moment?

Well, if she had 4-4 or 5-4 in clubs and diamonds, she'd hardly bother with 3♦, would she? She'd just settle for 3NT. And she can't be 5-5 in the minors, or she'd have bid 2♦ instead of 2♣ in the first place. So what has she got, then?

She must have six clubs and five diamonds, mustn't she? And presumably the reason she's showing you the diamonds is (a) because she knows you must have a minor fit and (b) she's wondering about a minor slam instead of 3NT. And with just 2 cards in the majors, no wonder!

So the ball's in your court. What to do? You can, of course, ignore the suggestion and simply bid 3NT – Thanks but no thanks, p. I'll just settle for an easy 3NT. On the other hand, you have more than the minimum15 points, including Aces in both majors, as well as a 9-card club fit, so maybe the slam's worth a look ...

Looking for the slam

So how to go about it? To start with, simply tell your partner which minor you prefer: 4♣ takes the bidding above 3NT and so confirms your interest in a slam.

OK. Partner now bids 4♦, which must be a cue-bid showing the ♦A ...

... and that should be enough for you to punt 6♣. **
 

What happens?

Take a look at the whole deal. It's looking pretty good. To make 12 tricks you either have to catch the ♣Q or the ♦K - giving you odds of 3:1 – they'll only both be in the wrong place 1 time in 4.

And as you can see, you're going to have to lose a club trick, but the diamonds come home nicely (especially if North's kind enough to lead a diamond!), so 12 tricks it is and a very pleasant 920 points.

On the night

In the posh session, just 2 pairs (one a pair of former internationals) found the slam, both making. Everyone else was content to make 3NT with overtricks. 

In AP, all three tables played in 3NT. Good enough!

cj

* Here's the same paragraph in more detail:

.

** 'What about Blackwood?' you might wonder. Well, it depends on which version you play, 1430 or 3014. If the latter and your partner has only one Ace, her response to 4NT will be 5♦ – which commits you to the slam anyway! So it's easier not to bother and just to punt 6♣. After all, if she is missing the ♣A, she's probably got some other nice card like the ♦K or ♠K to make up her points.

Still in with a chance

There's nothing very startling about this hand. It just has a couple of common – and therefore useful – examples of good declarer-play practice.

Sitting East, you open 1♥, intending to rebid NT. South overcalls 1♠ and your partner doubles (a negative double promising both diamonds and clubs). North raises to 2♠ (presumably 'raising to the level of their fit'). Hoping (rightly, it turns out) that NS are being a bit frisky, you decide to try 2NT and with 10 points partner raises you to 3NT.

Unsurprisingly, South leads the ♠K. How are you planning to play the hand?
 

Thinking it over ...

Hmm. Once your spade stop's gone, you're wide open in spades, aren't you? So you've got to hope that the clubs break nicely. If they do, you'll have one spade, one diamond, two heart and five club tricks – that's 9 tricks and the contract made.

If the clubs are 2-2, you'll be fine – always providing you bang out the ♣AK and don't do any finessing. * But supposing they're 3-1 and you have to end up losing a club. Can you still make your contract?

Well, that depends on two things: who wins the club trick and how you've played the cards so far.
 

... and deciding what to do

Putting it another way: can you make your contract if South wins the club trick? No. They'll have 4 spade tricks and a club trick for one down.

OK. Can you make your contract if North wins the club trick? Quite possibly, yes. Always providing ...

... that you ducked the first two tricks. South overcalled a spade, right? So she must have at least 5 spades. North raised her, right? So she must have at least 3 spades. They only have 8 between them, so the spades must be exactly 5-3. So if you take the third spade trick and then lose a club trick to North, she doesn't have any spades left to lead to her partner.

A great example of an absolutely standard piece of declarer play in NT: if you have to lose the lead (or may have to lose the lead, as here) and they have a solid suit, duck – twice, if necessary – to cut the communication between the opps' two hands. 

If you do duck twice and North does take a club trick, you're still not out of the woods, as you're now down to 8 tricks, and so will need a successful diamond finesse for your 9th trick, but at least you're still in with a chance.
 

What happens?

Take a look at the whole deal. It turns out that all that ducking was unnecessary as the clubs do split 2-2 and you have your 9 tricks after all. But on another day (more than 40% of the time, in fact) it won't be so simple, and then you'll be glad you ducked. 

Once you've cashed your clubs, by the way, be content with your 9 tricks – don't finesse dummy's ♦Q hoping the ♦K's with North: if South has it, she's going to cash all those nasty spade tricks and take you off. Yes, on this hand it works, but it's not worth the risk.
 

Conclusion

It used to be said that many of those sleeping rough on the Embankment were declarers who failed to clear trumps. They were probably the same ones that didn't duck when they should have in NT contracts. Fortunately, fewer people play bridge for high stakes these days, but that's no reason to get careless.

cj

* As we've seen in previous weeks, with 9 cards to the AK it's better to play for the drop than to finesse for the Queen. The chance of a 2-2 break is only 40%, but there's also a 13% or so chance that the Queen will be a singleton. Here you're missing both the ♣J and the ♣Q, so finessing isn't an option. However, if, when you cash the ♣A, North drops the ♣J or the ♣Q, there's a good chance that it's a singleton, so you should finesse on the 2nd round of clubs. Sure, there's a chance that North started with ♣QJ doubleton, but the chances are 2-1 in favour of the finesse working. Honest.

Does anything jump out at you?

Here's a straightforward auction and a straightforward insight that any aspiring declarer player should hope to spot.

First the auction: after two passes, East opens 1♠ (higher ranking of two 5-card suits!), which West raises to 2♠: with 9 points, she's on the cusp of a raise to 3♠ but a quick check of her losers - she has 9 - persuades her that 2♠ is enough. East, meanwhile, with only 5 losers in her shapely 5-5-2-1 hand, can confidenty go straight to game: 4♠.
 

Plan the play

You're declarer, sitting East, and South leads the ♥5, on which North plays the ♥Q. Do you think you're likely to make your contract?

It's looking pretty good, isn't it? You might lose two trump tricks if the trumps are split 3-1 – only one if they're split 2-2 – and you also have a heart loser, but the contract looks safe enough.

That said, at pairs you always want to make as many tricks as possible. Take another look. Does anything jump out at you?
 

As clear as the nose on your face

An experienced declarer will spot this within seconds of dummy going down. Less experienced declarers may take a bit longer, but will never see it if they don't take the trouble to look – this is why declarers think for a while before plunging into the play ...

Have you spotted it? 

That's it: you have the ♦AK, but a singleton diamond in your hand. So if you cash your ♦A, you can dump your losing ♥10 on dummy's ♦K. You no longer have a heart loser!
 

How's it done?

Having the idea's one thing, but it only works if you do it right. What's your plan?

It's pretty simple. Win with your ♥A and immediately cash your ♦A. Then over to dummy with the ♣A (your only entry) and cash your ♦K, discarding the ♥10. Now you can clear trumps, which kindly split 2-2, and you have 12 tricks.

The trick is, of course, that you have to do all this jiggery-pokery before you clear trumps. This is because – as you can easily foresee if you do a quick mental 'fast-forward' – clearing trumps involves losing the lead, and as soon as you lose the lead they're going to cash their heart winner. 

In hindsight, this all seems obvious, doesn't it? But read on ...
 

On the night

On the posh night, every EW pair was in 4♠ and every declarer made 12 tricks.

In AP, every EW pair was in 4♠ but no declarer made 12 tricks. They all made 11.
 

Conclusion

A stark contrast, certainly, but it ain't down to a difference in IQ – trust me! It all comes down to experience: it was second nature for the more experienced players to see – and execute – the opportunity. Not so with the AP declarers.

But exactly what is 'experience'? In a learning context, it often takes the form of making a mistake and learning from it. Of which this hand's an excellent example!

cj

PS After a heart lead, you have to play as suggested above, because you are already vulnerable in hearts. On any other lead, however, you would be able to clear trumps before getting the jiggery-pokery done. This is because you still have the ♥A, so they can't take their heart trick even when you lose the lead.  Clearing trumps first will, of course, remove the risk that they can trump something during the jiggery-pokery stage, but on this hand the risk is vanishingly small: they're only going to be able to ruff if the diamonds are split 7-1 or if the clubs are split 6-0. Still, it could happen ...

Temptation

You got lucky in the auction. You didn't fancy leaving partner in her 3♣ overcall over West's opening weak 2♦, so punted 3♠ - your best suit - and partner raised you to game. 

West leads the ♥7, down goes dummy and prospects look good. What are your thoughts? How are you going to play it?

On the face of it, the best line is to concede a diamond trick, ruff a diamond in dummy (before clearing trumps!), fling the other two losing diamonds on dummy's ♣AK, then clear trumps and hope to lose only one or two tricks in hearts. 

Meanwhile, you have to play to the first trick. What are you going to do?

Temptation

This is where the temptation comes in. The heart lead seems to be offering you a 'free' finesse. If West has the ♥K, you can play low from dummy and win in hand with your ♥Q. Wouldn't that be loverly? Well, yes, it would, but there are various reasons (one compelling) why it ain't gonna happen.

• The ♥7 - a highish card - suggests that West doesn't have the ♥K (on leads, it's 'high for hate, low for like') ...
• ... and besides, it would be plain daft of West to lead a heart at all if she has an unsupported ♥K. Why wouldn't she lead her own suit - diamonds - instead?
• So why did she choose to lead a heart, then? Sure, she may have the doubleton ♥72 or ♥73, but just as likely - more likely, even - the ♥7 is a singleton - now that's a good reason for leading a heart!

In which case, what happens if you play low from dummy? East wins with her ♥K, returns a heart for West to ruff. Now if she can get the lead back to East again (via a diamond?) West can ruff another heart and you're one off. Tricks 1-4 to the opps. 

Which is exactly what does happen, as you'll see if you check out the whole deal. At trick 3, West switches to the ♦K, which East overtakes with her ♦A in order to lead back another heart to kill the contract.

As old as the hills

This situation comes up time and again and the temptation's always there. In No Trumps, of course you'd play low and set up a trick for your ♥Q, but in a suit contract, beware!

So. on this hand, at least, up with the ♥A at trick one. Then what next?

Just carry on with the original plan: give them a diamond trick so that you can ruff a diamond before clearing trumps.

What? But then they can cash their ♥K and ruff a heart! Sure they can, but that's it. They're never going to get the second heart ruff they need to take you off. Once they've cashed their two tricks, you can dump your losing diamonds on the ♣AK, clear trumps and your ♥Q will take the 10th trick.

On the night

On the posh night, less than half the tables found 4♠, and of those who did, only two made it (on the lead of the ♦K) and the others (on the lead of the ♥7) all went off. Which goes to show that no-one's immune to temptation.

In AP, everyone was in spades, everyone got the ♥7 lead and everyone went off.

cj
.

Three routes to game

Usually when you have an opening hand opposite an opening hand, you can make game of one sort or another, and this deal is no exception. The difficulty is that both hands are marginal – each qualifying as an opening hand courtesy of the 'Rule of 20'. *

Route 1

Some Norths won't feel comfortable opening 1♠ as they won't want to rebid such a rubbish suit. It won't be necessary, of course, as you can always rebid 2♥ if you have to. So let's open and see what happens.

South has 10 points, so can respond 2♦ ... and North can now bid 2♥, promising 5 spades and 4 hearts.

And now it's all down to South. She only has 10 points, but once you've found a fit, you should count your losers, just in case you're stronger than your points might suggest. And this hand certainly is: with hearts as trumps, it has just 6 losers – one fewer than what's needed for game. Bid 4♥!

And as you can see, provided the trumps behave (which they do – West has ♥Kx) you're looking at 11 tricks, losing just the two black Aces.

Route 2

Supposing North chickens out and decides to pass instead of opening ...

• South opens 1♦ and North responds 1♠ (show the longer suit first)
• South is far too weak to show her hearts – 2♥ would be a reverse, requiring 16+ points – so rebids 2♦ ...
• but North is fine to bid 2♥ herself, showing her 2nd suit (and maybe expecting partner to bid NT) ...
• ... and it's down to South again. She's minimum in points, but with only 6 losers can afford to invite North to game with 3♥ ...
• ... and with only 7 losers, North is delighted to raise to game.

Different starting place, same result.

Route 3

If you check out the whole deal, you'll see that Route 2 probably isn't going to happen like that, because West's got a decent overcall. Over South's opening 1♦ she overcalls 2♣. **

What is North to do now? Easy: after an opp's overcall, the negative double promises at least 4 cards in any unbid major suit - and North's got them both! Perfect. X.

After which South will invite game with 3♥ – not 2♥: she's only got 6 losers, remember? – and North will again raise to game.

This auction raises the interesting possibility that East might decide to sacrifice in 5♣, which actually only goes 2 off, so is a great bid. But will she risk it vulnerable? Probably not.

On the night

On the posh night, only half the tables reached 4♥. One stopped in 3♥ and the others were all in 2♦, 3♦ or 5♦.

In AP, just one South punted 4♥ (well bid!), the others being in 3♥ or 3♦.

Conclusion 

There are plenty of basic bidding favourites here – the Rule of 20, the suit quality test, bidding suits in the right order, avoiding reversing when you're too weak, the negative double – but if you're to find game with just 21 points between you, you'll need to count your losers.

I've got a (pretty ancient) introduction to the Losing Trick Count on the Boxbridge website – click here – but there are lots of other online resources out there.

cj 

* In case you've forgotten, here's the Rule of 20: Add your points to the number of cards in your two longest suits. North qualifies by virtue of 11 + 5 + 4, and South by virtue of 10 + 6 + 4.

** She has plenty of points and her suit's fine: 5 cards + 3 honours = 8 in the suit quality test, which is OK for a 2-level overcall.

Egg and bacon

Here's a hand featuring what you might called a 'marked finesse'. Sitting North, you've ended up in 3NT after West's overcalled 1♥ - surely marking her with the ♥Q10 - which bodes well for your contract. East, however, hasn't led a heart, but the ♠5. What's your plan?

It's looking good, isn't it? If East has the ♠A you have not just one but two spade tricks. And even if West doesn't have the ♥10 * you've surely got three heart tricks. Add to that two club tricks and at least 4 in diamonds - 5 if you can catch the ♦Q.

First, let's see what happens at trick 1: you play low in dummy, West plays the ♠J and you win with the ♠Q. OK. What next?

Well, taking the heart finesse of the ♥J as a given, all you have to do is sort out the diamonds. What's your best chance of making 5 diamond tricks?

Sure. Finesse to catch the ♦Q. A 50% chance. Can you improve on that? Yes you can! How?

If the Queen's missing ...

... you have the A and the K. So you don't need to take the finesse right away. It's a good idea to begin by cashing the Ace or the King, in case the Queen is a singleton. Imagine that you lead the ♦J at trick 2, play low from dummy and lose to the ♦Q ... and it turns out that it was a singleton. A great way of getting egg on your face!

There's no need to risk such embarrassment. At trick 2 simply lead a low diamond to the Ace: if West drops the ♦Q, all's fine, and if not you just get back into your hand (via the ♥J - why not?) and now take the diamond finesse.

OK. Most of the time, West won't be holding the singleton ♦Q (the odds are a bit under 6%) but on the odd occasion that she does have it, you'll be getting a better score than a lot of other declarers ...

... and, as you can see if you check out the whole deal, this deal is one such odd occasion.

On the night

On the posh night, every table played in 3NT, one declarer going off (!), three making 10 tricks, and only two making 11 tricks. One made 12, having presumably played West for the ♥10 as well as the ♥Q and getting the diamonds right as well.

In AP, the three declarers in 3NT made 9, 11 and 12 tricks, while one North somehow ended up in 1♥.

Conclusion 

It's a simple enough precaution: missing the Q, cash a top honour first in case the Q is singleton, and if it doesn't appear take the finesse as planned. Most of the time it won't make a ha'pence of difference, but it costs nothing and sometimes it will bring home the bacon.

cj 

* Some players insist on overcalling with rubbish suits, in spite of my banging on about the 'suit quality test' all the time.

Wrong vulnerability

Here's a strange deal that would end up being a lot of fun if the vulnerability were reversed - that is, if NS (the stronger side) were vulnerable and the EW (the weaker side) were non-vulnerable.

You pass, as does East, and your partner opens 2♣, promising either a balanced hand with 23+ points or 9 or so tricks in an unspecified suit. You have 5 spades, but otherwise you're as weak as a kitten, so you propose to respond 2♦ and await partner's rebid. This would be my plan:

• if partner responds 2NT, I'll transfer her into spades and then bid 3NT. With my 3 points, we should have enough for game.
• If she bids clubs, diamonds or hearts, I'll show my spades and hope partner doesn't think I'm stronger than I am. (She should understand, as I didn't respond 2♠ to her opening bid.)
• If she bids spades I'll raise her straight to 4♠. An example of 'fast arrival', meaning 'You want to be in game, partner. OK. Here you are. Please don't go any further!'

In the event, West gets in the way. Unexpectedly, as they're vulnerable and West knows that South's got a pretty strong hand. To show that you were intending to respond 2♦ you now pass. Don't be tempted to bid 2♠ just because you can: partner will expect you to have 7+ points and could go leaping off into all sorts of unmakeable slams! Just pass and wait and see.

And as it happens, spades is partner's suit too, so (as planned) you sign off in 4♠ and partner, knowing you're weak, passes.

Can you make it?

Now you're sitting South. Here's your hand:    West leads the ♥A against your 4♠ contract. Can you make it?

Maybe - but maybe not. You've already lost one trick, you've got 2 diamond losers ... and unless you get a bit of luck you're in line to lose a club trick as well. 

As it happens, you're OK, as you'll see if you look at the whole deal. Even if West finds the switch to diamonds on trick 2, you don't have a club loser: The singleton ♣Q drops under the ♣A, giving you 3 club tricks, and you can discard dummy's 4th club on your ♥Q. Phew! Good thing you didn't look for the slam.

What's all this about vulnerability, then?

Well, if the vulnerability were reversed, the EW bidding would be a lot bolder. East would surely raise her partner's hearts straight to game, and West would then 'sacrifice' in 5♥. Leaving South having to decide whether to go on to 5♠ or double for penalties.

Either is disastrous: as we've seen, 5♠ goes off, but more dramatically, 5♥ actually makes. With just 16 points between the two hands: EW lose just one heart trick and one club trick. 

Sadly, the vulnerability was the other way round, so the results were in the main rather pedestrian:

On the night

On the posh night, NS were in 4♠ at all the tables bar one, all making 10 tricks. At the other table, a frisky EW ignored the vulnerability and punted 5♥, which was duly doubled ... and made with an overtrick for 1050. Lovely.

In AP, the contract was 4♠ at every table, making 10 tricks.

cj