Wednesday morning August 22, 2007

Lead: five of spades (!)

Isn't bridge wonderful? Standard dogma says lead your fourth from your longest and strongest, thus the five of spades. What a wonderful lead for declarer. Poor South's king is doomed; West ducking on the board and taking the king with the ace. West finesses with the ten of hearts, losing to the queen. South is dismayed. A club lead would have enabled NS to take five club tricks plus the heart and maybe a diamond, setting the contract. As it is, West gleefully gets three spades, four hearts, two diamonds and a club; meanwhile two clubs makes NS!

Wednesday morning August 22, 2007

Lead: king of diamonds.

Jo and Charlotte were the only ones to bid and make the slam which makes seven hearts with a little patience and proper play. With five outstanding trumps, you're supposed to finesse.

Friday evening August 25, 2007

Lead: three of diamonds.

A comedy of errors with the tag line that all's well that ends well. West must have gulped when seeing the board flop. East's 4C bid was intended to be Gerber, but the pair hadn't discussed such beforehand; and was very pleased with a three-ace response, coming back with her diamond bid. On the other hand, West thought partner's 4C bid was encouragement in the suit and plowed on to slam in clubs. After the diamond lead, East put down her hand with a quizzical look on her face, but said nothing. West eyes blinked in a "Oh, I get it," response; then went to work The lead was immediately marked as a singleton, so West had to get busy with trumps. The queen was overtaken by the king, trumps run in four rounds, followed by three more diamonds, three spades and a heart. While 6NT makes as the cards are on the table, it's unlikely to be bid. It never hurts to be lucky.

Friday evening August 24, 2007

Lead: seven of clubs.

The only question is "Will the trumps break?" And, they do. Two teams bid the slams, but three didn't. This is a good sequence to get there.

Saturday morning August 25, 2007

Lead: four of hearts.

East's 2NT implies some spade holdings; his 4D and 5H bids are control cuebids, the 4D denying a club control. The lack of a club control doesn't bother West because of the singleton. Declarer gets a double bonus and the unusual score of 1860 when sleepy North doesn't pay attention to the bidding and forgets to lead a club. West plays the spades incorrectly, yet is rewarded when the queen falls. With five trumps are outstanding, you're supposed to finesse! With three trumps outstanding you're supposed to finesse. While six diamonds is an easier slam to bid, a similar number of tricks in spades gives you a top board.

Saturday morning August 25, 2007

Lead: king of hearts.

"Well, we pushed them right into game, didn't we?" In the only competitive auction of the five times this hand was played, one team was pushed to five diamonds, making five instead of six because the trump queen was finessed instead of playing for the drop (the correct play). Also notice that 6 clubs is cold.