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8 + 2 = Not Enough

That’s enough tricks when you are in 4 of a major contract but the answer is one short of what you need when you are in a minor suit game. 10 tricks equate to down 1.

Oh, from where do those numbers come? The number of tricks in your hand and the number dummy can produce. Take a look.

 

 

1NT is 12-14 and 2 simple Stayman. You bid ‘em up and partner is there for you. You need to repay partner’s faith. West leads A. Over to you. (Trumps do not break 4-0).

Even if you had to lose two trump tricks (you cannot really lose any more), you would have 4 diamond, 3 club tricks and a spade trick in your hand (“8”) while dummy offers A and one trump trick (“2”). When trumps break 2-2, or probably when the K or Q is singleton, you can create extra tricks from ruffing in both hands.

Another way of looking at the deal is that you have 5 diamond tricks and A. Therefore, you need 5 trump tricks. Thus, you must not do what our declarer did. They ruffed the opening lead and played A and a second trump. That’s quite correct when you are in 6 but the aim here was to make 11 tricks, not really 12 but certainly not 10!

There was a “nice” way to make 11 tricks and an “ugly” way as well while there was one other way to make 10 tricks!

What happened

 

 

Well, West did open 1NT. So, it was no surprise that they had two certain trump tricks. At tricks 2 and 3, West played high clubs with West exiting a second heart. This offered South the “ugly” line though that was rejected when they played J covered and ruffed. 5 diamond tricks, 3 trumps in the South hand, A and one ruff in dummy added to one down.

 

Opportunity spurned

South did not realise they were on a downward spiral to disaster when the second heart was played. Had they done so, they would have tried a faint chance by inserting 8 from dummy. Then, an extra trick could later be gained by running J and discarding a spade if East did not cover.

Defensively, it should not have come down to that. On the third trump, East could/should have thrown Q, top of a sequence, or found some other way to ask for a spade switch. East knew from the bidding that South could have no more than 3 spade cards. Hence, the Q would have been almost a certain safe request for a spade switch.

The “nice” way

It was certainly safe to cash A at trick 2. There may have been some good news. Well, there was some good news in that clubs did not break 4-0. However, the contract could then be made safely as long as a second round of trumps was not played. Declarer should start playing diamonds, as they would certainly have done had a spade been led at trick 1. If a defender ruffs, it would now be with one of the top trumps and as long as diamonds did not break 5-1 or 6-0, all would be very good for South.

West was helpless. They could ruff the fourth round of diamonds and play their other high trump though there would still be two trumps in dummy for ruffing South’s two small spades. Making 11 tricks. No reliance on a desperate heart finesse. No worries about making any less than 11 tricks. In fact, South could tell their partner that on many days they had underbid as they would often have made 12 tricks: North would be “excused” on this occasion as 11 tricks was the limit! 

8+ 3 = Game made! 

It’s Jan’s Day and it’s your bid?

 

 

4 is a cue-bid showing first or second round control in spades, with slam interest. Well, what’s next?

Richard Solomon

 

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