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No Certainty.

The opposition appear to have over-stretched themselves and have reached a slam where you have a more than adequate trump holding, an ace and more. Is it time to penalise?

 

Pairs.

The opposition have been bidding a lot. Would you like to take out the red card? Oh, I suppose you would like to know what it all means.

3 promised an undisclosed shortage (singleton or even shorter!), 4 spades and 10+ hcp.

3 asked where the shortage was with 4 saying it was in diamonds.

4 was a cue (1^st or 2^nd round) and 5 showed 2 key-cards but no Q.

On some days, you will beat the spade game. So, it seems fairly natural that you would wish to penalise the small slam. A cashing ace and every chance of two trump tricks. You want to be ahead of the field, of others who are defending 6. It does not look like 6NT will this time play any better should they run from your double.

It sounds logical, therefore, to double the slam. It was not the right decision.

 

North had stolen a spade for their 3 bid as they were supposed to have 4 trumps. They must have given West one spade back after making that bid! There were no stray jacks or queens in the North- South hands, all the honours (there were not that many) being very useful. So was the side-suit heart fit.

Our West doubled 6 and then made the “obvious” lead of the A. After that lead, it proved relatively easy for South to cash K and play a second spade towards dummy. West had to cover though South could win with their ace and play 10 and if West ducked that, a heart to hand which forced out West’s only trump winner. South’s three losing diamonds would disappear on K and on the two long heart winners.

What say West had doubled and led a more neutral heart? South can win in hand and lead a spade towards dummy which West must cover with an honour. Back to the South hand with a second heart and then a diamond ruff, followed by 10. A club ruff and a third trump won by West who is powerless. A diamond would be won in hand, trump drawn and three more rounds of hearts sees South home.

It’s much the same after an initial diamond lead as declarer can ruff to retain control of the suit and continue in a similar way as with the heart lead.

No Double spells Trouble…for the Declarer

 

Yet, say West leaves South in the dark, where they are unaware of the trump position? 6 is undoubled. An unsuspecting South might even struggle to make 10 tricks, though they should achieve that number even if they were only in game. It would seem quite normal for South to ruff a diamond and lay down A and if they were in 6, rather wish they had not.

You should be very sure of your ground when you double a slam based on good trumps. West would claim bad luck to find their A ruffed though probably they had their slice of good luck when their opponents contracted for 12 tricks. Of course, where 6 was not doubled and West tried to cash the A at trick 1, a wary South might decide that West was looking at a trump trick and an ace and conclude that trumps would have to be played in the correct manner on this day. That would indeed be bad luck for West.

Silence is or indeed could be…golden.

Just be happy that your opponents have bid to slam and hope they do not draw any influence about the lie of the defenders’ trumps.

How many spades….

do you bid?

 

You elect not to open a Weak 2 being outside the range and having a 4-carder in the other major. However, the time to take action has now come.

Richard Solomon

 

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