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Diamonds are the Panel’s best friend.

Are they yours? Well, no-one has mentioned them yet. Is now the hour to do so?

   

 

 

It sounds like there are two, maybe even three seven card suits around this table. The only issue is we are getting rather high. Should we introduce diamonds or hope we can defeat our opponents or maybe even go for the match-point earning spade contract? After all, we are playing Pairs.

Bruce Anderson “4: double is tempting; if partner has AK and A, the defence will go well if I can pitch a club on a winning spade. But that may be dreaming so I am bidding on as I have a strong diamond suit headed by AK and a club doubleton. Vulnerable, partner should have a strong spade suit and he/she is likely to be void in hearts. So  game our way may be a make, while 4 could also be a make. When in doubt bid one more, as they say.

Some prophetic words in what Bruce said though I would think that double would not be out and out penalties and if partner had a spade suit worthy of making 4, they may well pull the double any way. They are not guaranteed to have 7 of them. 

However, most of our Panel are heading higher…but maybe double has a different meaning:

Wayne Burrows “5: I have too much to pass and double doesn't really describe this shape but could be right if partner is short in diamonds.

I like the idea of playing 4NT as Lebensohl-like here so you can bid 4NT with a weaker 5 bid and bid 5 with a stronger 5 bid (or vice versa). We lose Blackwood but we won't always have a spade fit as here and might need to get our suit and range across. With both minors I can double for take-out or do something much stronger if we can't stand partner passing.”

Do you know what 4NT would mean?

Back though to our diamond bidders:

Michael Ware “5: With partner so likely to be short in hearts, 5 feels percentage.”

Well, shortage in hearts does not mean absolutely length in diamonds but chances are that partner has a few. In bidding diamonds, our Panel range from the somewhat pessimistic:

 

Nigel Kearney “5: Pass could be the theoretical percentage action at match-points, but we might already be behind other pairs as  our opponents have reached 4 quickly, leaving our partner with a blind opening lead. I am guessing to bid 5, hoping that either 4 or 5makes.

 

Peter Newell “5: with a degree of trepidation that we are going down and 4 wasn't making. I bid as I think we have a chance of making 5 if partner has a singleton heart and some diamond support. While I think it's odds against they may make 4, only if we don't get a spade ruff and they have a club fit on the side too. So while 5 could easily be wrong and will go down quite often when they weren't making 4, I think there are more plusses than minuses.”

to some degree of optimism:

 

Michael Cornell “5: Another tough one and I am glad it’s Pairs. The worst I can get is a bottom and every action could secure one and that includes pass . I shut my eyes and bid 5 which I will make on a good day!

I think RHO would be happy to hear 4but is also bidding 4 as a possible make so I think is short in diamonds and partner obviously is short in hearts.

In the ideal world I would like to pass and wait for partner to reopen with the heart void but I think this is a bit of a dream!

 

to a much more optimistic:

 

Stephen Blackstock “ 6: Hard to see it having no play; we may even have a grand but there is no invitational sequence available. Perhaps with a heart void, the black tops and something in diamonds partner can bid one more. I want to make it clear that diamonds is the trump suit. After a heart cue or 4NT/5NT, North may think I am raising spades. 

Note that some may double 4, and might get +800. A very conservative 5 would thus not compare well.”

7 spades and 4 clubs would not leave too much space for red cards in partner’s hand though maybe now’s not the time to be too pessimistic. However, it seems you can have a bit both ways as surely you will not have less than what you hold in bidding 5? Leon suggests what indeed did happen: 

Leon Meier “5: Because we are all vulnerable, I will believe the opponents when they say they have a 10- card fit, so partner probably has a void. I would like to make a mild slam try in diamonds because of that but I think if partner has a void heart, they'll get excited about that anyway. So, I will bid 5 and expect partner to bid 6 a decent amount of the time.”

Indeed, they did bid 6 over 5 and they had most of the high cards which Stephen Blackstock suggested they might have. Does that mean you should be in 7? Well, not quite but how would you plan to make 12 tricks in 6 on the lead of A?

 

You should probably be relieved that you did not get a club lead! Seeing as you can afford to lose one trick, you play A and then a second spade (Q?). East follows with a second low spade (K and 10 are still missing) and you?

 

Ruffing with 9 seems a reasonable plan. If the K had not appeared, you could still ruff two more hearts in dummy, hoping only to lose a club trick.

You are not quite home yet when the K falls as you hope trumps are 2-1. They are and you can draw them to make all 13 tricks. Of course, the friendly breaks allow 13 tricks also to be made in spades though a small or grand slam in diamonds looks to be a better bet.

You can at best score 500 from 4x and to do that, North has to lead a diamond for South to switch to a spade. On the second round of that suit, South can indeed discard a club with the defence’s 5^th trick coming from a club ruff.

Meanwhile, probably most of our Panel, even the most pessimistic of them, will be recording at least 12 tricks in 6.

Richard Solomon

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