All News

Our Aim is?

There are two questions today involving playing the same deal. In the first case, our contract of 5S has not been doubled. In the second, it has!

 

You elect to open your shorter but much stronger black suit. There are times when you can pre-empt the opposition more effectively by opening 1. This looked like one of them when your partner showed you 3-card support. Who knows, your swift jump to game may end the bidding.

That was not the case today as West was not to be silenced. When your partner could not double 5, you decide to compete to 5…and at first sight of dummy, you are glad you did.

West leads the top two diamonds and then switches to the A. How will you go about playing the contract:

     If you are not doubled?       or

     If East doubles you?

You are playing Pairs.

Well, if you are not doubled, you can see that you have fair chances of making your contract. A 3-2 trump break and a well-placed K will soon make you feel very happy. You ruff and start off on trumps and even if the trump break is not kind (a 4-1 break is OK too as long as you do not have to lose a trick to K), you do not mind going a few down at 50 a trick as long as 5 is making.

So, ruff, draw trumps in 4 rounds (West has one) and play a low club (blocking the suit by playing Q is not a good idea!) . Today, the defence will score K and 6 red suit tricks in total. That will be 5 down, -350, but still an excellent result as compared with -650 had South passed out 5.

5 down is fine without the double but when either opponent does double, then -1100 is not a good sacrifice against – 650. One’s aim has changed. Let’s see the four hands:

 

West felt they had shown their strong hand by bidding 5and left it to East, with a few “bits and pieces” along with a possible trump threat, or at worst nuisance, to do the doubling.

In fact, with South having to ruff the A, East’s four little trumps, along with K, were more than a little nuisance. South needed to realise that their aim was not to make the contract but to avoid losing control of the play which they would do if they played to try and make their undoubled game.

Indeed, South would at the sight of dummy wish that they were in 6x, which even with club finesse failing is a certain 2 down or -300.

Their other thought was that if the trump break in 5x was 5-0, they would be in serious trouble. One approach would be to ruff the A, play one round of trumps and then take a losing club finesse. The double surely suggested a bad trump break and probably that East has an honour card, as indeed they did have.

When East wins and plays a second round of hearts, declarer must discard a club rather than ruff and have less trumps than East. If the defence continue with a third round of diamonds, declarer must discard again so that when a third round of hearts is played, South can ruff in dummy, cash dummy’s remaining trump and play a second club to the South hand to draw East’s remaining 3 trumps and can then claim. Once again, the importance of not playing Q earlier can be seen.

South will then lose no more 4 red suit tricks and K to be 3 down, -500, but a great save against the making 5 contract.

Of course, had the K been singleton, the “undoubled approach” but laying down A, would have netted +650. That, though, was not South’s aim..nice to have but there was a big risk in trying such an approach. Of the 3 pairs in 5, one recorded -1100, another – 300 and a third -50. The majority of West players had a very comfortable time in 5.

Richard Solomon

Go Back View All News Items