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TALES OF AKARANA

The Natural Psyche…or “Bidding the Boss Suit”.

The race to bid spades was a key factor on one particular board this week. Would you bid them in this auction? You are South with:

Spade-small KQT5

Heart-small 9854

Diamond-small 63

Club-small 986

and hear the following:

West          North         East            South

1Diamond-small              x                 1Heart-small               ?

You could make a negative double (maybe a little presumptuous), call 1Spade-small (seems better but does that show five?) or look at the rest of your hand and just pass.

What about the following auction where you are West with:

Spade-small7432

Heart-small A7

Diamond-small AKT8742

Club-small-

and hear:

West          North         East            South

1Diamond-small              x                 1Heart-small             Pass

?

Pass is surely no option here but would you content yourself with 2Diamond-small or would you show your “powerful” second suit?

I like the idea of sticking in a spade bid here before reverting to where my strengths and intentions really lie. Sometimes, by bidding the suit, it makes it harder for the opposition to find their own spade fit. That was certainly the case here but keeping the opponents quiet also made it impossible for my partner to make his splinter bid:

Board 24
West Deals
None Vul
A J 8 6
K Q J
K Q J 7 5 2
7 4 3 2
A 7
A K 10 8 7 4 2
 
N
W   E
S
 
9
10 6 3 2
Q J 9 5
A 10 4 3
 
K Q 10 5
9 8 5 4
6 3
9 8 6
West North East South
Richard Solomon Mike Dunn Gary Chen Owen Camp
1  Dbl 1  Pass
1  2  2  3 
5  All pass    

 

Owen (South) took the conservative approach of passing 1Spade-small enabling me to get the spades in first. When partner, unasked, showed some diamond support, I was not going to hang around and battle away against the opponents’ black suit bidding. I kept the opponents out of spades though had guided them to their cheapest dive, in 6Club-small, only two down, though no great dive if East-West took their own “dive” in 6Diamond-small.

A black suit lead from North makes 6Diamond-smalleasy to play (ruff three spades in the East hand), though there are also 12 tricks on the Heart-smallK lead. West wins and has to use a trump to cross to dummy to dispose of their heart loser on the Club-smallA. Now, West gives up a spade to South whose best defence is a second round of trumps. West can now only ruff two spades in dummy but the fortunate (not a word North would use) lie of the heart suit enables the Heart-small10 to be set up to discard West’s remaining spade loser.

Was I too premature, too confident in bidding the diamond game? 9 of the 14 tables played in 5Diamond-small with North doubling (the “stripe tailed ape” struck again) unsuccessfully six times. Mike Dunn did well by passing. Jeff Thompson-David O’Shaughnessy risked all but survived by diving in 6Club-small while two North-South pairs had contrasting spade excursions, one conceding 50 in 5Spade-small and the other just a little more a level higher!

The final table saw some explosive bidding after David Dolbel did call 1Spade-small on his paltry 5 count as South. He did not realise then that he was about to be declarer in slam:

West          North         East            South

Pam            John           Michael      David

Canning     Evitt           Curry          Dolbel

1Diamond-small              x                 1Heart-small              1Spade-small

2Diamond-small             4Spade-small              5Diamond-small             Pass

Pass            6Spade-small             x                 Pass

?

Maybe Pam Canning could have raised to 6Diamond-small a round earlier but John Evitt made what looked like an advance sacrifice over 5Diamond-small. Even though Michael Curry (East) took the axe to 6Spade-small, Pam started wondering. Had North-South really bid all the way to 6Spade-small on a 4-4 fit? If they had 9 spades and her partner could produce just the Heart-smallK or the Club-smallA, then all 13 tricks in diamonds would be very attractive.

So, she bid on to 7Diamond-smalland got doubled by John Evitt. Michael obliged with the high club but there was nowhere for him to hide that tiny spade.

6Spade-small x loses more than the two missing aces. At the very least, West must score a club ruff but West can engineer a heart ruff too. Thus, the race to bid spades had interesting results…a dive over a making slam if South got the spades in first but the slam being missed if West called the suit.

The “boss” suit? Does that mean we must bid it?

Richard Solomon

 

 

 

 

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