While
on the road, you stop off at a local bridge club to play
a few
deals and have a chicken salad sandwich. You pick up the South
hand.
After partner's 1NT response, East overcalls 2.
You bid 3 and
then
West bids 3.
Partner now throws a curve ball: 4.
What's that? What
do you bid?
South
You A
K J 5 4 J A
7 K
J 10 8 6
South
1
3
?
West
pass
3
North
1NT
4
East
2
pass
Dealer
: South
Vulnerable:
North-South
North — — — —
West — — — —
East — — — —
You're
not sure what 4 is,
but it sounds like a cuebid. The waitress
tells you that the club doesn't make chicken salad sandwiches.
Meanwhile, what can you lose by bidding 4? This is doubled
on your
left (surprisingly) and passed back to you. Is partner expecting
you
to bid? Did 4 imply
a club fit? What is your call?
South You A
K J 5 4 J A
7 K
J 10 8 6
South
1
3
4
?
West
pass
3
double
North
1NT
4
pass
East
2
pass
pass
Dealer
: South
Vulnerable:
North-South
North Q
9 8
5 4 J
6 5 4 2 A
Q 2
West — — — —
East — — — —
Opening
lead: 2
You
tell the waitress to bring you some bread and some chicken
salad
on the side. Then you decide only a masochist would pass it back
to
you with a clear preference for a club contract. So you pass and
get
the lead of the 2.
Choice of games cuebid, says partner
with a
smile on his face. Well, that's what it was! Perhaps 5 would
have
been a better spot, because now you're getting tapped in your
seven-card fit and it looks like West must hold five trumps for
his
double.
East
wins the king of hearts and leads the ace of hearts at trick
two. What is your plan.
South You A
K J 5 4 J A
7 K
J 10 8 6
South
1
3
4
pass
West
pass
3
double
North
1NT
4
pass
East
2
pass
pass
Dealer
: South
Vulnerable:
North-South
North Q
9 8
5 J
6 5 4 2 A
Q 2
West — — — —
East — — — —
Opening
lead: 2
You
can throw the 7 of diamonds on the second round of hearts
(nice
technique, throwing a loser) but you'll still have to ruff the
third
round. If you let them take three heart tricks, they can play a
fourth, and now West (assuming he has five trumps) will have to
score
a trump trick. The chicken salad arrives and soon after the bread.
Now all you need is a fork?
You
pitch the 7 of diamonds and ruff the third heart. How will
you
make this hand?
South You A
K J 5 4 — A
7 K
J 10 8 6
South
1
3
4
pass
West
pass
3
double
North
1NT
4
pass
East
2
pass
pass
Dealer
: South
Vulnerable:
North-South
North Q
9 J
6 5 4 2 A
Q 2
West — — — —
East — — — —
Opening
lead: 2
If
you draw trumps and then lead clubs, you'll be OK if West ruffs
and has no more hearts to lead. But what if he started with five
spades and four hearts? Better is to draw only one round of trumps.
Lead the 5 to the queen. Then play clubs till West ruffs. Once
he
ruffs, he can't do anything to you; a diamond or trump return allows
you to draw trumps and claim, and a heart return allows you to
ruff
in dummy, lead a diamond to hand and draw trumps. The full hand
was:
North Q
9 8
5 4 J
6 5 4 2 A
Q 2
West 10
8 7 6 3 Q
6 3 2 K
10 5
4
East 2 A
K 10 9 7 Q
9 8 3 9
7 3
South You A
K J 5 4 J A
7 K
J 10 8 6
Yes,
you can make 5 by ruffing the second heart, drawing trumps and
finessing West's 10 of spades. But 4 doubled scores more! The
fork
arrives and you show everyone how to make a chicken salad sandwich.
Nobody seems to care. Next deal....
THE
END
South You A
K J 5 — A K
J 10 8 6
South
1
3
4
pass
West
pass
3
double
North
1NT
4
pass
East
2
pass
pass
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East
