Analysis of Hands from November 14, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------- Hand 1 ---------- S 10863 H Q75 D QJ106 C A4 S J2 S 95 H KJ3 H A1042 D 98742 D A53 C Q85 C J1093 S AKQ74 H 986 D K C K762 Dealer: East Vulnerable: E/W Bidding ------- E S W N P 1S P 3S P 4S P P The bidding is relatively straightforward. South has a standard 1S opener. Most experienced Norths would bid a 3S "limit raise" (4 spades and 9-11 points). With 15 points and distribution, South has an easy 4S bid. Play ------ Opening lead: Diamond 9 West makes what appears to be a passive diamond lead, but, after playing the A and seeing the K drop, East should realize that the diamonds are set up for discards, and therefore an aggressive defense is called for. If East passively leads back the club J, declarer will win the trick and be able to discard. Therefore, East must hope that declarer wil lose 3 heart tricks and should lead back the heart 2. West wins the K and should lead back the heart 3 (on this hand, leading back the J works, but if South had the 10, leading back the 3 makes South guess whether or not to play the Q). East plays the 10 of hearts (if partner does not have the J, declarer is making the hand anyway) and cashes the A for down 1. Hand 2 ---------- S 75 H KJ63 D A975 C Q105 S K9832 S Q64 H 1074 H 982 D q103 D J842 C 64 C AK8 S AJ10 H AQ5 D K6 C J9732 Dealer: South Vulnerable: Both Bidding ----------- S W N E 1N P 2C P 2D P 3N P P P With a balanced 15 points, South opens 1N. Since North has 10 points, the only question is whether the hand belongs in 4 hearts or 3NT. North bids 2C (Stayman, asking South to bid a 4 card major). South bids 2D (no 4 card major), so North ends the auction with 3NT. Play ---- Opening lead: Spade 3 West leads 4th best from the longest suit. East plays the Q and South plays the A. South has only 8 tricks not counting clubs (2 spades, 4 hearts, and 2 diamonds) so one club trick must be set up. South hopes that the defense will not be able to cash 3 spades and 2 clubs. Therefore South leads a low club to the 10. Before proceeding further, let me discuss 2 defensive carding principles that apply to this hand. 1) When winning a trick on defense, win with the lowest card possible. Therefore, East should win with the K of clubs. If East carelessly plays the A, partner will assume South has the K. 2) When leading back partner's suit, the lead should show your "remaining count" (high if you have 2 left, low if you have 3 left). Therefore, East should lead back the spade 6. West, seeing the 4 is missing, will know that East started with 3 spades (East cannot have a singleton, since South denied having 4 spades). If East carelessly leads back the 4, West will think that East started with 4 spades and South with 2. Careful defensive carding is very important, because defense is the hardest part of bridge, so any (legal) help you can give partner in describing what cards you hold will often pay dividends. Now back to the hand. When East wins the club K, West realizes it is likely that East also has the A (if East just had the K, South would probably take the club finesse). When East leads back the spade 6, West realizes that East started with 3 spades. Therefore, West can see that the defense can take 3 spades and 2 clubs. However, if West takes the K of spades immediately and leads another spade, East will have no spades to lead back when winning the A of clubs. Therefore, West should duck the K of spades (and throw the 9 as an encouraging signal). When East gets in with the A of clubs, back will come another spade and South will go down 1.