Hand of the Week

05/22/19

This hand illustrates several concepts mentioned in the lesson.

Board #18
East dealer
North-South vulnerable

	North ♠ K 9 8 7 3 ♥ 8 ♦ K 8 7 4 ♣ Q 10 6
West ♠ 6 4 ♥ A Q 6 3 2 ♦ J 10 3 ♣ A K 5		East ♠ 10 ♥ K 7 5 4 ♦ A 9 5 ♣ 8 7 4 3 2
	South ♠ A Q J 5 2 ♥ J 10 9 ♦ Q 6 2 ♣ J 9


South	West	North	East
			P
P	1♥	P	2♥
2♠	3♥	3♠	4♥
P	P	4♠	P
P	P

I held North's cards. East passed. My partner probably considered opening 2♠, but he decided to pass. It has become very fashionable to open five-card suits at the two-level, but unfavorable vulnerability makes this quite risky. West started the auction with 1♥. East raised to 2♥. His hand is right on the cusp of invitational. I would have bid Drury with this hand.

At this point South set the 2♠ card on the table, and I awoke from my stupor. After West passed, I decided to see if we could buy it for 3♠. Larry Cohen would probably have bid 4♠ to prevent East from making a lead-directing bid "on the way to" bidding 4♥.

Fortunately for us, East chose to bid 4♥ directly. I finished the auction with a 4♠ bid. I was happy to see a sea of green cards. I expected my partner to go down, but I feared that East-West could make 4♥, and for once I was right on both counts.

There is only one important choice in the play. If East-West takes its heart trick and then attacks diamonds before cashing the clubs, South can only take eight tricks for down two. If East-West is declaring in hearts, North-South have a spade trick and a club trick, and they should get a third trick in diamonds.

In fact, however, there's many a slip twixt cup and lip. At our table and one other declarer only went down one. One pair was allowed to play in 3♠ and made it. One pair scored 790 by making 4♠ doubled. Such a result would surely require either a ruff-slough or a revoke. After all, East-West can take the first four tricks!

Three East-West pairs played in hearts, Two made five, and one went down one. Perhaps they bid 5♥; perhaps declarer misplayed 4♥. I expected our -100 score to be a top or near top, but it actually was a little below average.

In point of fact, the best theoretical contract for East-West is 4♠ doubled. If they defend perfectly, they will set the contract two, which is worth 500 points. The fact is that only one pair (disastrously) doubled, and no one defended perfectly. This illustrates why I said that the "corollary" to the LAW often works better in practice than in theory. Neither East nor West has a clear double, and the best defense is not at all obvious.

The last question is why did the LAW predict nineteen tricks (ten trumps for North-South and nine for East-West), but the hand produced only eighteen with best defense. The answer is that the minor suits are "impure." The Q-J-10 combination in clubs is a certain trick on defense, but if spades are trumps, and East-West attacks diamonds, the only card left to slough on the ♣Q is a ruffable heart. So, the ♣Q is perversely worth more on defense than on offense.

I spent a pretty good while looking at all four hands before I figured this out. My hat is off to anyone who could comprehend it in the middle of the auction. It might have helped if East had bid 4♦ rather than 4♥.

The perfect East-West defense is not elaborate, but it is difficult to see from West's perspective. West can start with the ♣A. It is even OK to lead the ♥A next to make sure that dummy's singleton does not get discarded. At that point, however, it is critically important to switch to a high diamond, which East must duck to the queen. When West gets in again with a club, two diamond tricks are available. However, if South had held the ♦9 instead of the ♦6, this strategy would not work.