This hand illustrates several applications of the LAW of total tricks. It also shows that sometimes being asleep at the switch can produce favorable results.
Board #22
East dealer
East-West vulnerable
| | North
♠ A K 5 3
♥ J 5
♦ K 7 6 4
♣ 9 8 4
| | West
♠ 8 4
♥ Q 10 9 8 7
♦ A 2
♣ A 10 5 3
| | East
♠ 10
♥ K 8 4 3
♦ J 10 5 3
♣ K J 7 6
| | | South
♠ Q J 9 7 6 2
♥ A 2
♦ Q 9 8
♣ Q 2
| |
|
| | | | |
| South | West | North | East |
| | | P |
| P | 1♥ | P | 2♥ |
| P | P | P | |
I was sitting East. I did not consider opening with two kings and a jack. I cannot fathom why South passed. I would have opened 1♠ without hesitation. The hand has eleven points. It also has nine cards in the two longest suits and therefore meets the rule of 20. OK; it only has one quick trick. However, if it is too weak to open 1♠, then why not open 2♠? Yes, your strength is not concentrated in spades, but come on. Six-card spade suits do not grow on trees. When you are dealt one, you should make every effort to tell your partner the news.
In the third seat my partner made the very aggressive bid of 1♥. The problem is that if I had responded 1♠, he we would not have had a good rebid. He certainly cannot pass, and any rebid promises a full opener. Still, as the saying goes, fortune favors the bold (except when discretion is the better part of valor).
I would have doubled with North's hand. It is short on points, but modern bidding theory emphasizes taking early action, especially when the vulnerability is favorable. In this case North passed.
My hand has ten "dummy points", seven high-card points and three for the singleton. Since we play two-way reverse Drury, I should have bid 2♦ to show four hearts and invitational values. However, I did not notice the pass card in front of me1 and bid 3♥ instead, and that is what we played.
My partner guessed the club layout correctly and scored ten tricks and 170 points. We would have gotten a top even if he had guessed wrong. The other two North-South pairs played a partial in spades and made nine tricks for 140.
If we had been playing the North-South cards, we might not have done as well. I would have opened the South hand with 1♠. If East-West entered the auction, we would have had trouble stopping short of 4♠. The corollary to the LAW dictates that in a competitive auction with ten trump we should jump to the four-level as soon as we know about the ten-card fit. However, that conclusion is based on the combination of the LAW itself, which is based on a great deal of research, and the way that bridge happens to be scored. In situations with unfavorable vulnerability the corollary's track record is not nearly as good.
The LAW itself worked flawlessly on this hand. We had nine trumps; the opponents had ten spades. The LAW predicts nineteen tricks. We can take ten in hearts; they can take only nine in spades. QED. So, this is another example of how understanding the LAW and its limitations is a key to successful competitive bidding.
1. I have an appointment with the eye doctor next week. Really.