SNS Bank Matchpoints Pairs 2000

Maastricht, Festi Village, April 30

Session 01, boards 08-14

Recommended bidding sequence:

South could make a case for passing 1NT, but his bad ¨ make that too risky. West decides to lead a little ª to the Jack, takes the Queen with his Ace, and leads ¨T, followed by a small ¨ for Jack and Queen, so that East can force declarer to ruff his Ace next. Now South draws trumps, and leads a § to Ten and Jack. A low © gives South a last chance to guess wrong, for §K is bound to drop.

Recommended bidding sequence at imps only:

At favorable vulnerability, North is by no means too weak for a preemptive 3¨. South goes for 3NT. That call should promise stoppers in both majors, at least. North has no reason to run with his assets in the black suits as well. If West fails to lead a §, South even makes 10 tricks by running ¨J. No double, no double, but don't try this at any other vulnerability, unless North promises solid ¨, for you take 6 ¨-tricks only 1 out of 3 times. At matchpoints, South can't afford to go for 150 or more, for EW can certainly not score 150 by themselves. In 5¨, South needs the same amount of luck in the ¨-suit, but won't go for a number if ¨ break worse.

Recommended bidding sequence:

1: Multi Colored, i.e. weak-2 in a major, semiforcing in a minor, and (optional), some other strong sorts of hands.
2: South doesn't know what kind of hand East has. He sees no point in preempting against a weak-2 in ª. If East opens after
    an unmistakable pause of thought, it is obvious, he has a strong type of hand. If not, he may be breaking WBF Law 73D2.
3: At this vulnerability, it is too risky to make a 2-way preemptive jump shift of 3©.
4: Shows a semiforcing hand: 5⁺ ¨ and 20-22 hcp, or, 8-9 playing tricks with ¨ as trumps.
5: 3¨ virtually denies a 5-card major, and if East happens to have a 6/5-hand, he will certainly rebid 4© or 4ª.

3NT always makes when ¨ break 3-2, a chance of 67.83%, so it's an excellent contract. Even if ¨ break 4-1, West has some chances. Here, it's over after 2 rounds of ©, for South never gets in to cash ©. On a § lead, West cashes his top ¨,  gives one to the Jack, and still makes 9 or 10 tricks, depending on the suit North returns.

Recommended bidding sequence:

West upgrades his 5332-hand to 1NT, as recommended by Dutch experts Ton Schipperheyn and Cornelius Sint in Acol 2000. East has no reason to invite nor to run. North starts with ªA, on which South must give count, and continues ªK, and a ¨ to the Queen. South returns §9 to Ten, Jack and King. West must take his 7 tricks now. If he tries to set up an extra 8D-trick, he will lose ¨K, §J, ªJ and §A, and be 2 tricks short.

Recommended bidding sequence:

If East jumps to 3ª, he gives up on the 5-3 ©-fit. Acol 2000 therefore recommends to treat 2ª as a one round force. With his minimum, West rebids 2NT rather than 3¨.

Against 3NT, North leads §Q. Homework tells West to play ªK, ªA, and small to ªJ, for 3ª-tricks, for this line only fails, if South holds 4⁺ ª headed by the Queen. If this works, and West develops a ¨-trick, he is still short one. West could play North for ¨Axx, and develop a second ¨-trick by leading low to the Queen, ducking one to Jack, Ten of Nine, and ducking anther to the Ace. He could also play ©K and duck a ©, hoping the © break 3-3. For both lines, he needs to maintain communication. Since a 3-3 break is far more likely than North to hold ¨A, ¨Ax or ¨Axx (35.53% against 21.07%), West must try © first. So he leads low to ©K, and allows ©8 to win next trick.

Now, South cannot continue ©, for that would squeeze North out of a ¨, since North can't afford to let go of a black card. A ¨-return will be helpful for West: Queen takes West's Jack, and after a ¨ to The Nine or Ten, South cannot keep West from setting up his second ¨-trick. So in trick 5, South should return a ª. The Jack wins, and now Dummy must return a © to the Ace in order to squeeze North out of a ¨. Then, a ¨ to the Queen ensures West of his contract. Certainly the most interesting hand so far, when it comes to technique of play.

Recommended bidding sequence:

1: West upgrades to 1NT.
2: East hopes for a ª-fit first.
3: 4 or 5 ©, maybe 4© and 4ª.
4: If East would hold ªK instead of ©K, his hand would be good enough to reverse, i.e., bidding 3¨ first, since West
    would still rebid 3ª with 4-4 in the majors. Remember, 2ª is till a one round force.
5: West cannot bypass 2NT with a minimum.
6: Shows a borderline hand, since with more strength, East would have reversed his second and third bid.

Certainly at matchpoints pairs, West has no business going on with his subminimum. North leads §A and §Q. South overtakes, and returns a ª. No matter how hard West tries, he will not be able to pitch 3 of Easts ª-losers in time for an overtrick.

Recommended bidding sequence:

1: Michaels cuebid: 5⁺ ª and 5⁺ in a minor.

West may be a little strong for Michaels, but after showing shape, he can still show strength by doubling or repeating his cue. North's 3© is purely preemptive. East should not be afraid. His his 3-card ª-support, his 3-card ©-suit, and his minor holdings almost guarantee game when West has more than an average hand for his cuebid. South shuts up, for he doesn't want to push the enemy into a game they are likely to make.

North leads ©K, and shifts to a § for Jack and Queen. West started with 6151 or 5161. If Wests holds 2 ©, North would have doubled his cue, rather than raising South to the 3-level. If Wests ¨ are broken, he may need to ruff some in order to set up the rest of that suit, so South should return a trump. This only fails when Wests ¨ are solid, and North holds ªKx(x) or ªQT. In those cases, North needs a §-return to get his high trump promoted. At the given layout, it doesn't matter what South returns. West will always make 11 tricks by ruffing a ¨ with ªT, and playing off his high ª and ¨.

Go to boards 15-21

Copyright © 2000 by Michel Franssen