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South leads a spade to queen and ace. East hopes clubs to break 2-2, or to find some defender with stiff queen or jack, so he grasps for §K at trick two. South returns ¨8 to the jack, gets in with §Q, returns another ¨ to nine and queen. When South gets in again with §A, he shifts to a heart to jack and ace. East gets away with -50, if he cashes ªK, and parts in ¨, for after cashing out in diamonds, West has to lead away from ©K4 towards ©QT.
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2© = Muiderberg
weak-2, i.e., 5-card ©-suit,
4+ of a minor, and 5-10 hcp.
If South leads a spade for the jack, East may take advantage from all favorable breaks,
and make 10 tricks, for example: ¨ to the jack,
ª to the queen, §5 dumped on ªA, ©9 to jack and king, ªK ruffed, ¨A, © for South's ten, §A
ruffed, ¨ to the queen, and ©A is the last defensive trick. If South starts out with §A, East limits his trump losers to two by leading to
©Q and ©J
successively.
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1ª = Walsh
approach, i.e., North may bypass a 4-, 5- or 6-card ¨-suit.
2§ = Checkback
Stayman, hoping to find South with 3-card ª-support.
2© = 4-card ©-suit,
perhaps 3-card ª-suit (4-4 ©-fit generally plays better than 5-3 ª-fit).
3§ = Second
CBS relay.
3NT = Denies 3-card ª-support, most likely
holds 2434-pattern.
4NT = Quantitative.
5© = Maximum
for his 1NT-rebid, and 2 aces.
If West leads a ¨, or (least likely) a §, South wins, cashes ªA, and finesses with ªT
to ensure 4 ª-tricks, in case West holds ªJ9832.
The play becomes much tougher against a ©-lead.
First, South ducks in order to rectify the count for a squeeze, that will develop when one
opponent holds 5+ hearts and 4+ spades. West wins with the
queen, and returns a low heart to the ace. Now South cashes 4 clubs and 3 diamonds. West
shows out at the second club, East shows out at the third diamond. Both follow on the ace
of spades, and West follows with another low spade on South's seven. Both defenders were
smart enough to have hold on to their spades, so all the info South can get is, that
West's remaining cards are either 1 spade and 1 heart, or 2
spades, and East remaining 3 cards are either 2 spades and 1 heart, or
1 spade and 2 hearts. These are the exact possible distributions left for EW:
West holds |
East holds |
Succesful play |
ªJ9 |
ª5 + ©KT |
Finesse |
ªJ5 |
ªJ + ©KT |
Finesse |
ª95 |
ªJ + ©KT |
Drop |
ªJ + ©K |
ª95 + ©T |
Both |
ªJ + ©T |
ª95 + ©K |
Both |
ª9 + ©K |
ª5 + ©KT |
Drop |
ª9 + ©T |
ª5 + ©KT |
Drop |
ª5 + ©K |
ª5 + ©KT |
Drop |
ª5 + ©T |
ª5 + ©KT |
Drop |
| ©KT | ªJ95 | Drop |
With this chart in mind, South calls for a high spade, and goes off one.
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South leads a spade. North cashes ªK and ªA. South gets his ª-ruff,
and shifts to a heart for the ace. East unblocks §A,
crosses in trumps, ruffs out §K, crosses in
diamonds again, and dumps his ©-loser on §Q for down one.
A cheap sacrifice, for North makes 4©. He
ruffes the ¨-lead, cashes ªAK, ruffs a spade with ©9,
leads a low heart to jack and ace, ruffs the ¨-return,
draws trumps, collects his good spades, and yields only a § and a ¨ to East.
Go to Session 01, Boards 21-24
Copyright © 2001-2025 by Michel Franssen