In this particular case, after East bids 2♣, South may consider coming in with 2♦, but although the suit passes the suit quality level for a bid, he is vulnerable against not and The Play of the Cards it is a rather risky overcall – probably best to pass. West will then bid 2♦, showing no Recap 3 four-card major, and East can bid 2NT, inviting the NT game. West has 13hcp, and so is in the middle of his range, but there is good “body” to his hand, with tens, nines and eights, and so he can afford to go on to the NT game, by bidding 3NT. Consider this hand: South is the dealer (vulnerable against not) and will pass. West is next to bid and has a ♠ balanced 13 count. The obvious opening bid is 1NT (12-14). North will pass and East has North is likely to lead the “top of a sequence” K. West should plan ahead before 11 points and two four-card majors (and a singleton diamond). This is an invitational playing a card. Where are his nine tricks coming from? How many times (if any) to hold hand and East should be inviting partner to bid game, if maximum, in either NT or one up the spade Ace? of the major suits. To do this he can bid Stayman. If West responds in either major, East can raise him to the three level, inviting game. If West cannot show a major, it is likely that he has a reasonable diamond stop, and then East can invite game by bidding If we count top winners for West, there are two diamonds, two hearts, and a spade. 2NT. With any of these options, West can then pass if minimum and raise to the Clearly there are three more tricks available in clubs, once the Ace is knocked out, relevant game if maximum. making eight. Where is the ninth trick to come from? The only possible answer is the heart suit. It is just possible (but unlikely) that one defender holds Queen-Jack doubleton and they will fall under our Ace and King. A much better chance is to take a double finesse in hearts, by leading the Ten from hand and, unless North covers, ♠ K Q J 9 playing small from dummy. We expect this to lose to either the Queen or Jack in the ♥ J 7 5 3 South hand (occasionally it will win, if North holds both the honours). Later on, we lead the 8 from hand, and again, unless North plays an honour, we play the 9 from dummy. ♦ 5 3 2 Playing like this, will give us an extra heart trick if North holds either honour (or both). The probability of this is just over 75%, so our chances are good. ♣ 5 4 ♠ A T 8 ♠ 5 4 3 2 How many times to hold up the Ace of spades? There are six spades out against us and ♥ T 8 ♥ A K 9 2 it seems likely, from the opening lead, that North holds the King, Queen and Jack in sequence. If the spades break 3-3, we will only lose two spades (and indeed we can set ♦ A K 8 7 ♦ 4 up a long spade in the dummy as our ninth trick, instead of taking heart finesses). If spades are 4-2, or 5-1, we will lose a (likely) heart, the Ace of clubs, and three or four ♣ ♣ Q T 9 8 K J 7 3 spade tricks to go down. However, North will not be able to cash his spades if he cannot get in, and we already know we are going to take heart finesses against him. His only ♠ 7 6 possible entry (to cash spades) is the club Ace, so we know already that we are down if ♥ Q 6 4 this card is in the North hand. So, we must work on the hope and presumption that it lies in the South hand, and we can keep North off lead. ♦ Q J T 9 6 ♣ A 6 2 So, the danger is that the spades are 4-2 or 5-1. If they are 3-3 there is no problem. Therefore, we should win the second spade. This will either exhaust South of spades, or alternatively they will beak 3-3 and we only lose two spade tricks anyway. So, the sequence of plays is as follows: Duck the lead of the King of spades at trick one, and the win the Queen of spades with the Ace at trick two. Then lead a club, to force out the Ace (remember that you may need to keep a high club in dummy at the end to be able to get to winning hearts). Probably the Ten is best, ducked in dummy. If we are lucky it will be South who wins the Ace of clubs (he may not take it until the second or third round). Not having any more spades, he is likely to lead back the Queen of diamonds. Win this trick and play the Ten of hearts, ducking if North plays low. When South wins with the Queen of hearts, he is likely to lead back the Jack of diamonds. Win again and lead the 8 of hearts, overtaking with the 9 in dummy, if North plays low. Playing like this you will win three club tricks, two top diamonds, three heart tricks and the Ace of spades for your contract. You do need a little luck for this contract. The Ace of clubs needs to be in the South hand, and the heart honours you are missing need to be either split between the opposition hands, or both in the North hand. But you have a fair chance of success, and with the lie of the cards as they are, the contract will come home. Could the defence do anything? The answer here is yes. If North had been a top player, he might have found the switch to a low diamond at trick two. Then South will be able to set up his diamond suit, forcing out your Ace and King, because he two entries – a heart and the Ace of clubs. You could counter this by winning the first spade lead, but then, when South gets in, he has a spade left to give his partner three tricks in the suit, and you will be down. This is why you must win the second spade and not hold up twice. North may realise, after winning two spades, that he has no possible entry, and so switch. Looking at the dummy, it is clear that South must hold a reasonably long diamond suit, and so North may well find the correct switch. Perhaps it would have been helpful if South had made that 2♦ overcall after all! So, like so many bridge hands, there is a chance to make the contract, and a chance to get it off. I suspect that many Wednesday morning Norths will not find the successful diamond switch, but, if you are declarer on this hand, just hope it is not Marcus or Trevor in the North seat! .