Bridge

North was playing a strong 1NT and five-card majors and therefore had to open with a prepared 1D. You think that his 3H was an overbid? I agree with you! He had seven losers and eight points crammed into a three-card suit, an obvious single raise to 2H. Anyway, the declarer, Martin Hoffman, had to attempt a contract of 3H. West cashed the ace and king of clubs, East playing a discouraging four on the first round, and then switched to the nine of diamonds. How would you have played the contract? Hoffman rose with dummy’s ace of diamonds and turned his mind to the play of the trump suit. The normal line with this holding is to lead low towards the ten, gaining when East holds a singleton ace or king. Here, however, West had already shown a fine club suit and had chosen not to overcall. It was impossible for him to hold A-J-x or K-J-x of hearts. Instead, Hoffman called for dummy’s queen of trumps! This might succeed on technical grounds when West held a singleton jack. It might also tempt East into an indiscretion if he held A-J-x or K-J-x. You can guess what happened. Placing South with the heart king, East captured dummy’s queen of trumps with the ace. An unimpressed West added his king to the trick. Declarer’s potential diamond loser went on dummy’s fourth spade and the contract was made.

With two good suits you should be willing to compete at the five-level. To show that you hold two suits you should overcall 4NT. Partner will initially give you preference between the minor suits, no doubt bidding 5C. You then advance to 5D, letting partner known that you hold hearts and diamonds.

Awards: 4NT-10, 5D-7, Double-5, Pass-3.

David Bird — Knight Features

HOME