The Smart Guide to Bridge by Brent Manley

Author:Brent Manley
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-937636-31-9
Publisher: Smart Guide Publications Inc.

A note on the bidding: North’s bid is the Unusual 2NT, showing at least five cards in each minor. Bidding with that hand is not recommended, but players often enter the auction with even worse collections, so you must be prepared to exact the optimum penalty when they do. East’s first double delivers this message: “It’s our hand, partner, and I can double one or both of North’s long suits.” East has 11 high-card points, so he isn’t sure that game will make for his side. He is sure that he and his partner have most of the high-card strength, so he tells West that he prefers to try for a penalty.

With two clubs and three diamonds, South has a definite preference. With some of his strength in diamonds, West lets East in on the good news with a double when South chooses between North’s two suits.

North-South are unlucky that South’s hand is somewhat weak and that South did not have better trumps, but more judicious bidding by North would have produced a luckier outcome on the deal.

When one opponent shows a two-suited hand and forces his partner to pick one of them, the best strategy for the defenders is usually to lead a trump. There is a good chance that the declarer, South, will try to ruff losing clubs in his hand—the hand with the shorter trumps. It is best for the defenders if they can start pulling trumps—usually the declarer’s job—to prevent all that ruffing.

Accordingly, West leads a low diamond to East’s king. A second diamond comes back to West’s ace, and a third round takes South’s last trump. It’s a grim situation for poor South, who is somewhat of an innocent bystander—the victim of his partner’s poor judgment. It’s too bad that South couldn’t somehow make North play it. Even if West starts with the ♦A in order to make sure two rounds are played, East can win the ♦K and return a spade. When the declarer desperately plays North’s ♣A and another club, East will win and put his partner in with a spade to play a third round of trumps.

When the smoke clears, South will have three diamond tricks in the North hand and two tricks with the black aces—and that’s it. Down four and minus 800.

Even without any extra high-card points, it’s a much different story if North-South had uncovered a nine-card trump fit, perhaps with this as a full deal:

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