IMPROVE YOUR PLAY

With Larry Matheny

 

 It’s nice to pick up strong hands but they are not always easy to bid.  This pair reached the second best contract.

 

Scoring:  Matchpoints (Pairs)

#14-17

Dlr

W

Vul

N/S

S

AKQ62

H

AKQ2

D

 

C

KQJ2

S

 10874

H

 J10873

D

 85

C

 86

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S

 J93

H

 4

D

 K10942

C

 10543

 

S

5

H

965

D

AQJ763

C 

A97

 

 

  West

 North

East

South

    Pass     

2C

 Pass

 2D

    Pass

2S

 Pass

 3D

    Pass

    3H

   Pass

    4D

    Pass

    5C

   Pass

   6NT

    Pass

   Pass

   Pass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

       

   

Bidding:  North loved his huge hand and opened 2C.  South considered jumping to 3D but hated to take up too much bidding room.  Instead he made a game forcing response of 2D.  North continued to bid his suits and South ended the auction by bidding 6NT.   

 

Play:  West led a low club and declarer counted 11 tricks: 3 spades, 3 hearts, 1 diamond, and 4 clubs.  He saw a 12th trick could be developed if the spades broke 4-3 or if the hearts divided 3-3.  He also realized he needed to keep the club entry to his hand in order to later cash the ace of diamonds.  So he won the first trick in dummy and started on the spade suit.  When both opponents followed to the first three rounds, he conceded a spade to West and soon claimed his slam.  

 

One pair reached the cold grand slam in clubs and a few went down in 6NT when they won the first club trick in their hand.

 

 

Copyright 2014