1 (Dlr) AK3 KT76 AT6 AK9 N E S W Dealer 2NT P 3 # P No one Vul 3 P 4NT P Opening Lead:??? 5 P 6NT Q865 A983 74 532 J2 QJ KQJ852 Q87 T974 542 93 JT64 Bidding analysis: pulls a major fast one here: she has 3 Queens and wants to know about the Q. She knows has 4 Aces, not 1, with her 5 response to 4NT 1430, so her long Diamonds will take lots of tricks. Off one Ace, she bids the 6NT cold slam. Declarer Play Options: All I can lose is the missing A: great bidding,! Defensive Strategy: The only trick available to E/W is the A. Whether they lead it or leads a Heart, all the rest of the tricks are cold for 6NT. 2 T972 T6 872 J852 QJ63 KQJ92 5 974 AK84 (Dclr) 754 AKQ9 AK N E S W Dealer P 2 P N/S Vul. 2 P 2NT P Opening Lead: T 3 P 3 P 4NT P 5 P 6 5 A83 JT643 QT63 Bidding analysis: ups her hand evaluation once a major fit is found, so goes on to find the Spade slam; Hearts would work just as well; maybe even better. Declarer Play Options: Seems pretty straightforward: probably had only 2 Hearts after the T lead and 6 after s A winner. But that set up my Hearts for a pitch of my losing Diamond. And oopps a 4 1 trump split! But 12 tricks is 12 tricks. We actually make 6NT. Defensive Strategy: : I have 4 trumps, so maybe I can get something going by leading my short suit? My partner has an Ace, I know, because they stopped at 6. 1 1/12/2017
3 643 A65 AQT75 Q6 N E S W Dealer 1 P E/W Vul. 2 P 3 P Opening Lead:??? 4 P 4NT P 5 P 6 J82 K73 J94 AJ93 - QJT982 86 T8752 Bidding analysis: A Two Over One Game Force auction. 4 is not a strong bid, but envisions a strong 2 nd side suit Diamonds to pitch losers on and so pushes on to a slam, missing one Ace. (Dcler) AKQT975 4 K32 K4 Declarer Play Options: I m missing the A, but so is everyone else playing this hand. No other losers. Defensive Strategy: If doesn t take her Ace off the top, she loses it. Generally, one should lead an Ace against a suit slam contract, but maybe not versus a NT contract? 4 (Dclr) AKQJ54 AQ652 Q 5 T876 KJ KJ975 QJ - 843 T6432 T8743 N E S W Dealer 1 Both Vul. P 2 P 3 Opening Lead: 8? P 3 P 4NT P 5 P 6 932 T97 A8 AK962 Bidding analysis: makes a 2 over 1 game force because she has two Aces and good clubs plus Spade support and a doubleton Diamond with the Ace. 3 is a strong bid: not a game deciding bid. Declarer Play Options: : Maybe 2 Heart losers? Got to get to twice to finesse twice in Hearts, but I have 3 minor suit entries to get there. Also, I can play off a bunch of Spades to see who discards what. Defensive Strategy: : I m sitting behind declarer with 2 Kings and 4 trumps, so I ll lead passively in trumps and sit here and hope to collect my two King tricks. But dummy has 2 Aces: Uhh Ohh! 2 1/12/2017
5 743 J86 7632 A86 (Dclr) JT952 T7 AQ4 KJ7 AK86 AK5432 5 Q2 N E S W Dealer P P 1 P N/S Vul. 1 P 3 P Opening Lead: T 4 P 4NT P 5 P 6 Q Q9 KJT98 T9543 Bidding analysis: s 4 is an Aceshowing Cure bid, indicating slam interest after s strong 3 rebid. Because is interested and has her Diamond loser covered, pushes on to slam, off 1 Ace. Declarer Play Options: With 9 trumps including the AK I ll play for the drop of the Queen, and set up long Hearts with a high trump 3 rd round ruff. It works or not. Defensive Strategy: Declarer has all the higher Club honors than s Journalist 10 lead, so I ll take my Ace now. 6 AQ942 532 T QT54 N E S W Dealer 1 P 3 * E/W Vul. Dbl 4 P 4 Opening Lead: T P 4NT P 5 P 6 5 AQ76 A876 K872 (Dclr) 73 KJT98 KQJ5 A9 Bidding analysis: A Spade splinter by and both minor suit Ace-showing cue bids. normally should not start RKCB1430 with 2 Spade losers, but she knows has one or none. KJT86 4 9432 J63 Declarer Play Options: After losing the opening Spade lead, it s cold, with a Spade ruff in the hand for the 12 th trick. Defensive Strategy: s double of the Spade splinter got N/S their only trick. Note the T Journalist lead. 3 1/12/2017
7 JT7 QJ2 943 T942 (Dclr) AKQ42 K853 87 Q7 63 A6 AKQJT65 K8 N E S W Dealer 1 P Both Vul. 1 P 3 P Opening Lead: A 3 P 4 P 6NT 985 T974 2 AJ653 Bidding analysis: knows the A is missing, (because of no cue-bid of 4 by after s 3 cue bid, and 4 denies the A, so she stops in 6NT. Declarer Play Options: 12 tricks off the top once I get in, and, if they don t take their A off the top, and the Spades split 3 3, I ll take all 13 tricks. Defensive Strategy: Take my Ace now or lose it? It sounds like they have lots of Diamond tricks, so I better take it right now. Questions, partner? 8 962 T542 A742 93 N E S W Dealer 1 No one Vul. P 2 * P 3 Opening Lead:?? P 4 P 4 P 4NT AQT75 KJ8 3 QJ87 (Dclr) K AQ6 KJT5 KT654 Bidding analysis: 4 is a 1430 style MSRKCB Ace-ask, but 4 says 1 (or 4) aces, so E/W are off 2 top controls. Therefore, stops at a probably makeable NT game instead of slamming. MSRKCB wins by avoiding a slam missing two controls. J843 973 Q986 A2 Declarer Play Options: 6 tricks in the majors; 4 Clubs and a Diamond or two? No problem at 4 NoTrump. Defensive Strategy: No cue bidding to tell me what to lead or not, except that has only had one control, so my partner has one too. But which one? 4 1/12/2017
9 (Dlr) 43 QJ75 JT32 J32 N E S W Dealer P 1 P 1 E/W Vul. P 3 P 4NT Opening Lead:??? P 5 P 5 P 6 P 7 (Declarer) AJT76 8 AKQ76 65 52 KT6432 54 QT4 KQ98 A9 98 AK987 Bidding analysis: 5 is a Queen Ask, knowing has 3 Aces, not zero, for her 5 response to 1430. Without the Q, would bid 5, but, having it, she bids her lowest King. That nails it for. Making 13 tricks only with a perfect 30 HCP. Declarer Play Options: 6 Spades (including a Diamond ruff), 2 Clubs, 1 Heart and 4 Diamonds = 13 tricks. Defensive Strategy: No good lead, nor a bad one either: a cold 13-trick slam contract. 10 K98532 7 T853 96 N E S W Dealer 1 4 4 Both Vul. P 4NT P 5 Opening Lead: Q P 6 Q4 KQJ95 QJ92 72 T7 63 4 AKQT8543 (Dclr) AJ6 AT842 AK76 J Bidding analysis: has a difficult decision after s 4 WJO, but decides, with no Aces, to simply put in game. has good shape with 4 high honors and a stiff Club, so pushes on to the Heart slam, off just the A. She knows has the K. Declarer Play Options: No discards anywhere with the 4 4 Diamond fit, so the Spade finesse must work. But with AKQ plus in Clubs and the K, might have bid 2, not 3, so the Spade finesse odds are OK. Defensive Strategy: The Q lead, after s WJO, shows the AKQ++. Winning the Q, she follows with the K so as not to finesse. knows she has the only defensive Ace, so no Ace in is possible: no Diamond ruff by on the 3 rd trick is possible. 5 1/12/2017
13 J654 97432 9 653 A7 K6 AKJ872 A98 (Dcler) K98 AQ5 QT3 K742 N E S W Dealer 1 P 3NT P Both Vul. 4NT P 5 P Opening Lead: J? 5NT P 6 P 7NT QT32 JT8 654 QJT Bidding analysis: s initial response shows 13 to 15+ HCP with no 4+ major. With 19 HCP and a long Diamond suit, sees a slam try: thus his 4NT 1430. shows 1 control (the A). has the other 4 controls in Diamonds. After 5NT, s 5 shows her King. Declarer Play Options: 5 Major suit tricks, 6 Diamonds, and 2 Clubs wins them all off the top. Defensive Strategy: With no Aces or Kings and just 2 Queens, E/W aren t going to take any tricks in this hand. 14 986 8 Q76 QJ8654 N E S W Dealer P P 1 No one Vul P 1 P 2 Opening Lead: 8 P 4NT P 5 P 6 all pass (Declarer) KQ42 KT63 KJ AK7 J5 7542 AT953 93 (Dlr) AT73 AQJ9 842 T2 Bidding analysis: decides to Jump Shift in Spades rather than Jump Raising s Hearts, to show she has a really big hand just short of a 2NT opener. then sees a possible slam and makes a 4NT 1430 RKCB bid, ending up an Ace short for 6. Declarer Play Options: Either the A is in the or I m maybe going down. But, the hand should be played here, so the rest of the room will probably be here too. Defensive Strategy: leads her singleton 8, as the only way she sees to possibly beat this slam. She knows partner has an Ace because E/W stopped at 6, and it might be the Ace, giving a 2 nd trick Heart ruff. But nope: not this time. 6 1/12/2017