Board 1, 9, 17 & 25 Vul: None Dealer: North S AQ3 H KJ9 D AK1093 C K2 S 65 S J10974 H Q5432 H 876 D J872 D 6 C 109 C A876 S K82 H A10 D Q54 C QJ543 2NT Pass 4NT Pass 6NT Pass Pass Pass Analyze the lead & think about distribution: The lead is from J, Jx, J109(x) Count Winners: Winners are three spades, two hearts & three diamonds Make a plan before playing to the first card from dummy: We can set up a club for one trick. Then we need to have the diamonds split 3-2 or W have Jxxx rather than E, if the suit does not divide well. Win the spade lead with the king & lead a low club toward the king to force out the ace. E will win this & regardless of the suit he leads, we can win the next trick. We must then attack diamonds, playing a low diamond to the ace & then return a low diamond to the queen. When E shows out, we can then play a diamond toward our hand. If W plays the jack, cover with the ace. Otherwise, play the 10 & then lead the king to pull the jack. We will then take the remaining tricks to make our 6NT contract. Ø2NT Ø4NT Ø6NT 20-21 HCP, balanced hand Invitation to 6NT N should count a point for the 5-card diamond suit, giving him a maximum. The Lead: S-J Top of a sequence & a passive lead against 6NT Defensive Strategy: W can see 15 HCP. N has 20-21 HCP, leaving E with 4-5 HCP.
Board 2, 10,18 & 26 S AJ1095 H AQ32 D 10 C KJ9 Vul: NS Dealer: East S 4 H 876 D K9765 C 7654 S KQ32 H K4 D AQ2 C Q1032 The Lead: C-A Against a suit slam contract, lead aggressively. S makes a risky lead versus a slam contract hoping to find partner with the C-K or C-Q. Defensive Strategy: N can see 18 HCP. Opener has 15-17 HCP, which leaves S with 5-7 HCP. Analyze the lead & think about distribution: The lead is from A, Ax, or Ax(x) S 876 H J1095 D J843 C A8 1NT Pass 2C Pass 2S Pass 4NT Pass 5D Pass 6S Pass Pass Pass Ø1NT Ø2C Ø2S >4NT Ø 5D Ø6S 15-17 HCP, balanced hand Stayman, asking for a 4-card major 4 spades, denies 4 hearts Blackwood, asking for aces. 15HCP, singleton and a 9+ card spade fit. Since this hand is worth 18 DP, the partnership is in range for slam. One ace Missing one ace, W places the contract in a small slam Count Losers: Losers are one club & one heart Note: To count the losers as declarer, decide which hand we are going to set up & count as losers, all the cards that are not high, or are not covered by high cards in partner s hand. Therefore Axx opposite a singleton starts off as 2 losers, if we are counting losers from the hand with Axx or no losers if counting from the hand with the singleton. Counting Axx initially as 2 losers is done even if we have a huge trump fit. Ruffing the small card in the dummy is part of the plan. If we don t start off counting those losers, we might forget to include that ruff in the timing. Make a plan before playing to the first card from dummy: Once the club is won by S, & his partner gives a discouraging signal, we can win whatever he, asking leads. for Pull aces. trump. W has We 15 will HCP, have a singleton, 1 spade left in our hand to trump our heart loser, making 6 spades.
Board 3, 11, 19 & 27 Vul: EW Dealer: South S K98 H J965 D AQ53 C 54 S J543 S Q1076 H 7 H 4 D J9762 D K1084 C AK3 C 9876 S A2 H AKQ10832 D C QJ102 1H Pass 3H Pass 3S Pass 4D Pass 4H Pass Pass Pass Ø1H Ø3H Ø3S* 5+ hearts, 12+ points 3+ hearts, 10-12 DP Opener is interested in slam, but Blackwood won t tell him what he needs to know. If responder shows 1 ace, S won t know if it is D-A or C-A. Since it might be D-A, it is possible the opponents can take the first 2 rounds of clubs. 3S shows first round control in spades, promising that the opponents cannot take 2 quick tricks in that suit. Ø4D Ø4H Shows 1st round control in diamonds & denies first round control in clubs. S, knowing that the opponents have the C-A, signs off in game. *Note: Most will not be aware of control bids but will hopefully land in a safe contract of 4H instead of incorrectly using Blackwood to get to a bad slam. The Lead: C-A Leading from AKx as the opponents have not shown a control in clubs with their control bids. Defensive Strategy: After the C-A is led & partner gives a discouraging signal, the plan is to play C-K & lead the D-6, hoping partner has the D-K. Analyze the lead & think about distribution: The lead is from A, AK, AK(x) Count Losers: Losers are 2 clubs Make a plan before playing to the first card from dummy: Once C-A is played, if E returns a diamond, we will trump it. Pull trump & then claim, conceding the C-K to the opponents. We will make one overtrick.
Board 4, 12, 20 & 28 Vul: Both Dealer: West S Q1098 H QJ1085 D 6 C 876 S KJ3 S 2 H 4 H K2 D AQ54 D KJ10932 C AJ1032 C KQ54 S A7654 H A9763 D 87 C 9 1C Pass 1D Pass 1 3D Pass 3H Pass 3NT Pass 4C Pass 4NT Pass 5C Pass 5D Pass Pass Pass Ø1C Ø1D ØPass 1 Ø3D Ø3H 3+ clubs, 12+ points 4+ diamonds, 6+ points It is tempting to bid with the S hand, but the auction does not show E/W as having a fit, so it is fairly dangerous to bid. If the auction dies at a low level, then S can consider bidding. 4+ diamonds, 16-18 in support, W has 15 HCP + a singleton for 18 dummy points. E has 12 HCP, worth 15 or more after finding the 10+ diamond fit so is interested in slam. However, E must not ask for aces because if W has only 2 Ø3NT Ø4C* Ø4NT Ø5C Ø5D aces, the 5H response will force E/W to 6D, a contract that can t be made. Bidding 3H shows H-A or H-K & opener will almost always bid 3NT with a spade stopper. If opener cue bids instead of bidding 3NT, slam will be certain. Since W has spades stopped, he suggests 3NT E is still hoping for a slam. It is still not safe to bid Blackwood. He shows his club control. W asks for aces No aces Signing off *Note: Most will not be aware of control bids but will hopefully land in a safe contract of 5D instead of incorrectly using Blackwood to get to a bad slam. The Lead: S-A After winning the opening lead with the S-A, we must decide what to lead next. Leading the C-9 might get partner in with the C-K for a return of a club for a ruff. Defensive Strategy: N can see 20 HCP. E should have at least 12 HCP to show interest in slam. S can have up to 8. Analyze the lead & think about distribution: The lead is A, Ax or Ax(x) Count Losers: Losers are 1 spade & 2 hearts Make a plan before playing to the first card from dummy: The opponents will take the S-A. If S switches to a club, then pull trump & discard the H-K on the S-K. Or if they follow with a second spade, we will play the S-K discarding the H-K. Pull trump & claim the rest, making 6D. However, the slam cannot be bid as the opponents can take the first 2 tricks with their 2 aces.
Board 5, 13, 21 & 29 Vul: NS Dealer: North S J7 H KQ94 D QJ102 C AQJ S 98 S 65 H 10876 H AJ53 D A98 D 7654 C 10987 C 652 S AKQ10432 H 2 D K3 C K43 1NT Pass 4C Pass 4H Pass 4S Pass Pass Pass Defensive Strategy: E can see 21 HCP. S should has enough HCP & or distribution to see points for slam. Some of his points will be length points in spades. W should have less than 6 HCP. Analyze the lead & think about distribution: The lead is from 10, 10x, 109x(x), 1098(x) Count Losers: Losers are 1 heart & 1 diamond Make a plan before playing to the first card from dummy: Win the club lead with the ace. Pull trump, playing the S-J first so that we can get to our hand to pull the remaining trump if the split is 3-1. Once we pull trump, play the D-K (normally we would not lead out an honor, but we are encouraging the opponents to take this trick with their ace). If E returns a heart, we can claim. If not, we can win any return & play a diamond to get rid of our heart loser, making an extra trick. We will make either 1 or 2 extra tricks depending on the defense. Ø1NT 15-17 HCP, balanced hand Ø4C Gerber, asking for aces. S has 15 HCP & should count 3 more points for the 7-card spade suit, giving the partnership 33-35 points, enough for slam. He is checking to see if they are missing 2 aces. Ø4H 1 ace Ø4S Signing off in game, since the opponents have 2 aces The Lead: C-10 Top of strong sequence
Board 6, 14, 22 & 30 Vul: EW S 42 H KJ109 D 86 C 109854 Dealer: East S Q10 S AKJ963 H A43 H 2 D AJ9543 D KQ102 C 32 C AQ S 875 H Q8765 D 7 C KJ76 1S Pass 2D Pass 4NT Pass 5H Pass 7D Pass Pass Pass Note: A 6-card suit to the ace-king is a wonderful thing. If partner has 1 or 2 spades we can set up the suit by ruffing once or twice. If he has 3 spades, we have a chance the suit will divide 2-2. Since E has S-AKJxxx, he has the added chance that the S-Q will fall singleton if his partner has 3 spades. The Lead: C-10 Top of sequence Defensive Strategy: S can see 25 HCP. W showed 10+ HCP with his 2D bid. N will have less than 6 HCP. Analyze the lead & think about distribution: The lead is from 10, 10X, 109X, 1098(X) Count Losers: Losers are 1 club & 2 hearts Make a plan before playing to the first card from dummy: Win with the C-A, pull trump & start spades, playing the S-Q first & then the remaining spades in hand. We will rid ourselves of the losing club & 2 heart losers on the remaining spades. We can then claim, making our grand slam contract. Ø1S Ø2D Ø4NT Ø5H Ø7D 5+spades, 12+ points 10+ with 4+ diamonds If partner has 2 aces, we can take all the tricks by setting up the spade suit. We do not need partner to have C-K, because we will be able to discard partner s clubs on the established spades. 2 aces The decision.
Board 7, 15, 23 & 31 Vul: Both Dealer: South The Lead: S-10, top of a sequence S A2 H KQ105 D A32 C QJ104 S 10987 S 654 H 642 H A987 D 10854 D 76 C A9 C 7653 S KQJ3 H J3 D KQJ9 C K82 1NT Pass 4NT Pass Pass* Pass Pass Pass 1 Ø1NT 15-17 HCP, balanced hand Defensive Strategy: E can see 20 HCP. S has 15-17 HCP, leaving W with 3-5 HCP. Analyze the lead & think about distribution: The lead is top of a sequence. Count Winners: Winners are 4 spades & 4 diamonds Make a plan before playing to the first card from dummy: We need 2 more tricks to make our contract. By pushing out the aces in hearts & clubs, we can make 2 additional tricks. Win the first spsdr trick and play either hearts or clubs. Once we lose the lead in the first suit, work on pushing the ace out in the other suit. Once those 2 aces are played, the rest of the tricks are good. We do not want to take all of our tricks in any suit before losing to the 2 aces. Otherwise, a bad split in any suit may allow the opponents to take an extra trick when they get in with one of their aces. Ø4NT ØPass 1 Invitation to 6NT Declining the invitation. Opener s decision is simple with 15 (reject) or 17 (accept the invitation). With 16 HCP, opener has to decide. Downgrade this hand a point, because it has no aces.
Board 8, 16, 24 & 32 Vul: None Dealer: West S Q H J76 D KQ65 C 98765 S AK109743 S J652 H AKQ H 432 D 3 D A42 C A2 C K43 S 8 H 10985 D J10987 C QJ10 2C Pass 2D Pass 2S Pass 3S Pass 4NT Pass 5D Pass 5NT Pass 6D Pass 7NT Pass Pass Pass Ø3S E shows 3+ spades and something useful, an ace, king, singleton or void. With a very weak raise the bid would be 4S. Ø4NT Asking for aces. If E has the D-A, there is at most 1 club loser. Ø5D 1 ace Ø5NT Asking for kings. If E has either D-K or C-K we have all the tricks. Ø6D Ø7NT The Lead: D-K 1 king 7NT is safer than 7S because there is no chance of a defensive ruff. Analyze the lead & think about distribution: The lead is from KQ, Kx, KQ(x) KQJ(x) Count Winners: There are 13 winners. Make a plan before playing to the first card from dummy: Claim! Ø2C Ø2D Ø2S W s hand is good enough to open 2C. Even if E has no HCP & a singleton spade, W has a chance to make 4S, losing 1 spade, 1 diamond & 1 club. Negative or Waiting. E does not have a suit good enough to show a positive response. 5+ spades, forcing