The Auction
After two passes, South opened the balanced 14 HCP hand 1♣. At a nearby table, West made an obstructive 2♠ weak jump overcall, complicating the N/S auction. North made a negative double, which should show invitational or better values at this level, and with a very good minimum opener, South bid the heart game. At our table, West passed and North responded 1♥. Even with four trumps and a ruffing value, South was content with a conservative raise to 2♥ with the 7–loser hand.
The pair were playing 3–3–4–4, and North’s hand is just good enough to be interested in game. Holding the 5–card suit, North could have made a generic 3♥ game invitation, and South would have accepted on the excellent values. When North instead rebid 2NT (duly alerted), South responded 3♠ (also alerted) to show four trumps and the robust maximum, and North signed off in 4♥.
The Play
In invitational auctions where the offense is unlikely to hold significant extras, a passive defense is often a good option. Reluctant to lead away from either king, East tabled the ♠8, although a low diamond would not have changed the outcome. Declarer won in dummy and promptly cashed two more spades, discarding two clubs in hand. Crossing to the ♣A, declarer next led the ♥Q toward dummy. West covered, and declarer won the ace as the stiff ten fell in the West. Declarer ruffed a club in hand and continued with the ace and a low diamond. East rose with the jack and played the ♣K, but declarer ruffed in hand, ruffed a diamond, ruffed another club, and took the last two tricks with dummy’s jack and seven of trumps.
Click here to view or play the deal in the BBO Handviewer. Use the Next button to advance trick by trick or the Play button to choose your own cards and explore alternate lines of play. Note that if East continues a diamond after winning the jack on the second round and smartly jettisons the ♣K at trick eleven, declarer will be held to eleven tricks.
Closing Thoughts
Dear Reader, there is excellent advice in the literature on how to play various suit combinations, but it is impossible for a mere mortal like your author to internalize more than a few of them. In the postmortem, it is useful to investigate various lines of play in case similar combinations arise in the future. In this week’s Deal, declarer is missing four trumps including the king, ten, and nine. Assuming the guarded king is onside in the East hand, what is the best way to play the suit?
With a 2–2 split, declarer can either lead the queen or finesse the jack on the first round to pick up the king. If a 4–0 split occurs, declarer must first lead the queen. East will cover, and a second lead toward dummy’s jack/seven tenace will fetch the nine or ten, holding East to one trick. If the suit splits 3–1 and East holds K 10 9, one trick must be lost. But if the nine or ten lies singleton in the West, declarer must lead the queen to smother it and pick up the suit.
So, if we encounter this suit combination and the same missing cards again, with the ace and one honor in one hand opposite the other honor, we will know to lead the single honor towards the honor tenace. This either will pick up the entire suit or hold it to one loser.
Finally, 3–3–4–4 is also useful with game–going or even stronger responding hands with slam interest. On a 4–3 fit with adequate side–suit stoppers, responder can retreat to notrump. Further, higher–level suit contracts are on much firmer ground in a 5–4 fit, where dummy’s additional trump strengthens its ruffing power. Declarer will also be better equipped to negotiate an adverse split.
All the best,
Rex
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