West District Pairs R2 14th January

On board 4 the hands are:

..........♠ 10 5 4 3 2
..........♥ 7 5
..........♦ A 9 4
..........♣ J 8 2

Angus ............... Adrianne
♠ 6...................♠ A K J 9 8 7
♥ Q J 10..............♥ A K 9 6
♦ 7 5.................♦ Q
♣ K Q 10 6 5 4 3 .....♣ A 7

..........♠ Q
..........♥ 8 4 3 2
..........♦ K J 10 8 6 3 2
..........♣ 9


My RHO opens 3D and I refrain from bidding 4C, this comes round to Adrianne who has a quandary. Double is liable to get 5C from me when 4S is better. She chooses 4S which is passed out. 6C is cold, 6S will make most times as well. The pre-empter has to find a diamond from KJ to partner's Ace to get that trick, if they do, as long as you don't get a heart switch and ruff a diamond, you can pick up the spades by drawing one round of trumps to crash the Queen and using heart entries to lead club winners through the long spade holding (discard HIGH hearts if the club is not ruffed).



What should you open with this hand?

♠ ----
♥ Q J 10 9 8 7 2
♦ Q J 7 6 4
♣ 4

I chose 4H. Adrianne holds:

♠ J 6 4 2
♥ A K 4
♦ ----
♣ A J 9 7 6 5

and has no hesitation in bidding 6H.

The player on lead holds AK of spades and AD, so leads AS. You can't go wrong. The hearts are 2-1 the clubs are K 10 opposite Q to 4 (just ruff 1 club, draw 2 trumps and give them QC). Also diamonds are 4-4 so 3 diamond ruffs get you home as well.

Easy game.