Phillip Alder Bridge

Monday, August 27, 2007

A week of making their life awkward

North

	K Q 4
	A 7 4
	A K 6 5 3
	5 2

West

	8 7 5
	K Q 10 9
	8 4
	A 9 7 6

East

	6
	J 8 3
	Q J 10 9
	Q J 10 8 4

South

	A J 10 9 3 2
	6 5 2
	7 2
	K 3

Dealer: South
Vulnerable: Both

South	West	North	East
2	Pass	4	All Pass

Opening lead:

     A pre-emptive opening bid may make life miserable for the opponents. Why? Because they can no longer use their well-oiled constructive methods. And they have had bidding space removed. The auction has (often) been turned from science into guesswork. This week we'll look at pre-emptive openings.
     First, a weak two-bid. This shows, in theory at least, a decent six-card suit (traditionally, one headed by at least two of the top three or three of the top five honors), 5-ten high-card points, and no side four-card major or void.
     In today's tournament game, though, these standards are almost extinct. Suit quality has been lowered, especially when nonvulnerable, and having a side major is no longer deemed a deterrent (although if you do have a side major and miss a higher-scoring contract in that suit, you will have to apologize).
     In responding, partner uses common sense — but the more trump support he has, the quicker he should raise. In this deal, North bids what he expects (hopes!) his partner can make.
     Against four spades, West leads the heart king.
     There are two chances: find East with the club ace or establish a long diamond. The clubs should be kept on the back burner.
     After winning the first trick, draw one round of trumps with an honor from hand. If spades are 4-0, draw trumps and hope East holds the club ace. But when both opponents follow suit in spades, take dummy's top diamonds and ruff a diamond high in hand. Play a trump to dummy, ruff a diamond high, play a trump to dummy, and discard a heart on the diamond six. Well established!