Lessons A-Plenty

From Wednesday 25th January.
Some lessons from this deal:

• When you can open the bidding with 11 HCP
• The need for a TAKEOUT double that is meaningful
• Why you should draw trumps

Let's take a look ...

Board 19 Dealer S EW Vul

	QJT642 KQ7 K3 T5
987 A954 T9 KQ74		AK3 J862 AJ8 J82
	5 T3 Q76542 A963

North has a perfectly good opening bid of 1S (NOT a weak 2S, though 'third in hand' that too would be acceptable). East has a perfect TAKEOUT double available, be it over 1S or 2S. You should always have at least four hearts to double 1S or a weak 2S. That makes bidding communication much easier.

When East doubles 1S, West can bid 2H and be prepared to go to 3H if necessary, so there were no excuses for those who allowed North to play in 2S. Four Wests actually did play in 3H but only one was successful. The score of -100 for going one off (3H SHOULD actually make) however is better than -110 for letting South play and make 2S. Others clearly did not recognise a situation where drawing trumps as quickly as possible was necessary. When the queen of spades is led and South follows with the five, warning bells should sound. The same if North leads the ten of clubs.

Drawing trumps should be easy, albeit a bit risky. Simply win the spade ace (on a spade lead) or second club (after a club lead) and play ace of hearts and another. There is now only one trump left, and no matter which opponent has it, no harm can be done to declarer. Sometimes it is imperative to draw trumps, other times it is not a good idea, knowing when to draw trumps and when not to is what distinguishes the good declarer from the others.