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Nobody at our club managed to make thirteen tricks in a heart contract on this board. Deep Finesse tells us that thirteen tricks can be made. It will give the reader an exercise in declarer play and the reader will be able to judge for themselves whether this is a sensible way to play a 4H contract or not. And should East land up in 6H, should the play be the same?

Board 6 from Thursday 11/04/2019
Dealer E EW Vul

	KJT983 JT QJ6 85
A A6 K97 AT97632		75 KQ8752 A543 Q
	Q642 943 T82 KJ4

This board proved to be lucky for some and unlucky for others. It all depended on what the final contract chosen by NS was and how it was defended and played. I will leave it to the reader to decide how to best bid the NS hands. Bidding to the correct contract did not always yield the best match point score, and in many cases bidding to the inferior contract gave NS a great match point score.

Board 23 from Thursday 4/04/2019
Dealer S All Vul

	K8632 9 KQ AKQT8
Q5 K875 A642 J62		J974 T3 JT97 974
	AT AQJ642 853 53

Instead of his usual commentary this week, Vil fields a question from Martin Connelly of Greytown. Martin writes:

We bid to 2NT by me, West. North leads the jack of spades. Obviously I thought about the heart suit the wrong way, as I win in dummy and lead a low heart to the king. And that is all that is required to turn a making contract into a 3 light contract. Obviously I should have led the 10 or 9 of hearts and just let it run. What have I not understood properly here? Or was I just unlucky?

the full hand is

The questions from last week: Vil thanks all those who sent in their answers.
1.
Dlr N Nil Vul
You are West and after two passes, South opens 1H. Your hand:
S KQ987
H KQ87
D AK8
C 7
What would you bid?
a) If you double, North passes, East bids 1S and South 2C. What would you bid then?
b) If you bid 1S and North doubles and East bids 2S and South bids 3C, what would you bid?
c) If you pass, North bids 1NT and South 2C. Do you wake up and bid something now and if so, what?

This week, some more questions.
1. Dlr N Nil Vul
You are West and after two passes, South opens 1H. Your hand:
S KQ987
H KQ87
D AK8
C 7
What would you bid?
a) If you double, North passes, East bids 1S and South 2C. What would you bid then?
b) If you bid 1S and North doubles and East bids 2S and South bids 3C, what would you bid?
c) If you pass, North bids 1NT and South 2C. Do you wake up and bid something now and if so, what?