Your Call 17

Preempts are not just there to be used as interference value against opponents, they are also there as a constructive tool. In this deal, North had a perfect 3D opening but few Souths made the best use of the information.

Board 17 from Tuesday 3/12/24
Dealer N Nil Vul

T8
A3
KJ76532
84
J74
J87
94
K9763
Q953
QT54
8
QJT5
AK62
K962
AQT
A2

What should South do when North opens with a preempt of 3D? In a match point game, South could be forgiven for bidding 3NT, with the expectation of overtricks. But surely 6D must be considered despite the possibilty of a heart lead through South defeating the slam. Given that North’s first in hand preempt should be reasonably solid, South can bid 6D without further ado. I should add here that South should never consider 5D as an option: it should be either 3NT or a small slam. Since there is no way to ask for key cards (some pairs might play 4C as ace asking here) and stop in No Trumps, South should commit to a slam by asking for key cards immediately. When North shows two (ace of hearts plus king of diamonds) declarer can count twelve easy tricks and can happily bid 6NT. There is only one other likely possibility if South wants to take a punt and put North into a grand slam, which should be in diamonds. Why? Because a) generally when there are twelve tricks, a thirteenth can often be created with a squeeze and b) having a trump suit also usually helps create more tricks.

As is evidenced by a brief analysis, and confirmed by Deep Finesse, 7NT cannot be made, whereas 7D can be made by an expert declarer, with no more required than a bit of thought and careful observation. After a club lead is won by the ace, declarer plays off five trumps on which East has no discard problems and pitches all his three remaining clubs. But on the sixth diamond, East must shed a spade or a heart. Whichever it is, declarer now plays three rounds of that suit, ruffing the third one and setting up the fourth for the thirteenth trick. That is why we have a trump suit! Sadly, I note that some declarers in 6NT did make thirteen tricks thanks to poor discarding by the defenders, whereas the one declarer in 7D failed. No justice, is there?