Yesterday, the weather turned from summer to fall: rain, cold and strong winds. Of course, that immediately had its effets on the railway system here. A tree was blown over and fell on the tracks, blocking the path between Ede and Arnhem for almost 6 hours. That’s right, 6 hours to pick up a tree and move it to the side. Of course, the best thing was the excuse from the NS: “we were prepared for fall storms, but it happened too early in the year when the trees had still leaves”. I don’t know if the CEO of the NS has children in the school going age, but if he does, does he really think that the school would accept this as an excuse when his kids are late for class?
Fortunately, the trains did run as far as Ede, 20km from my home, and the wife offered to pick me up there. Unfortunately, Ede has 2 stations...
Back to bridge. One of the stronger hands I picked up in the last months was this one.
3 table cross-imp game against strong opponents and no, I’m not going to tell you what the 13th card is, but it is a small singleton in a pointed suit. You are vulnerable, the opponents are not.
You are playing Polish club, which means that your 1♣ opener shows 12-14 balanced, 15+ with long clubs or any 18+. That nicely fits the bill, the problems will no doubt come later. Indeed they do, the auction not unexpectedly continues with 3♦ on your left, pass from partner and 4♠ on your right.
4NT now shows a 2-suiter 5+♣ and 5+♥ strong enough to bid at the 5 level, and double is something special again. It shows specifically short spades (0 or 1), in an attempt to figure out if they should defend or save. Partner finally comes to life with a 5♥ bid. This is good news, while he doesn’t show any values, at least he appears to have a few hearts. 6♦ on your right and over to you. You’ve switched the traditional forcing pass rules here, so your options are:
- Pass, forcing partner to make a penalty double.
- Double, encouraging partner to bid on.
- 6♥, to play there and expecting it to make.
Your choice?
At the table, the auction continues with 6♥ from my side and partner raises to 7♥. Now we turn the spotlights on your RHO. He holds this hand and heard the auction so-far.
Double showed 0 or 1 spades. Now what? Do you double assuming that you will get a spade trick? Or do you lead a diamond? And the second question: suppose you believe the opponents and pass, followed by a double from partner. Now what do you lead?
So much for the introduction, your actions please.
Here is the full hand. In practice, east led a spade and declarer claimed for +2470 and about 16 imp’s, against 6♥ making 7 and 6NT down 7. By NS that is, and no, they did not want to comment on their auction.
Some observations. First the call over 6♥. The problem I saw with double, even if it is encouraging partner to bid on, is that partner can convert with a totally unsuitable hand. That didn’t look right from my point of view. Also, I didn’t think partner would ever bid 7♥ over an encouraging double anyway, how can he ever count 13 tricks? In short, as usual, I got it completely wrong. There is a final option, of course, pass and then pull the penalty double and bid 6♥, that one to discuss in the future.
Then, do you think that east should double 7♥? The opponents won’t bid 7♥ without a spade control, so somebody must be void. Then, what to lead? His side has announced that the defense will start with the ♠A and a spade, and this is something the opponents will no doubt have used when bidding 6♥ and 7♥. They must be prepared for that and this is an argument to lead a diamond.
Finally, do you think partner should bid 7♥, yes, ♥1098x and ♥Kx are very good holdings opposite a partner who bids up to the 6 level himself but is it sufficient for a 13th trick?
Not an easy hand.
Meanwhile, the state of the Dutch railway system is nicely summarized by this picture from my friend Elianne.