On today’s hand North South reached a pushy game with only a combined 21 points but the defence actually need to be quite sharp to beat it.
When West opens a strong NT, North is quite likely to come in and show both majors. It’s very useful to have a bid for this over 1NT. 2♣ is commonly used but there are other options (see advanced section for more).
East is unlikely to bid so North South are likely to end in 2♥ (if the pair is playing 2♣ to show both majors then South should bid 2♦ to show equal length in the majors which lets North then bid his longer one).
Where East West are playing a weak NT, the auction is likely to get higher more quickly. West will open 1♦ (with the intention of rebidding 1NT to show 15-17 or thereabouts) and North will usually overall 1♥. You might think the hand is suitable for a takeout double but the problem with that is you may never get your 5th heart across. So with 54 in the majors it tends to be better to overcall the 5 card suit and perhaps make a takeout double later to show the other suit. East with 5 card diamond support could well now pre-empt with 3♦. Note a jump here is better played as weak – with a good raise of partner’s diamonds you can bid 2♥, a cue bid of the opponent’s suit. South will likely compete to 3♥. That should really be it but some Norths might look fondly at their 5431 shape and push onto 4♥.
The normal lead against hearts is going to be a diamond (especially in the weak NT auction where it was West’s opening bid). Assuming normal 4th highest leads that would mean trick 1 is ♦5 3 K 7. Now what? What happened at nearly all tables was West continued a 2nd diamond which declarer ruffed. He then knocked out ♥A. West now tried a spade but this was no good. Declarer won, drew the last trump and took a losing club finesse. But now declarer could win ♠K and the rest of the clubs in dummy were winners on which declarer could discard his 2 remaining spade losers. That was 10 tricks for either +420 or, more commonly, +170.
Can you see what West needs to do to hold the contract to 9 tricks? He must switch to a spade at trick 2 (East could also lead a spade at trick 1 but that’s just a blind guess). After a spade switch declarer should only make 9 tricks. He wins ♠A but still has to try and get rid of the trumps. So West wins ♥A and plays a 2nd spade. This sets up the defence’s spade trick before his ♣K is knocked out. It’s no good for declarer to play clubs first because West will then end up scoring a ruff instead. It’s all about timing – the hand is effectively a race for declarer to set up his clubs as winners by knocking out the two key cards he needs to lose (♥A and ♣K) before the defence knock out the the two key cards they need to (♠AK). By playing a spade first, the defence win that race. By trying to cash a 2nd diamond, they lose it.
Holding the contract to 9 tricks would have scored a near top – either +50 against 4♥ or -140 against 2♥ or 3♥ (still a top because everyone else was scoring -170 or more).
See advanced section for more on the reasons West can use to get this right.
Key points to note
Over a 1 minor opening, with 54 in the majors it tends to be better to overcall the 5 card suit rather than double. It’s very unlikely partner will ever bid a 3 card suit in response to a double so you can easily miss a fit. Depending on the auction, you may be able to make a takeout double on the next round to show 4 of the other major.
Over 1NT there are lots of bidding methods available, all with pro’s and con’s. But having a bid to show both majors is very valuable.
When defending, consider if you need to try and cash a trick immediately (i.e. think whether declarer could discard a loser in the suit). Often you don’t and there may be something more important to do.
When defending also consider if there’s a long suit in dummy that will eventually turn into winners. If so, you may need to urgently try to set up your own tricks before all declarer’s losers can be discarded on that long suit.
More advanced
There are many bidding methods in place over 1NT but a common theme is a bid to show both majors. 2♣ is a popular choice because it allows partner to bid 2♦ to show equal length. But another method is to have an anchor suit of one of the majors – for example my regular partner and I play ASPTRO where 2♣ shows hearts and another, 2♦ shows spades and another (usually 54 either way round). With both majors we initially show the shorter. Why? This hand is an example. North would bid 2♦ to show spades and another. South can then bid 2♥ and that asks partner to pass if he holds 5 hearts, otherwise to bid his 5 card suit. As usual there is no right answer – some methods work well on some hands, others on other hands!
So how can West work out to switch immediately to a spade? Three reasons:
- He should see the threat of those clubs in dummy becoming winners.
- He should appreciate that he still has 2 entries before that will happen (♥A and ♣K).
- He should appreciate that there is no rush to try and cash a 2nd diamond.
The 3rd point is the most important. It’s certainly possible partner only has 4 diamonds and ♦A is cashing – West cannot see ♦4 so he cannot be sure whether partner has led from 4 or 5 diamonds. But where can that loser go? The only possible thing it could be discarded on is clubs but his ♣K means the clubs in dummy aren’t yet winners. Hence there will always be time later to try and cash a 2nd diamond. In the meantime it may be necessary to try and set up a spade trick for the defence. West should switch to a small spade to imply he has something in the suit. On this hand East should appreciate the value of his ♠J and encourage when declarer wins ♠A. If he doesn’t have anything in spades he can discourage and now when West gets in, he instead tries to cash ♦A.
Julian Foster (many times NSW representative) ♣♦♥♠
