ANOTHER HEART NIGHT
by Aleksander Wagner
How often do you get twice in a row exactly the same distribution in exactly the same suits and the same position, and you play exactly the same contract and make it? My partner did, and it wasn't just 4432 or 4333 or 5332 with mere 7 tricks in no trump to take, but 4621 with 6H to make. And as if it wasn't enough, ten minutes later it wasn't a mere 6421 but 7321 and guess what, it was another 6H!
But it's not about probabilities. As I see it, the two first hands are about jumping in the bidding, namely how important it is that if you do jump, you have the exact distribution and strength you should. The third one is a perfect example that strong 2 opening even though nearly dead - isn't all that bad.
It happened last Friday, and I was West.
Deal no. 1:
W E
Axx KQxx --------------------
9xx N AJ10xxx 1C(1) 1H
xxx W E Ax 1S(2) 4S(3)
AKxx S x 4NT 5S
6H p
(1) better minor
(2) my strength and distribution say that I should have bid 1NT, but look at my points, there are simply beautiful! I hate to waste this kind of hands, and in such cases I tend to say the lowest possible forcing bid, as natural as possible, in order to get some more info from my partner.
(3) it worked!!! My partner said he had 46 in majors and some 12-14 playing points, with a better hand he would have bid the game+ forcing 2D.
Now I had to take the initiative, otherwise we could have landed in a spade contract which I simply didn't want... Mind you, my partner thought I had 4 spades in my hand! So I asked for five aces (King of spades included), he said he had three of them, and I had to take a chance that he had at least King in hearts...
The rest was easy: double heart finesse, they took the Queen, second heart finesse, the King was on side but didn't drop so my partner took with the Jack... Now he played his spades but they weren't 33... The only chance left now was that the trump King was with 4 spades, so he played the third spade and ruffed the last one with the 9. Twelve tricks, six made with only 25 points.
Deal no. 2:
W E
- AQxx --------------------
xxxx N AQJxxx - 1H(1)
Kxxxxx W E Qx 4H(2) 4S(3)
Axx S x 5C(4) 5H(5)
6H
(1) promises 5+ hearts
(2) 4+ fit in hearts and another 5+ card suit but not 5422, something like 5431 or 6421 or better, but less than an opening.
(3) cue-bid, first round control. But it says more than that, it promises much more than a minimal opening either in strength or in distribution.
(4) cue-bid, first round control
(5) all it says is that East has neither 1st nor 2nd round control in diamonds
I had what he wanted, and I trusted him enough to bid 6H even with very little points and spade void to his Ace. Anyway, Ace of spades was another trick, and as far as I know every trick counts!
What can I say? The Force was with us, the heart King where he should have been, everything nicely divided, six made.
Deal no. 3:
W E
AKQxxx 10xx ---------------
AK N QJ10xxxx 2S 3S
xx W E x 4H 5C
Kxx S Ax 5H 6H
p
Simplicity itself! The opening 2S bid promised 8-9 playing tricks with a good spade suit, 3S was the strongest possible bid without a singleton or with a singleton but only three spades (with four spades and a singleton we agreed to use splinter bids), 4H and 5H promised 1st and 2nd round controls in hearts and none in diamonds, 5C - 1st round control in clubs.
My partner wisely decided to bid 6H and not 6S just in case that I had AK and not void in hearts. His diamond singleton assured him of only one diamond loser, and I had to have all the rest.
