An Interesting Interplay


3
Q 7 6 3 2
A 9 6
K 10 9 5
9 7 5 4 J 10
A J 10 8 K 9 5 4
J 7 4 3 2
Q 6 4 A J 8 2
A K Q 8 6 2
------ Vulnerability: Both
K Q 10 8 5 Opening lead: A of hearts
7 3 Contract: 5 D

This hand offers both an illustration of the value of the major over the minor and of the balanced suit over the unbalanced -- and of the interaction between the two principles, since the balanced suit is the minor. You will note that you can pick up one more trick in diamonds than in spades, since you can ruff a round of spades, running the suit when trump are out, losing only two club tricks. In spades, on the other hand, you'd always have to lose a trick to West's 9 and thus make only four. Yet the 4 spade bid scores higher than the 5 diamond bid, and indeed, I see a notation to the effect that the former brought a 69% score, the latter only a 27%. Quite a disparity. 'Nuff said?
Oh, but if the A of clubs were onsides, we'd have slam in diamonds, which you couldn't make in spades. True enough. But you'd have to bid it and could be wrong, as you would have been here. Further, if spades split 3-3, you don't get an extra trick in diamonds but the same number, yes, even if the defense fails to start with a club lead. You could sluff all of dummy's clubs on the spades, but wouldn't have a trump to ruff the closed hand's clubs and if the A had been onsides, would only have succeeded in turning a one-club-winner holding into no club winners.
All of which leaves us with these reflections, adduced before: at the partial and game level, you'll almost surely do better with the major suit over a minor, even if the latter is balanced, the former not, particularly in matchpoints. For the one trick shortfall still leaves the major suit the higher scorer at the 3 level vs. the 4, or the 4 vs the 5. We are speaking of adequate suits, by the bye. I'd prefer a sound minor to a skimpy major any day. But at the slam level, I'd give serious consideration to the balanced suit for trump, particularly in IMP's. For if that balanced suit brings in the slam while the unbalanced doesn't, you're picking up a lot of points in the minor suit to console you for the times when the major would have worked just as well (as here with 3-3 spades).