VB#1 Y3 Stayman Part 2 SA
Board # 1
Dealer: East
Vulnerable: None
You are: South
Contract: 6 Hearts
By South
Welcome to VBlue Year 3.
There are two series of six deals each in this edition featuring the Stayman convention. This is the second series. We have talked about this subject before but we are aiming to refresh your memories and to extend your knowledge just a little.
One question that often comes to mind when partner opens 1NT (or 2NT, come to that) is "Should I introduce Stayman?" Remember, you are seeking out a 4-4 major-suit fit, that is the principle rationale for Stayman. With a five-card major you should simply be bidding it (maybe via a transfer).
Hand 1. The bidding here is dramatic – the card-play needs to be accurate.
Are you up to the challenge?
Bidding. The correct way to play the suit is to play the ♥A first, and then lead toward the ♥QJ in our hand. The Recently Escaped Mental Patient move is to play the ♥Q toward the ♥A.
If Hearts are 3-2 then any non-idiotic play works. If Hearts are 4-1, though, then the slam can only be made if East has the Heart length. Playing the ♥A first picks up the suit for one loser whenever East has ♥K10xx or (as here) if West has the singleton King. Does this matter? Nope! Not one jot. We cash the ♥QJ leaving East with the master trump. At this point we can do whatever gives us the greatest pleasure. We could simply play black-suit winners, inviting East to ruff whenever he likes. Or, as here, we lead out the last trump, giving the defense their one and only trick.
We take the ♦A on the return, cash the ♠AQ and dummy is high. All roads lead to Rome.
Let's focus on North's problems for a moment. As soon as we open 1NT, he gets bitten by the slam bug. He knows we have 32-34 points between the two hands so we are right on the edge. If there's a major suit fit his hand will become even more valuable because of that singleton. He begins with a Stayman 2♣ and we, oblivious to North's ambitions, innocently respond 2♥.
Bingo! A 4-4 fit. North has two choices now. He could simply jump to 6♥ or ask for Aces. He chooses to check out the controls. 4♣ asks for Aces (Gerber*) and North settles for 6♥ when we admit to holding two. Although we have all the Aces it would be an over-optimistic partner who investigated a grand slam with that North hand.
* A note for American Standard players: the ACBL "Bridge in the 21st Century" says that after 1NT - 2♣ - 2♥/2♠ a "commonly used" partnership agreement is that 4♣ is Gerber and 4NT is quantitative.
You may discuss this with your teacher.
Play.
West leads the ♣10 against 6♥ and we must perform the mandatory Count and Plan. With oodles of tricks in the plain suits (four Spades, four Clubs and the ♦A, not to mention Diamond ruffs) we see that we must keep our trump losers to one. This is the crux of this deal. How should we play this Heart combination?
We may have Diamond losers, but we're going to either trump them on table or dump them on dummy's black winners.
At trick two, having won the opening lead in hand, we duly lead the ♥2 and observe West's ♥K with interest. Fine technique duly rewarded. The good news is that the ♥K has fallen on air. The bad news is that trumps are 4-1.
| Click to Play | Description |
|---|---|
| Accuracy |
There is a Chinese saying:
'An image is worth 1000 words!'
You may want to take the
Online Player Guided Tour
1 - Bidding: Click the 'Play' button in the middle of the page to display the bidding box.
When you are ready, click the 'Start Bidding' button.
When a bid is alerted, it is shown on a yellow background. You can then click that bid to display the related alert.
When there is a comment or a question about your own bid, you can read it on the bidding box comments pane, and then, click the 'Ok' button to continue bidding.
Click 'Close Bidding Box' to proceed to playing the hand.
2 - Playing: The lead is automatic if you are declarer, otherwise you'll see the 'It's your lead' warning in the center pane.
You will play your cards and dummy's as if you were at a live table.
2.1 -Touching cards are considered equivalent! e.g. if you have 876 and you play the 7 while Vu-Bridge expects you to play the 6, then the 7 will blink and the 6 will be played.
2.2 -Sometimes there will be a comment or question during the play.
You should read it and click the 'Click to continue' button at the top of the comment text.
If its a question, there will be a 'Show Answer' button to click at the bottom of the comment panel.
2.3 - When a comment bears a 'Finish flag' button, you can click it to reveal hidden hands and continue playing. We use this to explain technical coups like end-plays, squeezes etc.
2.4 - You can review the last trick by clicking on the last won or lost trick (back of card) at the bottom of the screen. The last trick will show during 3 seconds and then play will continue.
2.5 - You can click the 'Undo last trick' button at the left of the screen in order to redo one or several tricks and review the attached comments.
You can review the auction by clicking the 'Auction' tab in the same area.
3 - Moving the comment panel:
When the mouse hovers the dark green background of the bidding box or the comment panel, you'll see a crosshair cursor and you can drag and move it around the page.
The left and right arrows on the top left corner of the comment panel allows you to increase or reduce the width for better readability.
4 - When a hand is finished, you can click the 'Board List' at the top of the comment panel, and play other hands From the same Series.
To play other Series, visit the Vu-Bridge's home page and click the 'Bridge Hands' button.
