Quiz Expert by Vu-Bridge

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A J 9 8 7 4
♥ 9 4
♦ 8 6
♣ 9 6 3

Q: 1 - Here’s a tricky one to kick off with.

*2♦ was a Multi, showing a weak two in either major, and 2♠ was pass-or-correct
*Double was for take-out and 2NT was Lebensohl; a puppet to 3♣ showing any weak hand. East broke the puppet to 3♥ to show significant extras with five Hearts

South	West	North	East
2♦*	Pass	2♠*	Dble
Pass	2NT*	Pass	3♥
Pass	4♥	All pass

A: ♠A. No one would argue with the normal-looking Diamond lead, which has more going for it than a Club due to the possibility of scoring a third-round ruff. However, the auction is somewhat revealing. Partner has at most three Hearts on the bidding as your opponents surely have a Heart fit.

However, partner responded 2♠ rather than 2♥, meaning he was interested in higher things if your major was Hearts. He can’t have many Hearts, nor can he have a great deal of strength, so he must have some shape. That means he’s likely to have a singleton somewhere, probably in Spades. With that in mind, you might lay down the ♠A, expecting to give partner a ruff at trick two.

On a Diamond lead, North would have a nasty guess; should he shift to his ♠K (you would overtake and play another) or return a Diamond in case you had led a singleton and didn’t hold the ♠A? You could hardly blame him for going wrong. The ♠A lead, followed by a second Spade for North to ruff, would set the hand in double-quick time.

Here's the full deal:

♠ 10 6 3 2

♥ 7 6 3

♦ J 10 9 4

♣ Q 4

♠ K

♥ Q 10

♦ A 5 3 2

♣ A 10 8 7 5 2

♠ A J 9 8 7 4

♥ 9 4

♦ 8 6

♣ 9 6 3

♠ Q 5

♥ A K J 8 5 2

♦ K Q 7

♣ K J

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A 10 3
♥ 3 2
♦ A Q 10 9 5
♣ K 9 8

Q: 2 - Will you lead your own suit?

*3♣ showed a mixed raise in Diamonds; about 7-9 points with four-card support

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	3♣*	4♠
All pass

A: ♥3. A Diamond lead could easily give away a trick. You have a control-card in trumps, so a Diamond attack can wait, perhaps until partner gains the lead. A Club would be a shot in the dark and a Spade lead could gift a trick, say if partner holds the ♠K and there’s a void in dummy. Best is to put the ball in play with a safe Heart lead. This might even threaten a trump promotion for your ♠10.

Take a look at the full deal below. After a Heart lead, declarer would have to play very carefully to land his game. He would win in dummy and play a trump to North’s King. If he won the next Heart in hand and led out the ♠J, you could take your ♠A and lead a Club to partner for a Heart ruff.

Can you see how declarer could avert this danger? He could take the second Heart in dummy and lead the ♦K, throwing his Club to cut the link between the defenders. This ‘scissors coup’ would prevent North from gaining the lead to deliver a ruff.

♠ 6

♥ A Q 10 9

♦ K 8 3 2

♣ Q 7 6 4

♠ K

♥ 7 5 4

♦ J 7 6 4

♣ A J 5 3 2

♠ A 10 3

♥ 3 2

♦ A Q 10 9 5

♣ K 9 8

♠ Q J 9 8 7 5 4 2

♥ K J 8 6

♦

♣ 10

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 10 3
♥ J 6 3
♦ J 10 8
♣ 10 7 5 3 2

Q: 3 - What do you make of partner’s double?

South	West	North	East
-	Pass	1♥	Dble
Pass	1NT	Pass	2♠
Pass	3♠	Pass	4NT
Pass	5♥	Pass	6♠
All pass

A: ♣3. A double of a freely-bid slam isn’t just for penalty. Rather, it asks for an unusual opening lead, known as a Lightner double. Partner most likely has a void in one of the minors and a trick on the side, and is hoping you will deliver a ruff. You have five Clubs and three Diamonds, so partner’s void rates to be in the former suit.

The full deal is below. You had to give partner a Club ruff to set the slam. On a Heart lead, declarer would need to lead twice towards his Diamond honors. With only one surefire entry outside Hearts, he would lead a Diamond to his King at trick two, then draw trumps and use dummy’s ♣A to play another Diamond up. If he drew trumps before touching Diamonds, you could set the slam by keeping hold of four Clubs and inserting the ♣10 if declarer led the ♣8 from his hand, to deny dummy a second entry via a finesse of the ♣9.

♠ 7 5 4

♥ A 10 8

♦ 7 4 2

♣ A 9 6 4

♠ J 6 2

♥ K Q 9 5 4 2

♦ A 9 6 3

♣

♠ 10 3

♥ J 6 3

♦ J 10 8

♣ 10 7 5 3 2

♠ A K Q 9 8

♥ 7

♦ K Q 5

♣ K Q J 8

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ 4
♥ 7 3 2
♦ 9 8 7 3
♣ K J 5 3 2

Q: 4 - Which will you pick?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2NT
Pass	3♣	Pass	3♠
Pass	3NT	All pass

A: ♦8. Underleading Kings against suit contracts is unappealing, all the more so when declarer has shown a very strong hand. A singleton trump lead could blow partner’s holding, which leaves the red suits. You might prefer to lead from three small cards than four in general, since whatever winners partner has in the suit are more likely to stand up in the former case. However, your diamond sequence tips the balance here. Say partner has K 10 x; your spot-cards will be enough to establish a trick when dummy has J x x and declarer A Q x. The same can’t be said about Hearts.

The actual layout is below. A Diamond lead threatened the safety of the contract. North would win the first Diamond and shift to a Club to your King, whereupon a further Diamond lead would establish a second trick there. Declarer might well choose to grab the ♦A and cash the ♠A K. If the Queen dropped, he’d have his contract in the bag. If instead everyone followed low, he could unblock the Heart tops and, if the ♥J dropped, ruff a Club across to pitch his Diamond on the ♥10. That combination line would fail on this layout, with North’s holding Q x x x trumps. On any other lead, declarer would be under no pressure.

♠ J 9 8 5

♥ 10 9 6 4

♦ A Q 10

♣ 10 7

♠ Q 7 6 2

♥ J 8 5

♦ K J 6

♣ 8 6 4

♠ 4

♥ 7 3 2

♦ 9 8 7 3

♣ K J 5 3 2

♠ A K 10 3

♥ A K Q

♦ 5 4 2

♣ A Q 9

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ Q 10
♥ J 5 3
♦ J 10 9 3
♣ K 8 4 2

Q: 5 - What’s your best option here?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♣
Pass	1♦	Pass	1NT
Pass	2NT	Pass	3NT
All pass

A: ♦J. Despite West’s having bid the suit, your three-card sequence in Diamonds is still the preferred choice in terms of safety. You might even be able to set up tricks in the suit. Tripleton honor holdings don’t make for attractive leads as they often give away tricks with little compensation; you have no long cards to set up in the suit. A Spade lead would be random and a Club too dangerous, into declarer’s primary suit.

Take a peek at the full hand. A Diamond lead gave nothing away and started you along the road to setting up tricks. Declarer would work on Hearts and eventually take a losing Spade finesse, going at least one down. On a Club lead, declarer would pick up that suit for four tricks and might well come to a Heart winner for his ninth trick just in time.

♠ K 3 2

♥ K 8

♦ 8 7 5 2

♣ A J 5 3

♠ 9 8 6 5 4

♥ A Q 6 4

♦ Q 6

♣ 10 7

♠ Q 10

♥ J 5 3

♦ J 10 9 3

♣ K 8 4 2

♠ A J 7

♥ 10 9 7 2

♦ A K 4

♣ Q 9 6

Your result so far:

Open Question

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World Bridge Tour by Ben Norton

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