Length Plus Strength

Pages: Page 6 of 6

Dealer: East
Vuln: Love All
Scoring: Pairs
  1. spade6
  2. heartA K J 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
  3. diamond5 2
  4. club—
  1. spadeA Q 8 4 3
  2. heartQ 10
  3. diamond6
  4. clubK J 10 8 4
club diamond heart spade NT
N - - 4 - -
S - - 4 - -
E 4 3 - 2 6
W 2 4 - 3 -
Green square in centre
  1. spadeJ 9
  2. heart2
  3. diamondA Q J 10 9 8 4 3
  4. clubA 6

Contract: 5heartx
Declarer: North
Lead: diamondA
  1. spadeK 10 7 5 2
  2. heart—
  3. diamondK 7
  4. clubQ 9 7 5 3 2
Double dummy analyser: makeable contracts
West North East South
1diamond 2club
Dble* 2heart 3heart Pass
3spade 4heart 5diamond Dble
Pass 5heart Dble Pass
Pass Pass

* penalties

This East knew nothing of his partner's club length and tried to cash clubA. 5heart made. In the other room East was not tempted to lead an ace at trick one and led his partner's suit, spades. West knew what to do. He overtook the jack with the queen and switched to a diamond, leaving East in no doubt what was required. The diamond return put 5heart one down.

Note that 5diamond doubled can be beaten by two on a club lead. Would you have had the bottle to pass 5diamond with those North cards?

31/03/2026: I love the fact that 6NT is cold by East! Daft question . . . I wonder, if this deal was played one million times, how many Easts would play in 6NT?
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