Dealer South
Vulnerability Love All |
Richard
Edwards' team reached the 3rd round of the 2006/2007 Crockfords Cup
with the help of the this hand. At Table 2, North should have realised
that his partner almost certainly had
both the Ace of Diamonds and the Ace of Hearts for his 6C bid,
so should bid 7D rather than 7C. East's double nearly gave away
a good result, in that it gave North 2 bites at the 7D cherry.
The hand illustrates one of the disadvantages of
strong
artificial club bids (either 1C or 2C). At Table 2, neither North or
South knew anything about their partner's shape by the time the bidding
reached the 5 level! At least at Table 1, South knew
about
North's diamonds.
John Armstrong,
Derbyshire's chief coach and one of England's top internationals,
recommends that strong club systems should be disrupted at every
possible
opportunity. For a copy of his coaching notes on this and other
subjects, click here. |
|
| Table 1 |
West
-
|
North
Andy Wells |
East
-
|
South
Ron McEwan |
| - |
- |
- |
1C (a) |
| Pass |
2C (b) |
4S (c) |
6D (d) |
| 6S (e) |
7D (f) |
Pass (g) |
Pass |
| Pass (g) |
- |
- |
- |
(a) Strong Club, 16+ HCPs.
(b) Transfer positive, at least 8+ HCPs, at least 5 Diamonds
(c) Good barrage bid.
(d) Fine practical bid, no room to manoeuvre
(e) No defence, good bid
(f) Excellent decision
(g) Correct, in that 7D will be often be too high, whereas 7S doubled will certainly be expensive.
Contract 7 Diamonds
Declarer South
Opening Lead J Spades
Result 13 tricks, +1440 to NS |
|
| Table 2 |
West
Giles Foster |
North
-
|
East
Bob Ross |
South
-
|
| - |
- |
- |
2C (a) |
| Pass |
2D (b) |
4S (c) |
6C (d) |
| 6S (e) |
7C (f) |
Double (g) |
Pass |
| Pass |
Pass (h) |
- |
- |
(a) At least 9 playing tricks with a 'solid', unspecified suit
(b)0-8 HCPs without an Ace, still no suit specified
(c) Good barrage bid.
(d) No space to explore, so makes a reasonable attempt to show his suit and strength.
(e) No Defence, good bid
(f) Expecting solid clubs, but probably should bid 7D
(g) Intended as a 'Lightener' double asking for an unusual lead (not spades)
(h) Should bid 7 Diamonds
Contract 7 Clubs Doubled
Declarer South
Opening Lead J Spades (should pick either a heart or a diamond to respect
partner's Lightner double)
Result 12 tricks + 50 to EW |
|