June 2008 - 51

INTERMEDIATE PLAYERS

Chalk Talk
Dlr: South  8 7
Vul: E-W  J 7 4
9653
KQJ2
64
95
 A K Q 2 WNE  10 6 5 3
K74
 J 10 8
S
9743
 10 8 6 5
 A K Q J 10 3 2
98
AQ2
A
North
2
2NT
4
Pass

South
2
2
3
4

West leads the A.
Bidding commentary: 2 is the
strong opening playing standard
methods. 2 is often played as a
waiting response to see what opener
has in mind. More often than not,
opener rebids 2NT to show 22-24
high-card points, balanced. If so, the
responses are similar to a 2NT opening bid. South's 2 rebid suggests an
unbalanced hand with long spades.
2NT shows a scattering of strength
and 3 is looking for more information. 4 shows where North's
strength lies and South signs off in
4 needing red suit strength, not
club strength, for slam.
Defensive commentary: West
starts with three rounds of hearts.
Play commentary: As South,
before playing to the first trick, count
your sure tricks (or losers) and look
over your assets, suit by suit, to see
if there are any problems. And if
you find one (such as clubs being
blocked), ask yourself if anything can
be done. You need a dummy entry to
use the clubs after you unblock the
June 2008

A. You have one. See it? If you ruff
the third heart high (first key play),
cash the A and lead a low spade to
the 7 (second key play), you force a
dummy entry with the 8. Are you a
player or what? East wins the 9 and
fires the J through your A Q.
Too late. You win the A, cross to
the 8 and discard two losing diamonds on two winning clubs. Don't
look now, but you have the rest of
the tricks. And yes, there is a defense
that defeats this contract! After cashing two hearts, West has to shift to a
spade and East has to play low, killing
dummy's late spade entry. Don't hold
your breath.
Dlr: South  Q 9 8
Vul: None  8 3 2
KQ
 Q J 10 9 5
K6
 A J 10 2
 J 10 9 6 WNE  7 5 4
A76
J853
S
8732
64
7543
AKQ
 10 9 4 2
AK
North
3NT

South
1NT
Pass

West leads the J.
Bidding commentary: Although
a little off-center, it may be hard to
describe the South hand if it is not
opened 1NT. All's well that ends well;
you have arrived at the best contract.
Defensive commentary: East plays
the 4 at trick one, denying a high
honor. Why? There is no encouraging signal, no overtake with honor
doubleton and no overtake with
K-x-x-(x) or A-x-x-(x) (in case
you led from the A-J-10-x or K-J-
10-x). If the lead of a jack denies a

Eddie Kantar
www.kantarbridge.com

higher honor, however, East does not
overtake with K-x-x-(x), but rather
signals encouragement.
Play commentary: As declarer,
take the first trick with the Q.
Why? West knows you have the Q
from East's discouraging signal, and
East knows you have the Q from
West's lead of the J. When both
opponents know you have a card (the
Q), get rid of it! Treat it as a hot
potato - a scalding hot potato.
Defensive commentary #2: South
wins the Q, cashes the A K and
leads a diamond. As West, the ball
is in your court. You know declarer
has three heart tricks from partner's
negative signal and once declarer gets
to dummy with a diamond, five club
tricks plus a diamond for nine tricks.
In addition, South is known to have 9
HCP in hearts and 7 HCP in clubs for
a total of 16 HCP. Partner must have
the A, and may well have the J.
Grab the A and shift to the K
and a spade. As East, do not signal
encouragement with an honor when
partner leads the K; you are signaling with the setting trick! After all, if
partner has two spades, then declarer
has four, and you definitely need to
keep all your high spades to run the
suit.
r
51
http://www.kantarbridge.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2008
