November 2014 - 60

Advanced Players

Mike's	Advice
BY MIKE LAWRENCE

 www.michaelslawrence.com

Watch those spot cards
West
1♣	

North
Pass	

East
Pass	

South
?

You	are	South,	none	vulnerable,	
holding:
♠K 8 7 ♥A K 5 ♦K	J	3	2			♣A 10 2.
You're	obviously	going	to	act,	but	
what	should	you	choose?
In	the	balancing	seat,	most	players	
agree	that	1NT	should	show	less	than	a	
full	opening	15-17	1NT.	I	agree.	When	
I	ask	members	of	my	classes	what	1NT	
should	show,	I	get	opinions	suggesting	
the	range	could	be	as	weak	as	10-13	
and other opinions opting to keep it
at	15-17.	My	suggestion	is	that	when	
the opponents open 1♣ or 1♦,	you	
can	reopen	with	1NT	with	12-14,	but	
when	they	open	1♥ or 1♠,	you	need	a	
little	more.	The	reason	you	need	more	
is	that	if	you	double	1♠ and partner
bids	a	suit	at	the	two	level,	you	need	
a	strong	hand	to	continue	with	2NT.	
This	should	show	at	least	17	points.	
This	means	you	may	have	to	bid	1NT	
on	hands	with	up	to	16	points.	This	is	a	
vague area.
So	on	this	hand,	whatever	range	you	
have	settled	on,	your	hand	is	too	good	
to	bid	1NT.	So	you	choose	to	double,	
and	when	North	bids	1♥,	you	have	
a second close decision. 1NT should
show	a	good	hand,	but	perhaps	not	
quite	this	good.	When	you	try	2NT,	it	
ends	the	bidding.	

60 Bridge Bulletin November 2014

♠	A	Q	10
♥8632
♦ 10 8
♣	7	5	4	3	
♠K87
♥AK5
♦	K	J	3	2
♣ A 10 2
Note	that	North	is	almost	worth	a	
raise	to	3NT	on	this	bidding.	Decisions	
for	everyone.	
West leads the ♣K and East plays
the	jack.	This	is	good	for	you	because	it	
means	your	clubs	are	temporarily	safe	
from	attack.	You	let	West	have	the	first	
club,	so	he	switches	to	the	♠2. East
plays	low.	What	is	your	plan?
You	have	six	easy	winners	with	two	
more	needed	from	somewhere.	You	
could	play	on	hearts.	This	requires	the	
hearts	to	divide	3-3,	and	even	if	they	
do,	you	are	not	home.	You	will	still	need	
a	diamond	trick	or	another	club	trick.	
If	East	is	able	to	get	in	with	a	heart	and	
return	a	club	(if	he	has	one),	this	deal	
can	get	grim	in	a	hurry.
Do you see a play that gives you a decent	chance?	Give	this	a	little	serious	
thought	before	reading	further.	
I	expect	that	the	first	thing	you	noticed	when	the	dummy	came	down	was	
the ♠A	Q	10.	You	probably	regretted	
seeing	such	lousy	hearts	and	clubs.	You	
might	have	also	spotted	the	♦10 and
recognized	that	this	card	would	give	
you	a	trick	in	diamonds.	But	have	you	
noticed the ♦8	yet?	If	you	did	notice	

it,	you	may	consider	this	line	of	play:	
Win	the	spade	in	your	hand	and	finesse	
the ♦8.	It	may	win,	it	may	force	out	
the	queen,	or	it	may	force	out	the	ace.	
Admittedly,	East	does	not	rate	to	have	
the	ace	but,	importantly,	he	does	not	
have	to	have	the	9.
Say	the	8	forces	out	the	queen	and	
that	East	produces	another	club.	This	
will	set	up	West's	clubs,	but	it	also	
means	that	West	has	just	four	of	them.	
You	can	win	a	club	lead	from	East	and	
force	out	the	♦A. You have the entries
to	do	that.	Establishing	two	diamond	
tricks	brings	your	total	to	eight	tricks.
Here	is	the	complete	layout:
♠	A	Q	10
♥8632
♦ 10 8
♣	7	5	4	3	
♠	J	6	2	
	
♥	Q	9		
	
♦	A	9	6	
	
♣	K	Q	9	8	6		
♠K87
♥AK5
♦	K	J	3	2
♣ A 10 2

♠	9	5	4	3
♥	J	10	7	4
♦	Q	7	5	4
♣J

You	can	probably	find	a	way	to	get	
eight	tricks	in	some	other	fashion,	but	
none	as	simple	as	finessing	the	♦8.
Postmortem:	With	a	little	more	
than	18	points,	you	have	the	option	of	
reopening	with	2NT.	This	is	not	an	
unusual	notrump	bid.	It	shows	a	strong	
notrump	hand	with	about	19	points.	
Even	a	bad	20	is	OK.	Partner	can	still	
use	Stayman	and	transfers.		
◾
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2014
