Bridge Deal of the Week (Dec 08 2006)

Problem:

West   North   East   South
                                  1♦
1♠      2♣      3♠*     pass
pass    dbl      pass     3NT
all pass

* Preemptive bid, with at least four trumps

East's 3♠ call is preemptive, an attempt to disrupt your auction, and promises at least four spades. You and your partner handle the preempt effectively, and eventually reach 3NT, which is a sound contract.

The ♠Q is led, East wins the Ace and plays a spade back to your King. You play a club to the Ace, both opponents follow with low cards. You quickly realize that you need to bring in the club suit to land the contract. But first, you turn your attention to the diamond suit, to learn more about the hand. You try the ♦10 from dummy, hoping RHO might cover. When he plays low, you play the Ace, and play a diamond to the King, LHO discarding the ♥8. So much for tempting RHO to cover the ♦10... You play a diamond to the Queen, LHO discards the ♥2, completing an echo. You play a club towards dummy, and LHO plays small. The moment of truth has arrived - do you finesse or play for the drop?

Hint:
If you suspected that the problem statement was intentionally incomplete, you were right. When you take a look at their convention card, you learn that they play Michaels cue-bids*.

*Michaels cue-bids are used to show two-suited hands. Over your 1♦ opening, a 2♦ overcall by LHO would have shown both majors. You can learn more about Michaels Cue-Bids and other conventions, as well as practice them with our latest Product Learn and Practice Bidding Conventions.

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Bridge Baron deal No: N1010-84234-49746-54086-02623-73812

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Deal Of The Week