Efficient Defence

[OliverC]

Speaking of Transfer Lebensohl and the advantage of using a mini 1NT Opening, here is a nice hand I played with Eszter today:

Love All, Dealer West

You are South, holding:

South
Q
94
AQJ973
7542

Bidding
West      North       East       South
No          1NT⁽¹⁾       2 ⁽²⁾   3 ⁽³⁾
3         4            4        All Pass

(1) 10-12
(2) Not alerted
(3) Transfer to Diamonds, weak or forcing

I led my singleton Queen of Spades. Dummy went down with

West (Dummy)
K973
1086
54
AQ106

This is a pushy game, no question, but everything seemed to be set right for Declarer, so it was usually bid (and made).

Declarer played the King of Spades on the Opening lead. Eszter took the Ace of Spades and returned the 4 , which I ruffed. The 4 was a lazy return by Eszter (She had started with A864 and should return the , but her 4 bid really helped persuade me that she didn't want a Club returned, but almost certainly had something like Kxxx. That meant Declarer only had one Diamond, so at trick 3 I led the 9 , won by Eszter's King and another Spade ruff duly followed to take this contract -1 (which I expected would be the par result).

Defensive signalling is terribly important. Here Eszter (who held A864, Q2, K1086, J93), should realise that I probably have the Ace of Diamonds and probably have at least 5 if not 6 of them. to get the second Spade ruff in, she should signal where her entry is when she leads a Spade back for me to ruff at trick 2. Similarly, my 9 is high enough to convince Partner that I have a Heart left, but not to high that she'll remotely be tempted to duck it.

Taking 4 -1 was, amazingly, worth 8½ IMPs, because it was the only NS plus score. The rest of the field were making 10 or more tricks in Hearts (games and part-scores). Clearly most Souths tried to cash the Ace of Diamonds first, before seeking a second ruff. Probably NS had never entered the bidding at most tables, so North's possession of the King had not been shown.