Another Accusation

Author: Larry Cohen
Date of publish: 11/01/2021
Level: Intermediate

During the Covid period where everyone was playing online, I received numerous cases to review. Accusations of "self-kbbitzing" or being on the phone with your partner were rampant. One player was recorded for this action: Holding 

♠ A2  
♥ A6  
♦ 653  
♣ AJ9632,
 he opened 1♠. Partner responded 1♠ and he rebid 2♠. Partner now bid 2♠.  What would you do? I think 3♠ or 3♠ are the main possibilities. This player jumped to 3NT. He caught partner with a suitable dummy with diamonds stopped. 3NT is a terrible bid, but you can't convict a player based on only one such action. Maybe he was just a bad player, or made a bad bid. Anyway, this was the Real Deal:

  ♠ A2
♥ A6
♦ 653
♣ AJ9632
 
♠ 1083
♥ J97
♦ A10874
♣ 85
  ♠ Q964
♥ Q432
♦ Q9
♣ Q107
  ♠ KJ75
♥ K1085
♦ KJ2
♣ K4
 

The teacher in my saw an opportunity. The start of 1♠-1♠-2♠ is fine. But South's 2♠ makes no sense. There is no 4-4 spade fit (North would have rebid 1♠ with 4), so South has a 100% 3NT call at his second turn.

West would lead the ♠7 (4th best) and East would play the ♠Q.

Now what? If South takes the ♠K and works on clubs, East gets in and plays another diamond, down one.

This is a safe-hand/danger-hand lesson. Declarer has to realize that East is the danger hand. If he gets in and plays another diamond (and they are 5-2), he is down. So, he should holdup on the first diamonds. If they turn out to be 4-3, no problem.

Once East wins the first trick, there is no defense. Declarer will eventually work on clubs and easily make his contract.

What about winning the first trick and playing ♠A, ♠K and another club? That will work if East started with any doubleton club (or singleton ♠10), but why rely on this when the indicated line works on most normal layouts.