Hand Record

A holding play --  Polar Bear makes three notrump

This deal was board 6 of the afternoon session at the NVBA Sectional on Saturday, February 10, 2007.   (The actual Dealer on board 6 is East.  The hands have been rotated to put West, the Declarer, in the South.)

North/South vulnerable;     Dealer: East

 

NORTH

 

 

♠ 10 8 7

 

 

♥ K 9 7

 

 

♦ 7 6 2

 

WEST

♣ 8 7 3 2

EAST

♠ 9

 

♠ K Q 6 5 4 3

♥ 10 8 6 3

 

♥ Q 5 4

♦ J 10 3

 

♦ A Q 4

♣ 10 9 6 5 4

SOUTH

♣ Q

 

♠ A J 2

 

 

♥ A J 2

 

 

♦ K 9 8 5

 

 

♣ A K J

 

 
East  South  West   North  
===== =====  =====  =====
 2S    dbl     p     2NT
 p     3NT     all pass            Opening lead: spade 9

The bidding was similar at many tables, South ending up in a dicey 3NT contract.  The usual bid by South was a leap of faith at some point to 3NT.  In the bidding shown, East opens an "intermediate" two, over which North/South play Lebensohl.  That convention enables them a little more flexibility with takeout doubles.  Over the conventional 2NT takeout by North (who intends to pass the expected 3C relay), South deviates from the script and bids 3NT instead.  (If he had bid 3NT outright, playing Lebensohl, that would have shown a hand as big as this, but lacking a spade stopper.  Going through the Lebensohl sequence tells Pard he does have a stopper.  Fast denies; slow shows.)  North would like to "pull" 3NT, in view of his weak hand, but has no suit to speak of, so crosses his fingers and passes.

At one table Papa Bear, playing 3NT, overtook the spade Queen with his Ace.  He crossed to the heart King, and led a diamond for a finesse.  East hopped up with the Ace, cashed his spade King and continued the suit, driving out the Jack, Papa Bear's last stopper.  Now Papa Bear could no longer give up the lead without East running his spades, and had to go down.

Mama Bear, when she sat South on this deal, took a different approach.  She played low to the first spade, letting East's Queen win. East continued with the spade King, driving out the Ace.  Mama Bear crossed to dummy's heart King and led a diamond.  East took his Ace and exited with a spade to drive out Mama Bear's Jack.  Unable to get back to dummy for the heart finesse, like Papa Bear, she she ended up with only eight tricks.

Polar Bear, meanwhile, made 3NT with an overtrick.  (That pitiless old predator was once confronted by an animal-rights advocate, who accused him of killing seals.  "Yes, I eat three every day," he retorted.  "Baby seals.  And you can put that in your pipe and smoke it.")

"No doubt he had a baby seal sitting East on that board," said Papa Bear.  "You can't make three against good defense."

"Nine tricks are as cold as the Arctic ice cap," said Polar Bear, "as long as East has the diamond Ace and heart Queen, as he should on the bidding.  And with diamonds breaking three-three, you get an overtrick.  But even if East had A Q J 10 in diamonds, you always make three."  

"Just get rid of your goddam Jack of spades," he gently counseled, "under one of East's high honors!  After that, he's dead meat.  Duck the first trick, for instance, pitching your Jack under East's Queen.  East exits with the club Queen (a card you're glad to see), and you lead a low diamond.  East takes his Queen, but he's end-played from the fourth trick on.  Say he leads a low spade.  You let it ride to dummy's ten, and lead a diamond.  East ducks, your King wins, and you lead a third round of diamonds hoping for the 3-3 split.  East wins his Ace, but has to lead a spade, which you take with your Ace.  Or he leads a heart, into the finesse you were going to take anyway.  You get two spades, three hearts, the King of diamonds and the thirteener, and three clubs.  Ten tricks."

(West could win the first diamond and exit with a club, but it doesn't help.  Declarer just keeps pumping diamonds, always relying on East to have the Ace.)

This is a holding play, i.e one that "holds" the opponents and renders them helpless.  After Declarer unblocks the Jack, East can't continue spades without giving him the second entry he needs to dummy.  (The well-known holdup is a variant of this play, in which a stopper is withheld until one opponent's holding in the suit is exhausted, thus cutting their communications.)

Changes last made: February 18, 2007