In our BBO practice match last night I set a personal best with three beer cards in one session. One of these is worth recording, as a holding of ♦ A 7 2 would not seem to have much potential for a beer, but you never know...
Click next to follow the play. When I played the ♥9 at trick 9, declarer has no easy discard, but he would have succeeded if he had thrown his club winner instead of a diamond.
From a lowly 1NT to something more exciting.
What do you think North should open on that 3 loser hand? Ann's Acol-style 2♣ made life very easy, but I suspect that I would have started with 1♠. The problem with 2♣ is that partner will expect much more in high cards, and the bidding may escalate to a high level before you have had a chance to show either of your suits.
In last week's Times, Andrew Robson describes a hand where a player held
♠ A Q 10 7 6 4
♥ A K Q 7 5 4
♦
♣ 4
and says that 'the hand easily has the playing strength for 2♣, but it is far better for South to start showing his suits right away'.
At the other table, North had obviously read Robson's article and opened 1♠. East made a frisky 2♥ overcall and South passed, scenting blood. North jumped to 4♦, South tried RKCB and bid 6♦ when North showed two key cards. That was unduly pessimistic; South should bid 5NT, asking for kings and confirming that the partnership holds four aces and the king and queen of diamonds, and North has an easy bid of 7NT or 7♠.
This hand had some interesting bidding decisions that I managed to get wrong.
The first choice was whether to double or overcall - I think it's close. The next few bids were fine, but I should have bid 3NT instead of 4♥ to offer partner a choice of contracts. 4♥ was a reasonable contract - and better than letting opponents play in 3♣ undoubled, as happened at the other table - but 3NT would have been easy.
