Alisdair's Quiz, A fun, yet challenging, quiz by Ali

ROUND 3 RESULTS AND ANSWERS

It's been a long time coming, what with extended extensions and all the rest of it, but FINALLY I get to finish off Round 3. Some say this round was easier and the scores seem to be reflecting that. Russell takes great credit for a whopping score of 87, thanks largely to scoring full marks on the Declarer questions, increasing his lead over Abigail, who still scored impressively with 75. Phil was solid as usual, but his absence in Round 2 cost him as he has just been pipped by Julie to 3rd after she surpassed herself. Those were the four entrants - we could do with some new blood, as well as some stagnant blood pumping again. 232 is a very large head start to give Russell but I'd nonetheless like to see some people giving it a go. That's the pitching done, on to the table:

ANSWERS

Q1

The answer to this is your standard 6-9 point raise to 2 Spades. Yes, you have a 5 card suit and a singleton, but it is not worth the upgrade to a 10-12 hand. The 5 card suit is pretty shroddy and needs a lot of help from partner. If 4 spades is going to make, then it will be because partner has a big hand, which means he won't pass 2 Spades. Otherwise you will play in a no-pressure part score.

Q2

4NT 3014RKCB is what I chose here, which worked very well. Phil points out that 1430 is not so good. Since you have the King of Clubs, you will be getting a response about aces and can still convert to a slam in hearts. That said, there doesn't seem to be a lot wrong with a cue of 4 Spades, so that scored highly as well.

Q3

An almost unanimous verdict; 1 Spade is the obviously correct bid (other bids are weak and there is not enough strength for 2C). The exception to this is if you play Interchange; where an opening 3 Spades shows a 7 card spade suit and 15+ points, which is exactly what you have.

Q4

It seems dummy will have 5 hearts so there isn't much to go around. A high heart is the obvious - and wrong - choice. This will most likely block the suit and yield a maximum of 4 tricks. You will then be left hoping to be allowed in with a spade, but Declarer most likely has 9 tricks as soon as he gets in. The right lead is not that hard to find; the hardest thing about it is having the guts to do it. The only realistic way this contract can come down is if your partner has Jx in hearts. It's not very likely but you have no choice. If (s)he does, that's 6 tricks off the top on a heart return. If not, you probably concede overtricks, but that's a couple of IMPs in teams - you have to risk that to avoid the possibility of losing 12.

Q5

This looks like a routine unblock but there is something to think about. If partner has 5 then Declarer has J9, a holding that a lot of people would be reluctant to open 1NT on. If Declarer has JT9 and you unblock the queen it'll be a disaster. However, you would not have expected partner to ask for Count on AKxx. It seems that unblocking is best; if you choose not to then you must win the third round and return a diamond. All in all, this deliberation is more technical than I intended and eventually decided the fairest solution was full marks to everyone, as everyone gave (more or less) the same answer.

Q6

Okay, so you have shown your skill to pin the club holding but you need to keep paying attention. You're going to need a club entry to dummy as you can't assume you will be lucky enough to get AK doubleton against you in diamonds. Most likely someone's going to duck and thus you will lose the 3rd round. Better odds are to hope that LHO has Hxx so that if he rises and knocks out the club you have the third round. This means you need to rise with the KING on the first trick. You then play a diamond. RHO wins but can't return a club (you knew this was likely from his 2 on the first round, didn't you? ) Once the 2nd diamond honour is gone (on the 3rd round) you get back in hand. You now play up to the Queen of clubs in dummy. You can't be stopped from getting it. (Note if you'd played the Jack you could be, as LHO would duck your King or rise over small and force you back in with the King). Percentage-wise this contract is not attractive, but to not cover the 8 with the King is asking for trouble.

Q7

Thankfully, this one is more straightforward. You win with the Ace of diamonds (first time round maximises your chances of either blocking the suit or promoting your T), and now have a choice of two finesses. It's better to take the Club finesse; there's less work to do if it works. Take it by playing the QUEEN of clubs (as the only onside holding this fails against is singleton K, which is less likely than K9xx) and when you discover the K onside you have 4 club tricks plus a diamond. You also have 3 hearts (the J doesn't drop) and ace of spades (you don't need the finesse now).

Q8

If you want to make this by finessing you need two finesses to work, plus a 3-3 split in clubs. Given LHO has a string of hearts to cash when the suit is cleared, you don't want them having an extra club. So, win the first heart snd play a small diamond from dummy (hoping that if the honours are split RHO doesn't rise) up to the 9. Duck the second round of hearts to block the suit. This plan is utilising your extra chances well - you may be forced into taking finesses but if they hold you won't need the 3-3 club break.

Q9

You seem to have 2 spades and 5 diamonds. Hopefully you can set up a heart and the defence may give you a club. So, hopefully careful play will see you through. Win the first trick in hand as cheaply as possible. Play the ten of diamonds and cover with the queen. (It is important not to play small up to it as you are catering for the risk of Jxxx with LHO) Then, play up a small heart. If a small one appears you play the Jack. You'd obviously play small under the ace and probably shout hallelujah if the Queen appeared at that point. Worst case scenario is LHO has AQ. If this happens, a club is the likely return. (A spade would be nice though). This gives you a club trick but make sure you block the suit or set up a (possible)second one. (The ins and outs of that would take forever) If the Ace of hearts beat your Jack, looks like the Queen is onside and you're home and dry with 5 diamonds, 2 hearts, 2 spades and a club.

Round 4 coming soon... There's potential for this to get more competitive; it ought to be interesting to see where this goes from here

ROUND 4

It's back to business with this one... Interchange bidding and a treat for the Defence enthusiasts. With a short defence section for the last three rounds, there are four defence questions this time round. A couple of these questions could really be worth 20 marks. But none of these are fantastical - most are real deals that I had to play.

The scenario is teams for every question except Questions 3 and 9, which are both pairs questions. Closing date (bar extensions): Two weeks from today (today being 19th May), which seems appropriate as it is the day after my birthday.

Good luck

SECTION A - BIDDING

Question 1:

You hold:

AT9
AT9
KQJ
9876

Your opponents are bidding Interchange. Your LHO opens 1 Diamond (denies a 4+ card major unless it is a 4-4-4-1). Partner passes, and RHO bids 1 Spade (rubbish hand with tolerance for the minors). What do you do here?

Question 2:

Red against Green, you hold:

QJT98
AKT
K5
KJ9

Playing 15-17 Acol you open this 1NT. LHO passes, and partner raises to 3NT. Your Interchange-playing tyrant of a RHO comes in with a bid of 4 Diamonds. You ask if this is a natural suit and are told it is. What do you bid now?

Question 3:

Okay, this one you actually get to bid Interchange!

You hold:

5
AQT6
AQT842
AK

Your partner opens 1 Club, which shows opening points and promises a 5 card major. You respond 1 Heart, which is forcing to at least Game and promising four hearts. Your partner bids 2 Clubs, which shows the 5 card major is hearts, with 12-14 points. You jump to 4NT, which is 3014 RKCB in Hearts. Partner responds 5 Hearts. What now? (Your bidding must vindicate the dubious jump to 4NT, as there were other options)

SECTION B - DEFENCE

Question (and Board) 4:

You hold:

AQ
3
QJT9876
J86

Playing Interchange, your partner (West) opens 2 Diamonds, which shows 5-4-4 distribution. RHO passes, and you bid 2 Hearts as a relay. South doubles this to show hearts. If your partner passes, this shows the void is in a major, but the 5 card suit isn't, and a double shows the same explanation if you change the word "major" to "minor". Partner does neither, opting to bid 3 Clubs, which is the 5 card suit. North overcalls 3 Hearts. You Double this, and all pass. Defeating this contract shouldn't be difficult - but it is possible there is a vulnerable game for EW.

Plan the Defence.

Question 5:

You hold:

K973
QT5
J86
A98

This time, your opponents are playing modern standard Acol. Your LHO opens 1 Spade, and RHO responds 1NT, which is passed. What do you lead?

Question 6:

You hold:

653
843
AK842
Q6

Playing modern standard 15-17 Acol, your LHO opens 1 Heart, partner passes, your RHO responds 1NT which is left.

You lead the 4 of diamonds, hoping that both your opponents have a maximum of three diamonds so that you get at least 4 diamond tricks. Dummy is:

KJT4
JT76
53
AK9

Partner plays the ten, and this is beaten by the Queen. RHO cashes the Ace of spades, drawing your three, dummy's four and partner's two. Declarer continues with the 9, you play low, there is the forced overtake-finesse with the ten, and partner wins with the queen. Partner returns a diamond through Declarer's 9, you rise with the Ace and cash the King. A small club is discarded from dummy, and unfortunately the 6 comes from Declarer, partner discarding the 7 of spades, which seems to be just discarding a loser rather than any kind of signal.

Plan the rest of the defence.

Question 7:

You hold:

A97
Q8632
J52
Q7

RHO opens a 17-19 1NT, and gets a Puppet Stayman 2 Clubs in response. RHO bids 2 Diamonds (showing a 4 card major), and LHO responds 2 Hearts (showing 4 spades). RHO bids 2NT, and LHO gives a quantative raise of 4NT. RHO decides on 6NT.

What do you lead? Fully justify your answer.

SECTION C - Declarer Play

Yup, you guessed it - Major Games.

Question 8:

KJ75
KT7
KJ4
T82

A3
Q9432
6
A9765

4 Hearts by South, Queen of Clubs lead. Plan the play.

Question 9:

Bidding: 1 Spade by South (playing 5 card majors), double by West, 3 spades by North, pass by East, 4 Spades by South, all pass. Jack of Clubs lead. Plan the play.

KJ97
AQT6
6432
6

QT653
4
AKT9
A53

ROUND 4 RESULTS AND ANSWERS

So, I thought this was maybe the hardest round yet, and for the mostpart, the scores reflected this. However, we have a major exception - most sincere congratulations to Abigail who has taken first place after a new-record score of 90. This would have made her first equal, but I noticed an arithmetic error to the scores for the last round, where her total was posted as 207 where in fact 135 + 75 actually equals 210. Which means she has reached exactly the 300 mark

ANSWERS

Q1: Pass.
These Interchange players could well end up in a horrible part score you can beat. Partner has shown no interest in bidding so your flat 14 count is simply not good enough to enter the fray.

Q2: Firstly, just because your opponents are playing Interchange, that does not mean 4 Diamonds is an Interchange bid. Some of you may have recognised it for what it was: a Moe-bid. So Double is an option, but you are Red against Green and have been robbed of a Game. Here, this opponent may have unwittingly helped you. If he really has good diamonds 3NT may not make, but even if it does 4 Spades looks like a safe alternative; since you can expect partner to have a minimum of 2 spades and quite possibly an honor.

Q3: Sad to say, I missed seeing the look on my Dad's face when he opened up the Match-Point ticket, having bid and made 7 Hearts, to see that I had beaten it with 7NT. From the question position I bid 5NT, and got a response of 6 Diamonds, showing the Diamond King. Excellent. 7 Hearts looks like a laydown, but 7NT is a good percentage too. You should have 5 Hearts, have at least 1 stop in spades, at least 2 in Clubs, and the diamonds are well above 60% for 6 tricks, which brings you to 14. I went the extra mile to get an outright top and it worked.

Q4: You should be able to work out that partner has 5 Clubs, no diamonds, and 4-4 in the majors. So, lead any diamond that signals for a spade return and watch it get ruffed. 3 diamonds appears in dummy and the King of spades doesn't. Partner will return a spade as instructed and you can win with the queen (or Ace if King appeared) and return another diamond. Partner ruffs and returns a spade, before you give him another ruff. Partner could return a spade for you to ruff, or cash a Club and his King of spades (turns out he actually has it, but even if he didn't he could give you a ruff). That will be more than enough compensation if you can make a Game.

Q5: You obviously need help from partner on this, so are looking for him to have points. You're not going to lead 4th highest, as the only 4 card suit you have has been bid. However, LHO doesn't have more than 3 hearts and there is a chance the same goes for RHO. So a heart lead looks in order. Small preserving QT is the answer, although either of the other two will hopefully work as well on most possible deals.

Q6: Unless Declarer has made an underbid, you can place AK of hearts with partner. Declarer has played 6 points and you know he has the Jack of Diamonds. This also means he has 7 tricks - but no way to get his Jack of Diamonds unless you are silly enough to lead one. So you won't play a red suit - that AK of hearts can be used as stops if Declarer has the Queen of hearts (and he has). The only other possible source of tricks is clubs. Play the QUEEN, so that if partner has the Jack he will be able to see the plan. When he gets in, he will knock out the other club and take them off thereafter.

Q7: You can guess this is a pushy Slam, based on the bidding and your 9 points. Partner cannot be expected to have any. Normally, you would lead Ace against a Slam - but not off a spade holding like that. Since you don't expect partner to have any points, that means the opps have K, Q and Jack. Aces are there for beating honors so don't lead it. Nor will you lead a heart - they seem to have a limited amount of tricks there and your queen is well guarded. For the same reason (that you have a queen in it) you will not lead clubs - Declarer may finesse and lose. That only leaves a diamond - a small and inconspicuous one - take your pick between third highest or MUD.

Q8: A nightmare hand. OK, first thing's first: win the trick and cash Ace of spades, before taking the spade finesse. You need it to win, before you cash the King and pitch a diamond. Otherwise the defence have 4 top tricks. Now, how to play the hearts for one loser? You would only exit a club now if you think the opps are fish; really you have a percentage line to take matters into your own hands. Play a small heart and when small appears from RHO rise with the Queen. You can't afford a lower finesse. If it wins, you place the Ace on your right so will play up to the ten. If it loses, you will probably try a spot of card reading but if all else fails, you place the Jack with LHO (as otherwise you've taken the wrong line already; a good idea is not to second-guess yourself unless you have strong evidence for it) and finesse.

Q9: Another nightmare. The point about this is that it looks like 4 will make and you will only get a good score if you can take 11. Win the club lead and ruff a club SMALL. Then test the spades. If they break you will have no problem at least trying to make 11 but otherwise you have the problem of preserving 10 whilst chasing 11. You always have a reasonable heart hook if you want it and you will have to play the diamonds carefully too - probably by cashing one and then playing through RHO.

Well done to all who entered; Round 5 coming soon

ROUND 5

The format for all of these questions is teams. I'm going on holiday on the 20th, so in order to get Round 6 posted and Round 5 finished before then, the deadline for this one is Wednesday 17th July. Good luck to all who enter

SECTION A - BIDDING

QUESTION 1

You hold:

53
AQ9
AQT96
AQJ

Playing Standard Acol (15-17NT) You open 1 Diamond, and partner responds 1 Heart. The opponents don't interfere. What is your rebid and why?

QUESTION 2

Red against Green, you hold:

AT
K82
A73
AKJ74

Your RHO, Jim Hay, opens a weak 2 spades. You double this, and your LHO, Jun Pinder, raises to 3 Spades. Partner passes and so does Mr. Hay. What do you do here?

QUESTION 3

This was an actual deal. You hold:

---
98765432
---
86532

Partner opens a Schenken 2 Clubs, and you respond 2 Diamonds. (No aces). LHO competes with 2 spades. Partner bids 3 spades, which shows 5 hearts and 5 of a minor suit. RHO bids 4 spades. What do you do in this situation and why?

SECTION B - DEFENCE

QUESTION 4

The correct defence here was missed at both tables in a Camrose match.

You hold:

J8
AQT652
AQ
T86

You open 1 Heart, playing 5 card majors. LHO and partner pass; RHO doubles. His partner responds 1NT to this and RHO responds 2 Hearts, a forcing bid. You and partner do not intervene as LHO bids 3 Clubs, RHO bids 3 spades, and LHO raises to 4 spades, which becomes the contract.

What do you lead? (Plan the defence)

QUESTION 5

The bidding has gone:

You hold:

K93
Q7
T92
K8643

Partner leads the Ace of Clubs, and dummy is:

T7652
A65
K875
5

So, the 5 is played from dummy and you follow with the 6 and Declarer plays the 7. Partner switches to the 4 of Hearts, dummy plays the 5 and your queen wins, Declarer playing the 3.

Plan the rest of the defence.

QUESTION 6

You hold:

AJ98
Q432
K762
5

Bidding from the opps goes 1H-1S-1NT-2D-2H-3NT.
When it comes to you, you double to ask for the first suit bid by dummy to be led. LHO decides to punish you by Redoubling.
3NTXX is the contract.

Partner leads the 3 of spades and dummy is:

QT74
---
Q983
AJT73

Declarer plays the 4 from dummy and you play the 8. Surprisingly, Declarer takes his King. He continues by cashing the King of Clubs, partner playing the 6 and dummy the 3. He plays 8C and partner covers with the 9 so Declarer takes the finesse with the Ten, and you discard the 4 of hearts. Declarer returns to hand by playing the 3 of diamonds to your 6, his Ace and partner's 4. He then plays on clubs again, winning with the 7. So, you will have a discard on this to make, plus on two more clubs in the next two tricks.

For reference the position is:

Plan the rest of the Defence.

QUESTION 7

You hold:

K2
AKQ54
3
87432

RHO opens 3NT. You ask about this and LHO tells you it is a long strong minor with an outside Ace. Feeling this is rather strange and that you may take it down or make 4 Hearts, you double. LHO redoubles. This is passed out.

Before you lead, a rather apprehensive RHO informs you that the 3NT does NOT promise an outside Ace - it means he has NO MORE THAN an outside ace. Feeling hopeful, you lead the King of Hearts, asking partner to give a Count signal.

Dummy is:

A43
J92
---
AKQJT96

It is easy to see why LHO redoubled given his mistake of thinking partner has the Ace of hearts. Since his partner must have diamonds if they are solid 3NTXX will rake in IMPs. However, as it is, Declarer has to make do playing low from dummy, partner plays the Ten to show an even number and Declarer plays the 3.

Here, giving a correct plan for the defence from this point will get you 9 points. To get the tenth, you must also outline how, WITHOUT ANY CHANGE TO YOUR DEFENSIVE PLAN, and without an unreasonable error from Declarer, this contract MIGHT (not will, but might), come 2 off.

SECTION C - DECLARER PLAY

You might be expecting the theme this time is Minor Games. Well, it was going to be, but I decided one of the questions didn't make the grade. So now the theme is 5 level contracts

QUESTION 8

Q2
KT54
K83
Q643

AJ764
---
AQJT96
92

You are South, playing in 5 Diamonds. LHO starts with the King of Clubs. You play low from dummy, RHO plays the 7 and you play the 2. LHO continues with the Ace of clubs to the 4,5,9. LHO switches to the 3 of Hearts.

Plan the play.

QUESTION 9

KQ743
K94
A73
93

A2
QT832
Q8
AKJ8

After being optimistic enough to investigate a Slam, you end up in 5 Hearts.
You get the Ten of Clubs lead. Plan the play.

A point of clarification:

The deadline for Round 5 is the 17th, as I leave on the 20th.
This applies even though the 17th is not actually a Wednesday

ATTENTION

The Deadline for Round 5 has been extended to 10th August for a very good reason.
There was a typo in Question 6.
I am about to change this; it may not change your answer but in case it does I must give ample time to rectify. A weekend longer than my holiday seems to be ample.

ROUND 5 RESULTS AND ANSWERS

Well, this round seemed to throw a few people, and there were one or two tricks and traps. The quiz welcomes Emerald, who has now leapfrogged Frazer and Jun. Let's see if she can catch up to any of the regulars. Also, well done Phil, who, after four rounds of being frustrated by Russell and Abigail, finally managed to top-score a round. Nonetheless, Abigail still leads the way.

ANSWERS

1: 2NT was a popular vote her, and scored well. The other bid is harder to find: 2 Spades would be a reverse forcing partner to bid and has the advantage of not promising cover in every suit. The irony is it is spades you don't have cover in. It also has the plus point of giving partner the option of 2NT. Still, it seems to be a matter of choice.

2: I found the right bid here, but I guess I had the advantage of knowing my opponents. "Punt" is about the best way to sum up 3NT, that doesn't make it wrong. You could double, many people would, but you will probably at best take 100 and may give away a swing every so often. In addition, 3NT will probably make better than 1 hand in 6. So Double if your logic is so solid you can explain it to your team-mates when you are 11/12 IMPs out compared to about 6 if 3NT doesn't make, otherwise cross your fingers and punt.

3: Okay, so you have all the hearts - it is just a question of how many losers you have. Specifically, you are interested in partner's Club holding. It looks like the opponents have most of the spades, and you know 10 of the 23+ points are in hearts. That leaves 13. The question is: Does partner have a stop in Clubs? You will be very unlucky if he has any worse than a second round control and 3 other tricks. So 6 seems on. Now - jump straight there or find a forcing bid?
For me, the temptation to bid 5 spades would be too great. Partner will hopefully understand what you mean by this and may show his minor. Otherwise, he may take it as a cue and show his minor. Either way, there is another key thing: if 7 is on, it is not likely you that has to make that judgement. Force partner to 6 because that is odds-on to make; let partner figure out if 7 is there - or at least let partner give you more information so you know. It's a partnership game, after all.

4: It looks like partner has little or no points. In which case, although you want partner to get in to play up to your two AQ holdings, you will have difficulty doing that. The best way to try and find a trick for partner is a ruff. Partner has made no promises in hearts and so the best hope is Ace and another heart. This defence would have defeated the contract and given Scotland some much-needed IMPs. The Scottish pair made 10 tricks in the other room too, but were only in 1 spade. Of course, your heart at trick 2 should encourage a diamond when dummy doesn't have the king.

5: The key here is to knock out entries to dummy before Declarer can establish the spade suit. On the actual deal, my partner was Declarer and had a singleton Ace of spades. Without the heart return, she had enough time to set it up for a brilliant 11 tricks. She can't afford to lose any more and so only has two entries. Sometimes in these questions the simple continuation is best.

6: Yes, Declarer may have misplayed this. That is not your problem. Quite the opposite - you made a dodgy double and it is up to you to take advantage. I even helped further by telling you what Declarer will do for the next two tricks. This may not be the best line - not. your. problem. Declarer will have to apologise to team-mates later. I discarded 2 diamonds and a heart, and on the inevitable diamond exit won and played a high heart. Declarer was stumped. He could let it win, but I would continue hearts and he'd have to let my partner in for the third round, at the same time squeezing himself. Either the diamond queen gets discarded, in which case my partner wins the Jack and then pushes through a spade, or he discards a spade and I have three spade tricks. Or, he can win the heart, and get endplayed in them for the same squeeze. I knew I needed partner to have the hearts for this to work. She did. If she doesn't, I'm screwed anyway.

7: More people fell into the trap than didn't here; for a while I wondered if anyone would get it. You have led the King and seen the Ten - even count. What's the problem? 5 tricks off the top, isn't it? NO, it isn't. What if partner has 4? You have seen what Declarer's singleton is - even if partner chucks his highest cards on your AKQ his original holding of T876 means his 6 will still beat your 4th highest card. So cash your KAQ but DON'T play a 4th heart or partner is stuck. If he has the remaining club he will lead it, and you will get your King of Spades, but nobody said he had the club. So put dummy in with a club yourself at trick 4 - if partner has no clubs he will discard a heart. Declarer can only cash 7 clubs and 1 spade before letting you in with the King of spades and now you can play a heart.

So why might this come 2 off? Well, Declarer's spade holding is QJ. He is in a redoubled contract and his mentality is important. He may hope, after partner discards his last heart, that partner has the King of spades and no more hearts, thus a spade exit would set up 9 tricks. Unfortunately for him, this won't work.

8: Beat the 3 small in case the King gets promoted. You will need to win with a ruff. It is obvious that you need the King of spades onside or this has no hope. Play the 9 of diamonds up to the King, cash the Queen of clubs and discard a spade. Then run the Queen of spades. If it is covered, you will beat it, cash the Jack and then ruff a spade. If not, you will run it, and then finesse, and hope for a follow both times, after which you will ruff a low spade high, draw diamonds and the king will drop under the ace if it hasn't already.

9: You may have looked at this and thought it was very similar to a question in the previous round. It is - but not the same. You win the club as cheaply as possible and play up to the King of hearts. Assume this loses - you will get a diamond back. You will have to win with the ace (king is offside), and play up to your QT holding - but you will cash the Queen. If the Jack doesn't drop, you will flush it out by cashing spades, hoping they are no worse than 4-2. The diamond will go on the third round of spades whether that round wins or loses. An interesting deal in which your only losers are in trumps!

ROUND 6

Format: Teams
Closing Date: 6pm on Sunday the 13th September
Difficulty: I'll let you be the judge of that; good luck!

SECTION A - BIDDING

QUESTION 1

You hold:

AQ4
3
KJ974
KQJ4

Playing 15-17NT with 5 card majors, you open 1 Diamond. Partner responds, 1 Spade, and you jump to 3 Clubs. Partner responds 3 Spades. What do you bid now?

QUESTION 2

You hold:

973
62
T98765
74

Partner opens 2NT, RHO passes. What do you bid?

QUESTION 3

You hold:

AJ6
Q986
A
AKJ97

Playing 15-17NT with 5 card majors, you open 1 Club. Partner responds 1 Heart, and you force with 3 Hearts. Partner says 4 Hearts, which means no 1st round controls in any of the non-heart suits. What do you do now? (If you bid Keycard, it's 1430)

SECTION B - DEFENCE

QUESTION 4

You hold:

KQ
KT63
976432
7

What do you lead against 6 Hearts? (If you want the bidding, get in touch and ask for it as this is a hand I played on BBO and I'll have to try and look it up; mark my words it's not significant)

QUESTION 5

You hold:

AJT
J765
72
K654

LHO opens 1 Diamond, RHO responds 1 Heart, LHO jumps to 2NT and RHO raises to 3NT. Partner leads the King of Spades; here is dummy:

984
KT84
K53
987

By the way, King usually asks for Standard Count in your methods.
Plan the Defence.

QUESTION 6

You hold:

J32
A5
AJT62
642

RHO opens 1 Spade. You smoothly pass, and LHO calls 2 Diamonds. RHO bids 2 Hearts and LHO bids diamonds again. RHO signs off in 3NT. What do you lead?

QUESTION 7

You hold:

J62
94
KT753
AQ3

Against 2 Hearts, you lead the 5 of Diamonds. Dummy is:

K83
KJ8
962
7542

The 2 is played from dummy; partner plays the queen, beaten by Declarer's Ace. Declarer cashes the Ace of hearts to the 4, 8, 6 and then plays the 2 of hearts up to the Jack for a finesse that loses. Partner returns the 4 of diamonds and Jack comes from Declarer. Plan the Defence.

SECTION C - Declarer Play

What is the theme this time? Well, slams was the first topic and part scores the 2nd - this time it is one of each

QUESTION 8

T63
KT2
642
JT43

AK
AJ953
QT85
75

Against your contract of 2 Hearts, West leads the King of Diamonds. You play the 2 from dummy and RHO plays the Jack - Standard Count. You play the 5 and LHO continues with the Ace to the 4, 9, 8. He then plays the 3 to dummy's 6, East ruffs with the 8 of Hearts, and you play your Ten. East cashes the Ace of clubs to the 7, 8 and 3, and plays the 2 of clubs to your 5, West's queen and dummy's 4. West plays the 7 of diamonds.

How to you play from here?

QUESTION 9

AK8
AJ862
54
AT6

QT765
Q5
AK
QJ82

6 Spades by South, Jack of Diamonds lead. Plan the play.

Your answer to question 3 isnt very convincing, you will win the hand if you get to play in hearts because how many tricks do you think you are taking against 6 spades? This looks like a hand where 6s and 6h are very likely to both be making. Vs good players you should bid 6h immeadeately because they are much less likely to sac against a punt than if you look like you know what their doing, however i feel that 6s is nearly inevitable, and would take the push to 7h on the ground that if i can get out for -200 on a freak bd i will be lucky. I have no wish to defend 6s.

You could also slow play this. Start with 5h and raise your self over 5s to 6h - then they might think that you are saccing rather than bidding to make. If you are allowed to play in 5h that will be a win, since your teammates will bring back 5s= 6s= or 7h-1. (unless the gtrand is making - but its more important to be allowed to play in hearts than anything else).

To some extent you ahve to play your opposisition on this board. You know that you have no defense to spades, but they might not appreciate the power of their hands.

how many rounds were you planning on doing? just out of interest..

Hmmm... I think I did say.

I plan to do 10 rounds; you can get a nice round score out of a possible 1000 You could still pick up half the marks if you ace the remaining rounds

ROUND 6 RESULTS & ANSWERS (finally!)

At long last, it is time to post the answers and get this round done and dusted. I couldn't wait on those who got extensions forever. So here goes.

Abigail, our leader, takes the plaudits once again with a new record-high score of 91. Still, I don't hear anyone complaining I'm making this too easy, do I? Russell scored second highest and is still in with a chance in 2nd place, as is Phil who answered well to some demanding questions. I still view this as a 3 horse race. Perhaps Julie or someone else could make a late dash for the post?

ANSWERS

1: You have made a Game-Forcing bid and you are currently below Game so in this situation you should... pass. Let's not forget that partner has only bid so far because (s)he was forced to. All you know is that partner has spades and 6 points - partner had forcing bids of his/her own and would use them if holding a hand that required it.

2: Pass. Are you really interested in Game in diamonds? No. 2NT, if making, will score better than 3 Diamonds even if you have a way of signing off in that. What about 3NT? Perhaps you think your diamond suit, whilst lacking in honours, is a source of tricks? Well, possibly. But entering dummy once the suit is established doesn't look easy.

3: Can you construct a hand partner could reasonably hold where slam will make? Yes? Okay then, 4NT is forgivable. But you better be ready to pass 5 of a minor, and take the heat if 6 fails. if partner holds AK of hearts he may hold nothing else. That's a lot of missing values, and partner knows you have slam interest and chose to ignore this. Occasionally you will miss a slam. More often you can hope to gain IMPs against aggressive counterparts.

4: King of Spades. Next! Seriously, it is not a trick question. Probably everyone else holds more than 2 spades and you almost certainly have a trump trick, so set up your QS and wait for the contract to come down. Why lead a club, looking for a ruff, with a guaranteed trump trick?

5: Ace of spades. Next! I mean, partner should have the Queen for his lead. Unblock and return the ten, so partner will duck and then overtake the Jack. And it is the Jack-pot whenever partner has 5.

6: On this hand, it was my partner on lead. I can't remember the hand but here's the salient point: I held Kx in diamonds. Partner led a small diamond, dummy went down and things looked good - especially when I played the King and the queen dropped! How did this happen? Partner was smart enough to realise her LHO was only bidding diamonds to discourage her from leading them. We took 5 diamonds off the top. No other lead looks that good anyway.

7: This isn't particularly hard; you can get it right with simple logic. You win with the King of Diamonds and you need to preserve your two club tricks and find 2 more. A diamond cash is 1 (if Declarer is out it doesn't cost anything), and then a spade switch is the safe bet. You may work out that partner has the ten of hearts and thus you can give him a diamond ruff - but by now Declarer is definitely out and will discard a club, thus you only get one. This is the play that guarantees yiou keep 6 tricks if you ever had them. If Declarer is out of diamonds, partner still has possible holdings where this contract will come down.

8: Ruffing with the 2 is exactly the same percentage as running to the queen - 0%. It only wins that trick when RHO has no more hearts, in which case, LHO has 4 and will get the queen. If you ruff with the Ten, you are hoping LHO has the Queen, and not just that, but Queen doubleton as it needs to drop now - unless you take Phil's suggestion of ruffing with the ten, ruffing a club small and running the Jack. Since a priori this is a guess, what do the odds favour? Well, when I first analysed this position I put ruffing with the king and running the ten as exactly 50% - the highest percentage. Admittedly, I had overlooked Phil's line. However, Abigail points out that ruffing with the king is closer to 100%. LHO is likely to hold Queen of clubs and has already shown ten points. He probably doesn't hold any more. The odds for a guess shift significantly to ruffing with the King and running the ten, and that is how they stay.

9: Okay, there are two Kings to find out about. First thing's first - get in and draw trumps. They break 1-4 but that's Okay, you can pick up that holding with the obvious line. You finish in hand, and now run the Queen of hearts. If LHO covers, or if it holds, you are home and dry if you switch attanetion to clubs and knock out the king for 5 spades, 2 hearts, 2 diamonds and 3 clubs. If it loses you can hope for a heart break and if all else fails there's still the club finesse. The best way to combine chances.

No complaining about marks/answers please; I may have been unclear and I may have been harsh with some marks but then compensated with lenience elsewhere - I wrote this very late @ night!

ROUND 7

Format: Teams
Closing Date: 25th November
Sometimes I get asked about the quality of the players at the table in these questions. Assume that partner and the opponents bid and play like good players, unless you are told otherwise or the evidence clearly indicates otherwise. ie expect partner to have his bid, and that he will understand your signals etc.

SECTION A - BIDDING

QUESTION 1

Some say the bidding questions in this quiz aren't clear cut. Try this one for size.

All Red, You hold: 13 hearts.

Partner is Dealer, and opens 2 Clubs. RHO bids 7 Diamonds. Your bid?

QUESTION 2

Green v Red, You hold:

AK97
AKJ752
A
J6

LHO is dealer, and playing standard Acol with a 15-17NT, opens 1 Heart, passed around to you. Your bid?

QUESTION 3

All Red, you hold:

7
KQJT63
K954
53

Partner opens 1 spade, and your hand is certainly good enough to count as 10+. Therefore you respond 2 Hearts. Partner says 2NT, showing 12-14 balanced, and 5 spades. Your bid?

SECTION B - DEFENCE

Owing to the amount of questions I have available, the bidding section has always had 3 questions, whereas the Defence/Declarer sections have either had 4 or 2. From here on in, I am aiming for a 3-3-3 division. Here goes.

QUESTION 4

You hold:

Q7642
J84
A54
Q7

You are East. North opens 1 Diamond, South responds 1 Heart, North jumps to 3 Diamonds and South bids 4 Clubs. North chooses 4 Hearts, leaving South playing the contract. Partner decides to play through dummy's suit, leading the curse of Scotland, the nine of diamonds. Dummy is:

K5
AK9
KQJ876
J3

Declarer calls for the Jack. Plan the defence.

QUESTION 5

You hold:

A2
J84
AJ7
KQT83

You open a 14-16 1NT but LHO overcalls 2 Hearts and this is passed all around. Partner leads the 4 of clubs, and dummy is:

Q954
6
Q86543
AJ

Declarer plays the Jack from dummy. Plan the Defence.

QUESTION 6

Game All, You hold:

AJT3
Q8
A92
A865

RHO opens 1 Heart, which you Double. LHO bids 2 Hearts, and your partner bids 3 Clubs. RHO jumps to 4 Hearts, which buys the contract. You lead the Ace of clubs, and this is what goes on table:

874
J962
Q754
K7

The Ace nets the 7 from dummy, 2 from partner (low card, but not a signal), and the 3 from Declarer. Plan the defence.

SECTION C - DECLARER PLAY

Another 3NT-themed round. Nice questions too. At least I think so

QUESTION 7

764
K5
752
AQJ82

AQ2
AT74
AK83
43

You are South here in 3NT (bidding was negligible - opponents didn't bid). LHO leads 3 of spades (standard leads) to the King from RHO. Plan the play.

QUESTION 8

K952
KJT
J983
QJ

A74
542
AT4
AK92

3NT by South, Ten of spades lead. Plan the play.

QUESTION 9

875
Q93
AT2
KQ95

K4
AKJ5
QJ76
J83

3NT by South, 2 of spades lead. (Standard; 4th highest). Plan the play.