My Small Bliss

There are no special deals in this week. I haven't meant to post a blog in this week, but this may be still worth to be recorded. Board 7 Vul: Both Dealer: South  South     West       North     East  Pass        1♣             X           Pass   1♡         Pass         1♠         2♣   X            Pass         2♠         Pass  4♠           AP Lead: ♡T Trick     North      East     South     West    1           ♡5         ♡T        ♡2           ♡A    2           ♡8         ♣ 3       ♡6           ♡K    3           ♡J          ♠ 9       ♡7           ♡3    4                            ? You lead ♡T and your partner wins with the ♡A, playing ♡K and ♡3 orderly. You ruff in the third trick. And now, what's your plan? North bids 2♠ rather than 2♡, which indicates that he may have 3♡ only. So your partner holds 4♡. The order that your partner plays in heart is the key to the problem.  If he hopes you return ♣ strongly, he will play K,A,3 in turn. In other wo

This is the last deal in our weekly online training on 12th Mar, 2018. Board 16 Vul: E-W Dealer: West North      East     South     West                                               1♢  Pass        2NT      AP Lead: ♠6 Trick     North     East     South     West    1         ♠Q         ♠K        ♠6           ♠2    2         ♢5          ♢2        ♢4           ♢A    3         ♢6          ♢3        ♠3           ♢K    4         ♢Q         ♢8        ♡3           ♢9    5           ? Lead: ♠6 The declarer wins with the ♠K and runs two top ♢. You win with the ♢Q in the third round. Your partner discards ♠3 and ♡3. And now what's your plan? The declarer could win 4♢, 2♠ and 2♡. ♠3 shows that your partner holds 5♠. Assuming that you return ♠ now, even if your partner holds ♠A, the declarer could return back twice easily to finesse ♡. In other words, discarding small ♡ and ♠ indicate that your partner doesn't hope you to return ♠. So shifting to ♣ is the only c

This deal happened in our weekly online training on 12th Mar, 2018. Board 13 Vul: Both Dealer: North North     East     South     West   1♢        Pass       3♣*        Pass  3NT      Pass       Pass       Pass 3♣: Inv Lead: ♠4 Trick     North  East  South  West   1            ♠K      ♠4      ♠2       ♠J   2           ♣2      ♣6      ♣J        ♣K   3                                             ? North accepts the invitation from South. The declarer wins with the ♠K and play a small club to dummy's ♣J. You win with the ♣K. And now what's your plan?  Obviously, South bids a bit more. 1NT might be a normal bidding, because ♣ is not strong enough to bear the risk of 3NT in such a vulnerability. Fourth highest leading is applied in our defense. ♠4 indicates that partner holds 4♠ only. Returning ♠ is hopeless. To defeat the contract, partner must hold 10 points at least. Assuming that the declarer holds 16 points, the contract is frigid

HAHAHA, I AM BACK ! After one straight month of Chinese New Year and plenty of deadlines, I'm glad to say I'm still alive. This bidding happened in our first weekly online training in the new year. Let's see the bidding first. Board 5 Vul: N-S Dealer: North West                         North     East     South     West ♠ AKJ3                                1♡        2NT*     Pass        3♡ ♡ T4                                   Pass       4♣        Pass        4♠ ♢ Q92                               Pass       4NT        ♣ AKT2                           2NT: Michaels Cue Bid, 2 minor suits What does 4NT mean? Obviously, 4♠ is a cue bidding which indicates the trump is ♣. Is that Roman Key Card Blackwood as we all know? East could bid 3NT instead of 4♣, if he holds either ♡AX or ♡KX. If the cards of East are not too bad, he will bid 3♠ rather than 4♣ and let partner to choose a minor suit as the trump. 4♣ shows that East doesn't hold many points, just