Tricolore

Hi all

Things are not bad here. We made a short trip to Colorado last weekend. Nothing beats fresh powder! And this time I didn’t even break a bone. This weekend I have to sacrifice a Trentemøller session in SF to Jerry Seinfeld in Oakland. Not the easiest of choices, if I may say so.

Here’s a challenging defensive problem from the GNT Open.

West
North
East
South
 
pass
pass
2
pass
21
pass
2NT2
pass
33
pass
3
pass
3NT
a.p.
 
  1. Waiting
  2. 22-23 hcp, balanced
  3. Puppet Stayman

You sit East and await partner’s lead. The 3 (attitude leads) hits the table and this is what you see:

North
93
KT62
97653
K3
 
East
5
J985
JT82
9842
 

A quick analysis shows that partner holds roughly ten hcp, a five card suit and probably has led from a 3 card suit. Declarer goes into the tank for a full five minutes before calling small in dummy. You add the 8 to the pot and declarer wins with the Ace.

Now declarer plays Ace and Queen, partner winning the latter one with the King. What do you discard?

Before answering that question try to visualize declarer’s hand. If declarer holds three that suit looks far more attractive to set up than those . So declarer holds only two. Well, that paints declarer’s hand almost perfectly: 5-2-2-4.

You can hold on to both round suits now and pitch a . Declarer doesn’t have the entries to set up and cash dummy’s .

In the end declarer will end up one trick short because nothing works out.

West Dealer
NS Vul
North
93
KT62
97653
K3
West
KT862
Q73
Q4
QT5
East
5
J985
JT82
9842
South
AQJ74
A4
AK
AJ76

So where did declarer do wrong?

If he had unblocked Ace & King before touching the , East would have been caught in a genuine three-suited squeeze. But declarer still needs to read the complicated position correctly.

2 thoughts on “Tricolore”

  1. “A quick analysis shows that partner holds roughly ten hcp, a five card suit and probably has led from a 3 card suit. Declarer goes into the tank for a full five minutes before calling small in dummy. You add the 8 to the pot and declarer wins with the Ace.”

    Umm … since opponents bid spades, why would the author think partner had 5???

  2. 2NT showed a balanced(ish) hand, and over the Puppet Stayman inquiry opener showed a 5 crd suit. Combine that with dummy’s and East’s holding, ergo West holds 5 too.

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