There were so many interesting deals in the Labor Day (2008) regional in Atlanta, that I needed to split them into two articles. Last month, we looked at the "fun/easy" deals. This month, the deals are more lesson-oriented and geared towards my advanced readers. We'll go from easiest to hardest, starting with:

1. I always enjoy giving my readers a chance to go right when a major star went wrong. Sitting North, you hold:

   10 8 7 4
   8 5
   7
   A Q J 10 9 2
   

   You are in fourth chair, both sides vulnerable in a knockout team match. LHO opens 1, partner overcalls 1, and RHO bids 2. And you?

   Opposite as little as AQJxx and out, you'd have play for game. Accordingly, I see no need to be delicate. I would drive to 4, especially vulnerable at IMPs. Some players have a 4 jump available as fit-showing. Also possible is a jump to 4 (the opponents' suit) to show a splinter raise. Maybe best is to simply take up a lot of room and bid a direct 4. Let's say you try that bid and everyone passes.

   It's hard to make an error in turning the dummy, so let's hop across the table to play the hand.

   Vul: Dlr:	10 8 7 2 8 5 7 A Q J 10 9 2
   	A K J 9 6 10 9 6 9 8 6 3 6

   West's lead of the K holds, and he shifts to the 2. East wins the A and then the Q. East thinks a while and then lays down the A which you ruff in dummy. You need the rest. How do you take 10 tricks?

   The first hurdle is the trump suit. There is no obvious reason to play opener for queen-third in spades, so you should play the suit from the top. You play a spade to the ace and LHO drops the queen. That's one hurdle cleared. Now what?

   You don't have enough trumps in dummy to ruff all of your red-suit losers, so you will need to develop the clubs (which you can play in several ways). It appears trumps are 3-1. At the table, the expert decided the opener rated to have the K. Declarer played a club to the ace, then ran the Q for a ruffing finesse. He was down one when West produced the K.

   It appears from the early play that RHO started with 3 spades, 5 hearts and 2 diamonds (West, who bid 2, seems to have honor-third in hearts and probably 6 diamonds). That means East has room for at most 3 clubs. So, better than a ruffing finesse is to play a club to the ace, then ruff a club. Go back to dummy with a spade to the eight and ruff another club. The suit splits 3-3 and you still have another trump entry in dummy to run the suit.

   Vul: None Dlr: East	10 8 7 2 8 5 7 A Q J 10 9 2
   Q J 7 3 K Q J 10 5 4 K 8 5		5 4 3 A K Q 4 2 A 2 7 4 3
   	A K J 9 6 10 9 6 9 8 6 3 6

   The key was at trick five. After the defense took the first three tricks (East cleverly concealing the K to deceive you about the location of the K), East tapped the dummy with a diamond. You played to the A and still had dummy's 10 and 8 as entries. By playing the A and ruffing two clubs you make 620 as opposed to minus 100 if you took a ruffing club finesse (which could never gain). You had to realize that East couldn't hold four clubs (along with 3 spades, 5 hearts and 2 diamonds).

2. 9 7
   A Q 4
   9 7
   A K Q 7 5 2
   

   Baseball fans are used to hearing the announcer say that in every game played, there is something new. It seems the same way at bridge. Not only is every deal a new adventure, but I often see new themes, such as on this deal from the 2008 Atlanta regional. You hold these South cards and open 1 with both vulnerable. LHO bids 2 to show both majors. Partner doubles. The typical meaning of a double of a Michaels cue-bid is "penalty-oriented." Partner is out for blood. RHO doesn't choose a major. He bids 2. What's that? I like to play it as natural—RHO has his own diamond suit and doesn't wish to choose a major. (Reminder: Discuss with your partner what not only 2 means, but what would redouble and pass mean after the double of the Michaels cue-bid). Anyway, you now have a problem.

   You could pass, which should be forcing. Partner is not allowed to double and then sell out on the two level. You could bid 3, but your hand might be too strong—there is no reason for 3 to be forcing. You could also bid 2 (LHO's suit) to show something there. This could be a good "bidding-panel" problem—in that there are arguments for and against all of those calls. I'll spare you the agony and tell you that you end up in 7!

   LHO leads the J and you see:

   Vul: Dlr:	A K Q 3 K 6 3 A 5 4 10 9 4
   	9 7 A Q 4 9 7 A K Q 7 5 2

   You are in an excellent contract. I would have two initial thoughts. One, I can claim if clubs aren't 4-0 (6 clubs, 1 diamond, 3 hearts, 3 spades for 13 top tricks). Two, what the heck was West doing making a vulnerable Michaels bid, with so few highcard points?

   West must have extreme distribution—not your ordinary 5-5 hand. Should you assume he is void in clubs and run the 10 on the first round?

   No. West could conceivably have a singleton (or doubleton) jack in clubs. There is no reason to risk a first-round club finesse. You can always pick up jack-fourth of clubs onside as long as you are careful. So, how will you be careful?

   You win the A in hand and lay down the club ace. If all follow, you claim. If LHO shows out, as he does in real life, I hope you had the foresight to unblock dummy's 10 or 9 under your own ace. If you played dummy's 4 (seemingly less wasteful) on your A, you are down! Here is the full deal:

   Vul: Dlr:	A K Q 3 K 6 3 A 5 4 10 9 4
   J 10 8 6 5 4 J 10 9 8 7 5 J --		2 2 K Q 10 8 6 3 2 J 8 6 3
   	9 7 A Q 4 9 7 A K Q 7 5 2

   South	West	North	East
   1	2	Double	2...

   Some auction to 7….

   
   

   West (notice he is 6-6, no surprise) led the J. You laid down the A, seeing West show out. Watch what happens if you carelessly followed with dummy's 4 on your ace. You still can finesse against East's J, but your entries are bollixed. You cross to the A to lead the 10. East covers! Ooops! Big trouble.

   You can win and go to the 9 in dummy, but East still has a little trump. How will you draw it? You can't get back to your hand. Try it!

   Now, let's do it the right way. At trick two, play the A, and when West shows out, dump dummy's 10. This can't hurt and it can and does help! Cross in spades and play the 9. East must cover. Now, go to the A and play dummy's last club. East remains with 8 6. You still have a high club and the 7 to finesse, finish drawing trump and then go back to dummy to take all your winners.

   If you don't see it, lay out the cards. It's not every day that you see such an unblocking play, squandering your own good trump spots.

3. Last month, I wrote about a hand where I had egg on my face when declarer opened 2NT with a singleton king. The same week, I fell victim to another such opening, but this time, there was nothing I could have done about it:

   Vul: Both Dlr: South	A J 8 7 6 4 2 8 5 2 8 2 4
   5 3 A Q J 9 3 Q 5 3 Q 9 3		Q 10 9 10 7 6 K 9 J 10 8 7 6
   	K K 4 A J 10 7 6 4 A K 5 2

   Jeff Meckstroth opened the South hand 2NT ! No, it was not unusual for the minors. It was just his idea of how to describe his hand. No, he was not playing with a client and trying to hog the hand. North was some guy named Eric Rodwell. I passed with the West hand and Rodwell transferred into 4, the final contract.

   Not wanting to break any of the side suits, I led a trump. Meckstroth won the K, cashed the A, ruffed a club, and laid down the A to leave the position shown below. He figured the remaining trump was with East (I wouldn't have led a trump from queen-low-low).

   
   

   Vul: Dlr:	J 8 7 6 8 5 2 8 2
   -- A Q J 9 3 Q 5 3 Q		Q 10 7 6 K 9 J 10 8
   	-- K 4 A J 10 7 6 K 2

   Declarer's goal is to set up the diamonds without letting East on lead to play a heart through. At trick five, a low diamond was led from dummy. Had East (Dave Berkowitz) played low, Meckstroth would have put in the 10, losing to the queen. The rest would have been easy (I couldn't attack hearts profitably).

   But, on the diamond from dummy, David rose with the king, and Meckstroth took the ace. He now cashed the other high club, throwing a heart from dummy. A club was ruffed in dummy (I was now out of clubs) for a diamond play. I had to win my queen and help declarer. I could either break hearts, or play a diamond loser while dummy would throw a heart. Either way, declarer had 10 tricks.

   This skillful elimination/avoidance play cost our team a large swing. At the other table, 4 was played by North with a heart lead, and was easily defeated. Well played, Meckstroth!

4. We close with a well-fought battle, but a lost war.

   Vul: Both Dlr: South	J 9 8 7 A 8 5 K 7 6 Q 10 3
   5 J 10 9 3 A 3 A K J 8 6 4		6 3 2 K 7 4 J 9 8 2 7 5 2
   	A K Q 10 4 Q 6 2 Q 10 5 4 9

   My partner, Dave Berkowitz opened the South hand 1. West doubled (maybe you would have overcalled 2). North (yours truly) showed a limit spade raise and South jumped to 4.

   West led a high club and switched to a heart to East's king. Back came another club, ruffed by declarer. The contract depends on the J, and as you can see, it is onside with East. However, when declarer drew two rounds of trumps (ending in dummy), he had a brilliant idea. If West had the J (he rated to for his takeout double), declarer could still make the hand. David ruffed dummy's last club and cashed both hearts ending in dummy, to leave:

   
   

   Vul: Dlr:	9 8 -- K 7 6 --
   -- 10 A 3 K J		6 -- J 9 8 2 --
   	Q -- Q 10 5 4 --

   He had lost two tricks (the club and the heart). He could lose only one diamond trick. We can see that a diamond to the 10 would have worked. But, still under the illusion that LHO held the J, David cleverly led a diamond to his queen! LHO won and was "endplayed." A heart or club would let David throw a low diamond from dummy while ruffing in hand. So, West had to lead a diamond, presumably away from the jack. David was not pleased when East turned up with the J. Still, this "partial strip" was good technique, and on another day, David would have been the hero instead of the goat. Maybe next month.