Contract Bridge

True- or-false quiz Below are six statements of fact or fiction. Decide whether each statement is True or False.

1. You should undertake a grand slam if the only potential loser for your side lies in a suit where you have A-9- 8-7-2 opposite K- 6-5- 4-3.

2. Dummy has K-9- 8-7 of a suit, and you (South) have A- Q- 6. You play the A- Q, West following with the 2- 4 and East the 3-10.

When you next lead the six, West produces the five. The percentage play is to put up dummy’s king.

3. If your right-hand opponent bids One Spade and you overcall with One Diamond, there is no penalty if you change your bid to Two Diamonds to make the bid sufficient.

4. Partner opens One Heart. If you respond Four Hearts, it is a stronger bid than Three Hearts.

5. Dummy has J-10-5 of trump, and you, the declarer, have K-7- 6- 4-3-2.

The best way to try to hold yourself to just one trump loser is to lead the five from dummy, planning to go up with the king.

6. If you and partner bid: 1 ♦♠ - 1 - 1NT-2 ♥ , the Two Heart bid is forcing.

1. True. A grand slam should be bid when the probability of making it exceeds 67%.

When three cards of a suit are missing, they will divide 2-1 78 percent of the time, so the odds favor bidding a grand slam.

2. False. The theory of restricted choice applies to this situation. According to the theory, after the play to the first two tricks, East is almost twice as likely to have been dealt the 10-3 as the J-10-3.

The odds are thus approximately 2-to-1 in favor of finessing the nine.

3. True. But if you make any other sufficient bid including a pass, your partner is barred from bidding for the remainder of the auction.

4. False. Leaping directly to game in hearts shows a distributional hand of nine or fewer points in high cards, excellent trump support (usually five cards or more) and a singleton or a void. Depending on how your partnership plays, the jump to three hearts either shows 11 or 12 points (a limit raise), or 13 more points (forcing to game).

5. True. Percentage-wise, this approach is far better than leading the jack from dummy, planning to finesse against the queen.

6. False. In the given sequence, after a one-notrump rebid by opener, a two-heart bid says you have a weak hand that would like to play in either two spades or two hearts and asks partner to choose between the two suits.

While you could make an agreement with partner to treat two hearts as forcing in this sequence, that is not the majority view.