What was going on here? I was sitting North-South with Paul Laliberte and east was dealing, with East-West vulnerable:
NORTH (me)
♠️8 4
♥️ 6 4 3
♦️ 3
♣️ A 10 9 8 4 3 2
WEST East
♠️ K 6 3 2 ♠️ Q J 9 5
♥️ 9 8 ♥️ 10 5 2
♦️ A 7 4 ♦️ K 10 9 2
♣️ K J 6 5 ♣️ Q 7
SOUTH (Paul)
♠️ A 10 7
♥️ A K Q J 7
♦️ Q J 8 6 5
♣️—
The bidding proceeded as follows:
East South West North
Pass 1♥️ Pass 2♥️
Pass 3♦️ Pass 4♥️
All Pass
Opening lead: ♣️5
What did Paul’s 3♦️mean? And how could I bid 4♥️ with only four high-card points?
The 3♦️ bid was a “help-suit game try.” Paul needed help in diamonds, and he wanted to know how many diamond losers I held.
My instructions: with zero or one diamond loser, even with six HCP, bid 4♥️ . With two diamond losers, evaluate your hand. Typically, if you have eight or nine HCP, bid game. With three losers in diamonds, retreat to 3♥️ even with eight or nine HCP. So my task was simple with one diamond loser — even with four HCP — bid 4♥️ .
West led a club to the ace, Paul discarding a spade. Declarer now led the ♦️3 to set up ruffs. West won with the ace and made a big mistake. Rather than lead a heart to limit ruffs, west led a spade to the ace.
All set up, Paul conducted a six-trick crossruff, ruffing three diamonds and three clubs, before crashing the ♥️A and ♥️K for 10 tricks. Game bid and made with 21 HCP.
Learn about help-suit game tries. They can only benefit you.
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