Multi-2D Hand 1

Board 1 East Deals None Vul	♠ 9 7 5 3 ♥ J ♦ 7 3 2 ♣ A K J 4 2
♠ A K J 10 6 ♥ 9 8 6 4 ♦ J 10 9 ♣ 8	N W E S	♠ 4 ♥ A K Q 10 7 3 ♦ 8 6 5 ♣ 7 6 3
	♠ Q 8 2 ♥ 5 2 ♦ A K Q 4 ♣ Q 10 9 5

West	North	East	South
		2 ♦	Dbl
4 ♥	All pass

4 ♥ by West

Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
1. N	♣ A	3	10	8
2. N	♦ 2	5	Q	9
3. S	♦ A	10	3	6
4. S	♦ K	J	7	8

Down 1 — EW −50

This hand illustrates using double to of a multi-2 ♦ to show a weak balanced hand. On this occasion however west can see a chance for ten tricks and jumps directly to game. The jump to 4 ♥ is pass or correct. However other methods are possible. One is to jump to 4 ♣ to ask partner to transfer you to partner's major. This leaves 4 ♥ and 4 ♠ free for when responder has a their own strong major suit.

The defence is also very interesting here. North will lead a top club - the ace or king whichever is your preference from ace-king. I prefer ace from ace-king rather than the common ace for attitude or king for count. It seems to me to be the wrong way to play bridge - that I can decide whether I want attitude or count before I have even seen the dummy. This hand shows another problem if we were to demand count. When partner plays the ♣ 5 (UDCA) we will not know whether that shows two or four (or even one).

On this hand we see that the best defence is for north to switch at trick two. South can see that a switch might be necessary and should therefore discourage. It is easy for north to work out that a diamond rather than a spade is required. After the diamond switch, how does south determine how many diamonds are cashing or whether we need to switch back to clubs. The answer is that when north switches to diamonds north needs to play a count card - essentially thirds and fifths. When north leads the ♦ 2 south can see that three diamonds are cashing before switching back to clubs in case there is another trick there.