Deal 63
 
 
 
♠ ?
?
?
♣ ?
 
 WEST  NORTH  EAST  SOUTH
 BID 
 
 
 

You are South and it is your bid.
Decide what you would say, then click on BID .
   
  ♠ 5
A 3
K Q 9 6 5 3 2
♣ A Q 4
 

 
Deal 63
 
 
 
♠ ?
?
?
♣ ?
 
 WEST  NORTH  EAST  SOUTH
1
pass1pass BID 
 
 

You open 1 and partner responds 1.

What is your next bid?
   
  ♠ 5
A 3
K Q 9 6 5 3 2
♣ A Q 4
 

 
Deal 63
 
 
 
♠ ?
?
?
♣ ?
 
 WEST  NORTH  EAST  SOUTH
1
pass1pass3
pass4pass BID 
 

With 18 points you are too strong to rebid 2 but just right to jump to 3. Now partner raises to 4.

What is your next bid?
   
  ♠ 5
A 3
K Q 9 6 5 3 2
♣ A Q 4
 

 
Deal 63
 
 
 
♠ Q 8 4 2
Q 9 5 2
A 7 4
♣ 8 6
 
 WEST  NORTH  EAST  SOUTH
1
pass1pass3
pass4pass5
passpasspass

Your jump showed 16 - 18 points and partner invited you based on that range. He wants you to bid game if you are at the top. With 18 points you bid 5.

South plays 5. West leads the ♣J and East plays the ♣K.

Make a Plan, then click NEXT .
   
  ♠ 5
A 3
K Q 9 6 5 3 2
♣ A Q 4
 

 
Deal 63
 
 
 
♠ Q 8 4 2
Q 9 5 2
A 7 4
♣ 8 6
  South plays 5. West leads the ♣J and East plays the ♣K.

Losers: ♠ 1 : 1 : 0 : ♣ 1 : Total = 3

The ♣ lead was pleasant, it gave you a free finesse. But it didn't really give you a winner since you would have ended up taking the finesse yourself even without the lead. Still, it clears the position somewhat.

You can't get rid of the ♠ loser, nor can you get rid of the loser. By process of elimination then, you must get rid of the ♣ loser. You could ruff it in dummy, but the play to the first trick makes you a little worried about an over-ruff by East. You could ruff with the A, but then if someone started with J 10 8 you'd lose a natural trick.

First test the s by playing the K. West shows out and there goes your hope of ruffing the ♣ with the A. You have one more possibility to try. Play the A, then a small toward the Q. If West holds the K dummy's Q will be promoted to a winner that you can dump your ♣ loser on.

Click NEXT to see the full deal.
   
  ♠ 5
A 3
K Q 9 6 5 3 2
♣ A Q 4
 

 
Deal 63
 
 
 
♠ Q 8 4 2
Q 9 5 2
A 7 4
♣ 8 6
  As you can see, if you ruffed the third ♣ with a low East would over-ruff.

If you ruffed the third ♣ with the A East would win a trump trick.

So you couldn't ruff the third ♣ at all, you had to discard it on something. And the only "something" that dummy had was the Q.

 Deal 64 
♠ K 10 7 3
K 8 4
--
♣ J 10 9 7 3 2
♠ A J 9 6
J 10 7 6
J 10 8
♣ K 5
  ♠ 5
A 3
K Q 9 6 5 3 2
♣ A Q 4