Better Placed

7th September – Board 7. Game All. Dealer South.

Splinter bids are such a good thing and should be a firm fixture in every bridge player’s armoury.

	North: S J 10 6 5 H A 6 D 8 7 6 3 C A 5 2
West: S K 7 4 3 2 H K Q 7 D A K 10 9 C 8		East: S A 9 H 10 8 4 3 2 D Q J 4 C K Q 10
	South: S Q 8 H J 9 5 D 5 2 C J 9 7 6 4 3

West	North	East	South
			No
1S	No	2H	No
4C	N0	4H	End

West’s hand is enormous when his partner responds 2H, showing at least a five-card suit, and a splinter bid of 4C fills the bill exactly, showing heart support for game at least and a shortage in clubs. East’s hand is much better than it might be it is true but that club holding is not what is required opposite a splinter in the suit. Much better to have the ace or ideally no values at all there, so 4H it is. As an aside you can see that if East had the ace of clubs and the jack of hearts then a slam would be an excellent proposition – the same number of points but better placed. In all probability declarer will make ten tricks, losing a club and two hearts but as it happens I can see that if declarer led the ten of hearts from hand and then later finessed against the nine he would restrict his trump losers to just one. It’s only the right thing to do though if you’ve had a peek!