Bridge in Oz

Vulnerable vs. not, one pass to you, you hold:

♠ QJ109
♥ QJ8
♦ KQ965
♣ 7

Do you open?

In close situations I like to count losers, meaning missing Aces, Kings and Queens. You have two in spades, two in hearts, one in diamonds and one in clubs. In general six losers are a good opening, eight are not and seven are marginal.

1♦ it is then. With opponents passing partner responds 2♣, game forcing.

Does a reverse here show extra values? Opinions vary on this, and you are in dangerous territory if you and your partner do not have an agreement on it. I bid 2♦ and then it went 2♠, 3♠ and partner Blackwooded us into 6♠.

Now let's teleport you into partner's seat, holding this:

♠ AK75
♥ A52
♦ 4
♣ AQ843

The lead is a small heart; Q, K, A. What's your plan?

Cross-ruffing looks like your only reasonable plan. Drive out the ♦A, cash your winners outside of trumps, ruff everything else. So play a diamond to dummy.

RHO wins the Ace and somehow finds the killer trump return. Now what?

You're not getting close to 12 tricks without those ruffs. The only chance now is a winning club finesse. It feels wrong to risk going down at trick four, but you have to try it. So win in the dummy and play a club to the Queen. It works! Club Ace, heart to the Jack, ♦Q pitching the heart, then ruffs. Making six.