Board 89

Board 89
Opponents vulnerable

♠ K 10 8 7 2 ♥ K J 3 ♦ 10 9 ♣ 9 8 7

Partner passes, and RHO opens one club. I strain to overcall one club with one spade when I'm not vulnerable.  As far as I'm concerned, this hand has extras. I bid one spade. LHO bids two hearts, and partner bids three clubs. I think three clubs should be natural. Three hearts should be the cue-bid. But Jack doesn't agree with me. His footnote calls this a "constructive raise." RHO bids four hearts. I pass, LHO passes, and partner bids four spades. RHO doubles, and LHO leads the four of diamonds.

	NORTH ♠ Q 6 5 3 ♥ 7 6 ♦ A Q J 7 6 5 3 ♣ --
	SOUTH ♠ K 10 8 7 2 ♥ K J 3 ♦ 10 9 ♣ 9 8 7

West	North	East	South
	Pass	1 ♣	1 ♠
2 ♥	3 ♣	4 ♥	Pass
Pass	4 ♠	Double	(All pass)

Over West's two hearts, four diamonds, showing spades and diamonds, looks more descriptive to me than a cue-bid, but apparently Jack doesn't play fit-showing jumps in this auction. Actually, I wouldn't be in this situation, since I would have opened one diamond to begin with.

The diamond lead looks like a singleton. My first guess is that West is 2-5-1-5, which makes East 2-3-3-5. If so, East will have at least 18 high-card points, leaving West with six. Six? West might stretch a little because of his club fit. But that seems like too much of a stretch. Let me try again. If East can't have a balanced hand, what does he have? Could he be 1-3-3-6? It seems unlikely he would double with a singleton spade. I'm having a hard time constructing a layout that makes any sense. But it looks right to play the diamond ace in any event.

Wrong. I play the ace of diamonds, and East ruffs with the four of spades. At least I know everyone's pattern now. West is 0-5-4-4, and East is 4-3-0-6.

East shifts to the ten of hearts. I suspect West has the heart ace. Otherwise, he probably would have led a heart rather than a diamond. I play the jack. West wins with the queen and leads the ace of clubs to tap dummy. I play a low diamond from dummy. East ruffs with the nine of spades and shifts to the nine of hearts. I cover, and West wins with the ace.

West leads the three of clubs, and I ruff with dummy's five. I still have a heart loser and a club loser. I can't ruff them both and still pick up East's trumps. I might as well try for a Throckmorton trump coup. I crossruff to reach this ending with the lead in dummy:

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ Q J 7 ♣ --
	SOUTH ♠ K 10 8 ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ --

I lead the queen of diamonds, which is now good, but East doesn't ruff it. I never knew Throckmorton personally. But rumor has it this always worked for him. I lose the last two tricks for down three, minus 500. As it turns out, my play at trick one was immaterial. I can't do any better by finessing.

	NORTH ♠ Q 6 5 3 ♥ 7 6 ♦ A Q J 7 6 5 3 ♣ --
WEST ♠ -- ♥ A Q 5 4 2 ♦ K 8 4 2 ♣ A J 5 3		EAST ♠ A J 9 4 ♥ 10 9 8 ♦ -- ♣ K Q 10 6 4 2
	SOUTH ♠ K 10 8 7 2 ♥ K J 3 ♦ 10 9 ♣ 9 8 7

This is better than defending four hearts, and much better than defending six clubs. In fact, it's better than defending seven clubs. This board ought to be a pickup.

How should the opponents have handled the auction? Should West have pulled the double, given his undisclosed club support, his void in spades, and the fact that he has ace more than he has shown? Maybe. But it's hardly clear. If South has long clubs, it's probably right to pull. But if he's balanced, I suspect it's right to sit. As it turns out, partner did well not to open one diamond. It would be easier to reach six clubs after a two club overcall than after a one club opening bid.

I think the fault lies in East's four heart bid. Since he knows his partner is short in spades, he should make more of an effort to find a club fit. Doubling three clubs is a convenient way to do that. If this induces West to support clubs, East can probably just bid a slam. If West doesn't support clubs, East can settle for four hearts. Of course, he may not get the chance to bid four hearts. The opponents may be in four spades by his next turn, in which case he will have to double. But if he can show only one feature before doubling four spades, it must be better to show his good club suit than his meager heart support.

At the other table, my hand passes over the one club opening bid. West responds one heart, and North bids three diamonds. These passed hand pre-empts make no sense to me. Why let your opponents get their suits into the auction before you pre-empt? I know the reason he didn't pre-empt at his first turn was the four-card spade suit. But I don't think passing is even legal when you hold a suit this good. I think you just have to take your pick between opening one diamond or three.

Over three diamonds, East bids five clubs, which seems bizarre. Not only is he contracting for eleven tricks opposite a hand that merely made a one-over-one response, he's insisting on playing a strain he has no particular reason to believe is the right one. That being said, I have no idea what East should bid. I conducted a Facebook poll on this problem. One person passed. That could be right, but I think it's the responsibility of the person with shortness in the opponent's suit to get your side back into the auction. I think partner, with known diamond length, would sell out too frequently if I passed. Another person doubled. I don't think double shows this hand. I usually describe doubles in this situation as being "take-out for partner's suit." In other words, it shows heart shortness and diamond "support," so that partner is free to pass if we don't have a fit. My own choice, which received the plurality vote, is three hearts. It's about right on playing strength but not particularly descriptive.  I doubt it would work too well this time.  Partner would probably just raise to four. Strangely, I got two votes for three clubs.  That might work, but the penalties are too high if it doesn't.

West, apparently knowing he needs to give his partner a little leeway, gently raises five clubs to six. With the hearts coming home, declarer has no trouble making seven. We've been needing a result like this. The opponents' lead is now down to 88, a number with which I have a passing familiarity.

Me: -500
Jack: -1390

Score on Board 89: +13 IMPs
Total: -88 IMPs