Match 2 - Board 54

Board 54
Opponents vulnerable

♠ 4 ♥ A K Q 9 8 6 5 ♦ K 8 7 2 ♣ 5

I open with two hearts, an Acol two-bid. (This shows eight or more playing tricks and is forcing for one round.) Partner bids three spades. I play this as a splinter in support of hearts, but Jack plays it as natural. Since two spades creates a game force, this should show a self-sufficient suit. Even so, hearts looks like a better trump suit to me. I bid four hearts. Partner bids four notrump, key-card Blackwood for hearts. I bid five spades, showing two key cards and the queen of hearts. Partner bids six hearts, and I pass. LHO leads the six of clubs (fourth best).

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	2 ♥1
Pass	3 ♠	Pass	4 ♥
Pass	4 NT2	Pass	5 ♠3
Pass	6 ♥	(All pass)
1Acol Strong two
2Ace asking for hearts
32 aces and queen of trumps

Partner is the ten of spades away from having his three-spade bid. In a slam auction, a self-sufficient suit should be defined as one in which you can play a slam opposite a small singleton.

I play the club ace, and East plays the nine. There doesn't appear to be much to the play. Just draw trumps and drive the spade ace. Is there any conceivable way to get the opponents to duck the spade ace, giving me a shot at making seven? One thing for sure. No one is going to duck a spade if he thinks a club might be cashing. To have any chance of sneaking a spade through, I must let the opponents know I have a singleton club. At trick two, I play the ten of clubs from dummy. East plays the three. I ruff with the six of hearts, and West plays the club deuce. I now cash the heart ace.

This line must look pretty strange to dummy. I ruff a club to my hand so I can cash the heart ace? What possible reason could I have for doing such a thing? A former partner of mine used to start laughing out loud whenever I played a hand this way. Well, partner, now you know what I was up to. Not every play I make is technical. Sometimes it's just for propaganda.

I draw trumps in three rounds, pitching a spade from dummy. On the second round and third rounds, West pitches the eight and jack of clubs. Is there a hand where ducking the spade might be the right defense? Not one that's consistent with the auction. If I had the same pattern without the king of diamonds, however, it would be right for West to duck the spade ace. That beats the slam by force if he has ace fourth and, unless I am a good guesser, will beat it in practice if he has ace third or ace doubleton. (If he has ace third, I must win the spade in dummy, then continue with a spade honor and pitch. When West wins and plays a diamond, I must make the anti-percentage play of hopping with the ace and playing for three-three spades. If West ducks with ace doubleton, I must make the even stranger play of winning the spade in dummy and continuing with a low spade.)

I play a spade--six--king--ace. I claim the balance.

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

This is worth nine matchpoints, more than it should be. Reaching slam isn't all that hard. What happens if I am playing Standard and start with one heart instead of two? Jack says he would bid two spades. Again, he is the ten of spades shy for that call. His biggest problem rates to be distinguishing between a doubleton and a singleton spade in my hand. And starting with one spade is the best way to do that. He actually has a better shot at making that distinction with me than with most people. I raise responder's major with any unbalanced minimum containing three trumps. This style lends some clarity to my third-round preferences. Take these auctions, for example:

South	North
1 ♥	1 ♠
2 ♥	3 ♦
3 ♠

South	North
1 ♥	1 ♠
2 ♣	2 ♦
2 ♠

If you typically have four-card support when you raise responder's major, then these auctions suggest three-card support. But, as I play, these auctions unambiguously show two spades. In the first auction, the two heart bid flatly denies three spades. In the second auction, two clubs denies three spades if I have a minimum. I might have a hand with three spades that's too good for a single raise. But, if I do, I must take a jump preference over the fourth suit. So, again, the simple preference shows a doubleton. The ease with which you can sometimes locate your six-two fits is one of the benefits of this style.

On this deal, however, the benefit quickly evaporates. Opener will bid three hearts over one spade, which does not deny three-card spade support. Responder can be fairly sure he belongs in a slam but is unsure of the proper strain. I would attempt to solve that problem by bidding three spades, intending to follow with five notrump, offering partner a choice of trump suits.

Why did so many Jacks miss a slam? I had Jack bid the hand with himself to find out. He opens four hearts with the South hand and passes with the North hand. Yes, that will do it. I think it's fair to say that if one person pre-empts with a given hand and another opens a strong two-bid, at least one of them has made a poor choice.

Score on Board 54: +980 (9 MP)
Total: 427 MP (65.9%)

Current rank: 1st