Event 3 - Match 6 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ J 8 3 ♥ K 10 4 3 ♦ 8 6 4 ♣ 10 5 3

I pass in first seat, LHO opens one spade, partner bids two diamonds, and RHO bids two hearts. I pass, LHO bids two spades (alerted as forcing), partner bids three diamonds, and RHO passes. Since the opponents are in a forcing auction, partner isn't bidding in an attempt to buy the contract at three diamonds. He must have interest in reaching five diamonds even opposite a hand that couldn't raise on the previous round. Should I bid four diamonds? I don't like not owning up to support for partner's suit after he has taken such aggressive action. Still, my third diamond is the only feature that argues for bidding. What few values I have are defensive. If partner saves over a game on the basis of my raise, he might well be making a mistake. So I pass again. LHO bids four hearts, which ends the auction.

It is often a good idea when trumps aren't breaking to feign an ability to ruff, since it may talk declarer out of a safety play. Accordingly, I lead the eight of diamonds rather than the four.

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

West	North	East	South
Phillip	Thomas	Jack	Adrian
Pass	1 ♠	2 ♦	2 ♥
Pass	2 ♠1	3 ♦	Pass
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)
1Forcing

I'm glad to see it is declarer, not dummy, who is short in diamonds. Otherwise my falsecard probably wouldn't accomplish anything and might, in fact, simply confuse partner. Given this dummy, I almost surely did the right thing.

Declarer plays low from dummy, partner overtakes with the jack, and declarer plays the seven. Declarer has a singleton diamond and at most two spades. So either he has six hearts or he is 2-5-1-5.

Partner continues with the queen of diamonds, and declarer ruffs with the five of hearts. I follow with the diamond six. Declarer plays the deuce of hearts. The fact that declarer isn't working on spades suggests he has the king. If he had two small spades, he would probably attack spades now, since his communications are limited. If he had a small singleton and a 1-6-1-5 pattern, he would probably set about ruffing clubs in dummy before drawing trumps.

I play the three of hearts. Declarer plays the ace from dummy and partner follows with the queen. So declarer is 2-5-1-5. Since he has no trump honor, he must have the ace-king or ace-queen of clubs. How will the play go from here? Perhaps declarer will play a club to his hand (finessing if he has ace-queen) and lead another heart. If so, I can hop with the king and play a third heart. Declarer can't run spades while I have a trump, so, unless his clubs are solid, he will play a spade to his king and give me my trump trick, expecting that I have only black cards left and that he will be able to take the rest. Instead, I will produce my surprise diamond, and we will take lots of tricks.

Declarer plays a club from dummy--six--ace--three He then cashes the king of clubs, pitching the diamond ten from dummy. I wasn't expecting that. Partner follows with the club queen. Declarer then plays the jack of clubs. Now that I really wasn't expecting. Declarer is 0-5-1-7? He bid two hearts on nine fifth and never bothered showing his ace-king-jack seventh suit?

We have no tricks coming outside of the trump suit, and I don't see how I can score all three of my trumps. So it appears declarer is making this. I ruff. Declarer overruffs, ruffs a spade to his hand, and leads more clubs. As long as I don't ruff again, I'll score both my trumps, since declarer will be down to two trumps at trick twelve. Making four.

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

Perhaps I shouldn't argue with success, but I don't care for South's auction. Over two diamonds, I would start with three clubs. When partner bids three spades, I have a tough decision to make. Four hearts is a possibility. Some might play that as a cue-bid agreeing spades. But I doubt Jack does, and I know I don't. My partnership notes say, "When trumps have not been agreed, a new suit at the four-level is a cue-bid showing support for the last bid suit if and only if (1) you have bid notrump or (2) you have bid and rebid a suit."

Even so, I'm not sure I would choose four hearts. It's not clear I want to play in hearts unless partner can introduce the suit himself. So I might bid four clubs.That wouldn't work out too well this time, since four hearts is the only game we can make. Our teammates' auction, whatever it was, didn't work out too well either. They played five hearts down two, so we lose 13 imps.

I don't know if my teammates reached the five level on their own steam or if they were pushed. Maybe this result is my fault. Perhaps I was too cautious in refusing to raise diamonds because of my heart stack. After all, I caught partner with a singleton queen of hearts and we still couldn't beat this. Still, I'm not sure bidding four diamonds would have helped. Partner has a pretty good hand for defense, so he might be reluctant to save anyway.

Double-dummy, saving is wrong, since the defense can beat five diamonds four tricks. But they might bid on, in which case saving is a huge winner. And, even if they don't, the best defense is hard to find, especially on this auction. North, when he is in with the heart ace, must play a low spade for his partner to ruff. If he cashes the ace first, he loses his second spade trick.

Should he find this? If South cashes two clubs and switches to a heart, North might work it out once he scrambles back on his chair after falling off. But how does South know the second club is cashing? If he switches to a heart at trick two, North will have a very hard time envisioning this layout.

Table 1: -620
Table 2: -200

Score on Board 3: -13 imps
Total: -2 imps

Event 3 - Match 6 - Board 2

Board 2
Our side vulnerable

♠ A 7 ♥ 9 6 2 ♦ A 9 8 7 5 ♣ K J 6

RHO passes. I open one notrump (12-14) and buy it. LHO leads the king of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
Thomas	Jack	Adrian	Phillip
		Pass	1 NT
(All pass)

As long as I can take four club tricks, I'll make this. I'd just as soon retain the ace of hearts as a dummy entry in case clubs don't break. Can I afford to duck, hoping West can't read his partner for the jack? I certainly don't want to duck if I could go down with clubs breaking all along. The most damaging shift is a spade. If West finds this shift and spades are five-three, they can take four spade tricks, one heart, and one club. Surely RHO would have bid at some point with six spades. So yes, ducking appears to be safe.

I play the three from dummy; East plays the seven. The opponents play upside-down attitude. So if East has the jack as I am hoping he does, he has specifically jack-seven. The usual rule for falsecarding as declarer is "Signal as the opponents do." Since I want West to shift, I should "discourage" by playing high. It doesn't hurt to follow this rule, but it's not always necessary either. A more accurate, though less pithy, rule is this: "If you want East's card to look high, conceal a spot card lower than the one he plays. If you want it to look low, conceal a spot card higher than the one he plays." I want East's seven to look high (discouraging), so I must conceal either the six or the deuce. But unless I play both cards at the same time, anything I do conceals one of those cards. No matter which card I play, it is possible for East's card to be high from a doubleton.

Since there is no technical advantage to choosing one card over another, I should, in theory, randomize. But as a practical matter, I think the best play is the deuce. Most players know the simplistic "signal as the opponents do" rule. So West will not expect me to play the deuce from three small. He may well reason as follows:

"If partner has the six of hearts, then the seven is high, so he wants me to shift. If declarer has the six, then declarer wants me to continue. Otherwise, he would have played the six, following standard falsecarding procedure. Either way, it must be right for me to shift."

Note this ploy works only because I have two cards lower than the seven. If I have nine-eight-deuce, I must play the eight or nine if I want West to shift. A sneaky, double-crossing deuce would not work, since it would reveal that the seven was East's lowest card. (And yes, I understand that these psychological games are pointless playing against Jack. I'm just practicing.)

I play the deuce, and West shifts to the king of diamonds. East plays the four. West's failure to continue hearts has enabled me to handle some club breaks I couldn't handle before. But I still can't handle all four-one breaks. East's diamond four is a lucky card. Perhaps I should exploit my good fortune and duck again. If I do and if West continues diamonds, I'm home. I don't need the club suit any more. And why shouldn't West continue? If diamonds looked like the right suit to play at trick two, it must look even better now.

All my diamond spots are higher than East's four. So, again, there is no technical reason to choose any particular card. I play the seven, since that seems to me like the card least apt to arouse suspicion.

West continues with the diamond queen, and East plays the six. East seems to have encouraged simply because he had the diamond jack. Jack frequently makes this mistake in signaling. He looks only at the suit led rather than at the hand as a whole. He knows he wants his partner to shift back to hearts, so he should have discouraged.

I now have seven tricks. I take the ace and play the nine of diamonds. West follows with the deuce. East will switch back to hearts after winning the diamond jack, so dummy's long clubs are worthless to me even if the club queen drops doubleton. Dummy's major-suit cards may come in handy, however. The third spade may be a squeeze threat, and I need a small heart in dummy so I can duck to correct the count. I pitch the deuce of clubs. East wins with the diamond jack and shifts to the ten of hearts.

The ten? Did West really decide to shift at trick two looking at king-queen-jack of hearts?

I play the six, West plays the four, and I duck in dummy. East now shifts to the king of spades. He must be out of hearts, and West forgot to overtake. I could duck this. If East has king-queen-jack of spades and the club queen, he will then be caught in a show-up squeeze for an overtrick. But, since the opponents failed to take the ace of hearts off the table, I can take the rest if the club queen is doubleton. Not only would that line be more profitable, it's also more likely to work. I win with the spade ace, and West plays the nine, presumably denying the queen or jack.

I cash my diamond winners, pitching two spades from dummy. West plays the five and jack of hearts, confirming my suspicion he began with king-queen-jack fifth. East pitches the four and five of spades, suggesting he began with a king-queen-jack fifth suit of his own. If I have read the cards correctly, we are down to this position:

	NORTH Jack ♠ -- ♥ A ♦ -- ♣ A 9 7 5
WEST Thomas ♠ 8 6 ♥ Q ♦ -- ♣ ? x		EAST Adrian ♠ Q J ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ ? x x
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ 7 ♥ 9 ♦ -- ♣ K J 6

East is three-to-two to have the club queen. But I can't afford to finesse him for it. If the finesse loses, I go down. So I cash the king and ace of clubs, hoping West has queen doubleton. He does, so I make three.

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

What happens if West continues hearts at trick two? If East has four clubs, there is no way for me to take four club tricks. If West has four clubs, I'm OK as long as East's club is the queen or ten. But if East has a small singleton club, there is nothing I can do. If I lead a club to my jack, West, with queen-ten fourth, can duck. If I play to the king and lead the jack, he can duck that. Given neither play works, I might as well lead a club to the jack in case East has queen fourth. If clubs don't come home, I will need to establish diamond tricks, and my job will be easier if I haven't set up club tricks for the opponents.

West's diamond switch offered me extra chances in the club suit. Had I decided to win the diamond ace and play on clubs, I could cash the king, then lead the jack and duck it. This allows me to pick up a singleton queen or ten in West's hand and any singleton in East's hand.

In retrospect, I think that ducking the diamond ace was a mistake. The opponents sold out to one notrump with 20 high-card points between them, so it is unlikely that either of them has a singleton. Some "dogs that don't bark" inferences are easy to miss, but I shouldn't have missed this one. Selling out at a low level and declining to take a cheap sacrifice are two items on my list of non-barking dogs to watch out for. Ducking the heart was fairly safe, but ducking the diamond was not. If West had finally found a spade shift, I could go down on normal breaks. Not that he's apt to find a spade shift, but clubs aren't apt to be four-one either. So why risk it? Of course, I did gain two tricks with my mistake. That's the key to winning bridge: profit from your mistakes.

Our counterparts played one notrump making two, so we win an imp.

Table 1: +150
Table 2: -120

Result on Board 2: +1 imp
Total: +11 imps

Event 3 - Match 6 - Board 1

Board 1
Neither vulnerable

♠ Q 7 5 4 ♥ K 8 6 4 2 ♦ K J ♣ 9 8

One diamond by partner; one heart on my right. A fairly common agreement here is that one spade shows five spades and a negative double shows four (and carries no information about responder's minors). I'm of the opinion, however, that a negative double is a take-out double, not merely a substitute for bidding the unbid major. This hand, lacking support for either minor, is not a negative double in my book.

One spade is a possibility (I don't agree that it promises five), but I think the best action is to pass. If I pass and later show up with four spades and values to have responded, partner will infer that I have primary hearts (i.e., longer hearts than spades). He should not assume that I intended to sit for his reopening double. Indeed, with this hand, I would pull a reopening double to two spades. The purpose of the pass is not to try to collect a penalty; it is to describe my hand. Partner will be better placed to make a decision if he knows I have hearts and spades and not, for example, the same hand with hearts and clubs reversed.

I pass. LHO bids two clubs, and partner bids two spades.

Since I may have to show a preference to diamonds at the three level with a doubleton, partner should try to avoid this sequence without at least four-six in his suits. With a 4-1-5-3 pattern, for example, he should double. (This should be take-out of hearts, not of clubs. It needs to promise some club length so I can pass with a misfit.)

Before I make up my mind how high to raise, RHO doubles. I am surprised to discover that the opponents play this as a penalty double. I'm fairly sure LHO is going to pull to three clubs, so I redouble to advise partner that I fully expect to make two spades. Partner should have a fair picture of my hand: Spade support, primary hearts, and moderate values. Unfortunately, I don't think partner can assume I have four spades. I might, for example, be 3-5-1-4 and expect that the opponents are in serious trouble whether they choose to defend or not.

LHO bids three clubs as expected--pass--pass to me.

Since partner couldn't double, it sounds as if they've found a club fit. It's likely that partner is 4-1-6-2 and LHO has seven clubs. I don't think we are in a forcing auction, but I can't see selling out to three clubs. The opponents appear to have a nine-card fit and, even though we don't, we do have a double fit. So it is not a Law violation to compete. Besides, it's still possible we have a game.

It's tempting to bid three spades in defiance of RHO's double in order to confirm the fourth spade. But I like three diamonds better for two reasons: (1) Assuming RHO has four goods spades for his double, it's easy to construct hands where three diamonds makes and three spades doesn't. (2) If we have a game, it is more likely to be in notrump than in spades, and three diamonds might be just what partner needs to hear to bid it. If he has, say,

♠ A x x x ♥ x ♦ A Q 10 x x x ♣ A x

he can envision nine tricks in notrump after I bid three diamonds. (Assuming that his LHO would not double two spades with three-card club support, so that one holdup in clubs will be sufficient.)

Over three diamonds, partner bids three hearts. This should be natural, aiming toward a possible game in hearts. (One of the advantages of the trap pass is that it gives you a way to declare in your opponent's suit. It always delights the kibitzers when that happens.) But I suspect partner intends this as a cue-bid, so I will treat it as such.

Given what partner already knows about my hand, is three spades or three notrump more descriptive? My hearts are no better than partner has a right to expect, I have no help in clubs, and the fourth spade may be exactly what partner is fishing for. So three spades looks right. If a single heart stopper is all partner needs, he can bid three notrump himself over three spades. Since he has already expressed doubt with his supposed cue-bid, I would certainly pull with no heart stopper at all.

But I don't trust Jack to be that delicate. RHO thought he could beat two spades. How likely is it that we can make four? Three notrump is probably where we belong, so perhaps, opposite this partner, I should just be practical and bid it. If RHO doubles, I may change my mind. But, at 50 points an undertrick, I'll take a shot.

I bid three notrump, everyone passes, and LHO leads the jack of clubs (showing the ten or ace-queen-jack).

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

West	North	East	South
Thomas	Jack	Adrian	Phillip
	1 ♦	1 ♥	Pass
2 ♣	2 ♠	Double1	Redouble
3 ♣	Pass	Pass	3 ♦
Pass	3 ♥	Pass	3 NT
(All pass)
1Penalty double

As I said earlier, I would double two clubs with that pattern rather than bid two spades. I certainly would have doubled three clubs. That seems like an easier way to collect our game bonus.

Partner has one fewer diamond than I expected. So I will have to establish a spade trick. That means I can't afford to duck a club. It will be easy for West, with an entryless hand, to find a heart shift. I have to hope clubs are seven-one. If they are, I'll make this. If not, I'm down three.

I play the king; East plays the four. I play a low spade from dummy--deuce--queen--three. Yay! East surely would have hopped and played a club if he had one. So I must be making this. I cash the jack of diamonds--deuce--five--seven, then the king of diamonds--three--eight--ten. If I'd known the ten was dropping, I would have overtaken. I would then be able to make an overtrick on a strip squeeze.

I lead a spade to the ace as West pitches the deuce of clubs, then run diamonds. East pitches three, seven, nine of hearts. I pitch deuce, four of hearts and the club nine. West pitches the club three on the last diamond. Assuming the heart ace is onside, we are down to this position:

	NORTH Jack ♠ J 8 ♥ 5 ♦ -- ♣ 10 5
WEST Thomas ♠ -- ♥ ? ♦ -- ♣ A Q 7 6		EAST Adrian ♠ K 10 ♥ A ? ? ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ 7 5 ♥ K 8 6 ♦ -- ♣ --

I play a heart from dummy. East can hold me to three by hopping and playing king and a spade to lock me in dummy. But he ducks, desperately hoping his partner has the king of hearts. I take the king and toss him in with a heart to make an overtrick.

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

I said I could have made four by force by overtaking the diamond. But that was just an impression I had. I do have communication problems. Does the strip squeeze actually work? After running diamonds, I would reach this position, needing three more tricks.

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

East had to hold three spades, else I could play ace and a spade, establishing a spade trick and forcing him to give me my king of hearts. In this position, I play a heart from dummy. If he ducks, I score my heart king and endplay him. If he hops and exits with a spade, I can toss him in with the the third round of spades to force him to give me my king of hearts. Sort of a combination strip/stepping-stone squeeze.

As much as I'd like to pat myself on the back for this result, I think East deserves most of the credit for his premature penalty double. He would have had a chance to double four spades if he hadn't doubled two. West helped, too, with his opening lead. A heart lead would beat this, but only because my hearts were worse than they should have been for my auction. Even if my hearts were only slightly better, a heart lead would not work. (Switch the eight and nine of hearts for example. If East doesn't overtake the ten, I duck it, and there is no winning defense.) So perhaps West's best chance was to find his partner with a doubleton club.

Our teammates defended four spades (undoubled) down one, so we start the match off with a 10-imp lead.

Table 1: +400
Table 2: +50

Result on Board 1: +10 imps
Total: +10 imps

Event 3 - Match 5 - Board 8

Board 8
Neither vulnerable

♠ 7 6 2 ♥ A Q 6 2 ♦ Q 8 4 3 ♣ K 2

One club--pass--one heart to me. I pass. LHO bids one spade, and RHO raises to two spades. I pass again, and two spades ends the auction. Partner leads the six of diamonds (third and lowest).

	NORTH Stephen ♠ J 8 5 4 ♥ K J 10 8 5 ♦ K ♣ 10 8 6
		EAST Phillip ♠ 7 6 2 ♥ A Q 6 2 ♦ Q 8 4 3 ♣ K 2

West	North	East	South
Jack	Stephen	Phillip	Sam
			1 ♣
Pass	1 ♥	Pass	1 ♠
Pass	2 ♠	(All pass)

Partner would lead the jack from jack-ten-nine-seven-six. So the six must be third best from an even number. There is no six-card holding where the six is third best, so partner must have four. That means declarer is 4-1-4-4 and we unfortunately have only one heart trick. Where will six tricks come from? If partner has the club ace and a trump entry, perhaps I can get a ruff. But that's still only five tricks. This isn't going to be easy to beat. I start by discouraging in diamonds to suggest a club shift. Declarer plays the diamond deuce, then leads the four of spades from dummy--six--ten--queen. Partner probably has the ace or king as well, since declarer would be unlikely to take a first-round finesse against the queen. And indeed he does. Partner cashes the ace of spades--five--deuce--three. Well. Two trump tricks.

Now the ace of clubs is enough to beat it, although it's unlikely partner has that card. If he did, he probably would have tried to give me a club ruff instead of surrendering his second trump entry. It appears he has slow club tricks and is trying to protect them by drawing trumps. Is this going to work? If I play a third trump when I win my heart trick, will declarer have trouble coming to eight tricks?

Partner shifts to the seven of hearts, and declarer plays the eight from dummy. It looks right to play the ace. If I play the queen, declarer can take a ruffing finesse against my ace and establish his suit. If I play the ace, declarer might not realize that I know he has a singleton and he might not suspect me of this falsecard. So he may try to ruff out the queen in partner's hand.

Perhaps that's a vain hope. But it's hard to see how it can hurt to play the ace. I do so, and declarer ruffs with the king of spades. So he's 4-0-4-5 instead of 4-1-4-4. Declarer has two diamond tricks, the heart king, and four trump tricks on a crossruff. If he has the club ace, that's eight tricks. If he doesn't, he can establish an eighth trick in hearts. I don't care for our prospects.

Declarer plays the nine of diamonds. Partner covers with the ten, and declarer ruffs in dummy. Declarer apparently has the ace-jack of diamonds left. Declarer leads the ten of hearts, I play low, and declarer pitches the club three. That's his eighth trick. He probably wasn't expecting the ten to hold. He was willing to concede a heart trick to set up dummy's jack. Declarer plays the ten of clubs. I cover with the king--ace--seven. That makes nine tricks.

For some reason, declarer abandons his cross ruff. He plays the nine of spades to dummy's jack as partner pitches the five of diamonds. Declarer had nine tricks on a crossruff. He must be trying to take ten by establishing clubs. We are down to this position, with declarer apparently hoping to lose only one more trick:

	NORTH Stephen ♠ -- ♥ K J 5 ♦ -- ♣ 8 6
WEST Jack ♠ -- ♥ 9 4 ♦ 7 ♣ ? ?		EAST Phillip ♠ -- ♥ Q 6 ♦ Q 8 ♣ 2
	SOUTH Sam ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ A J ♣ ? ? ?

Declarer plays the six of clubs to his jack. Partner wins with the queen and cashes the nine. How was this line supposed to yield ten tricks? If I had queen doubleton of clubs left, I would just hop and exit a club, leaving declarer with a diamond loser in his hand. Hooking me for the club nine might make some sense. If I had it, partner would have to lead a red suit for him after winning the club queen. If declarer wasn't going to do that, he should have just kept up the crossruff to guarantee nine tricks.

I pitch a diamond. Partner plays a heart. Declarer, apparently still believing partner has the heart queen, finesses, and I score my queen. Making two.

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

As the cards lay, declarer could have made ten tricks by starting hearts at trick two. Maybe our teammates will get to four spades and make it.

I get the first part of my wish. They got to four spades. But they went down two. We lose five imps but hold on to win the match and pick up 19 out of 30 victory points. Next week, we start Match 6 against Thomas and Adrian, who play Dutch Doubleton.

Table 1: -110
Table 2: -100

Result on Board 8: -5 imps
Total: +12 imps (19 VP)
Current Total: 92 VP