Event 3 - Match 7 - Board 8

Board 8
Neither vulnerable

♠ A 3 ♥ Q 9 8 7 3 ♦ Q 9 6 ♣ Q 9 5

Three passes to me. This is annoying. Obviously I must pass, but then I have nothing to write about. I'm going to pass officially. Then I'll replay the deal and open the bidding, just to give me something to discuss.

What would be the best opening bid if it were illegal to pass in fourth seat? I could open one heart and pass partner's response. But LHO is apt to have an easy take-out double or one spade overcall over one heart. If I'm going to open light without spades, perhaps it's better to open a weak notrump. That might make it harder for the opponents to enter the auction. I'm two high-card points shy. But so what? As a passed hand, partner can't have a drive to game on power anyway. So what does he care how many high-card points I have? And the danger of going for a number is diminished by the fact that LHO, also a passed hand, can't have a double. Hmm. I've never thought of that before. If you're going to open a weak notrump with ten points, fourth seat seems like the time to do it. Not that I intend to make a habit of it.

I open one notrump (12-14). LHO and partner pass, and RHO bids two spades, showing five spades and a minor. I prefer to play double here as take-out, but Jack won't hear of it, so I have no choice but to pass. Luckily, LHO raises to three spades on his own. Everyone passes, and I lead the three of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
Phillip	Jack	Jack	Jack
	Pass	Pass	Pass
1 NT	Pass	Pass	2 ♠1
Pass	3 ♠	(All pass)
15 spades plus a minor

Three spades? If partner can't open one spade in third seat, I wouldn't expect to have a game. I don't see the point of raising.

Declarer rises with the heart ace. Partner plays the six; declarer, the deuce. Declarer obviously has a singleton heart. With a five-card minor or a sixth spade, he probably would have accepted the game invitation. So he must be either 5-1-3-4 or 5-1-4-3.

Declarer leads the five of spades--six--nine--ace. Was that a finesse against partner's queen? I hope not. Already two of our high cards--the king and queen of hearts--are taking no tricks on defense. If partner has the spade queen, that makes a third high card that isn't working, which would considerably lessen our chance of beating this.

Declarer can't have any useful discards coming, so I see no reason to break a minor. I continue with a heart to partner's king, leading the eight to avoid emphasizing either minor. Declarer ruffs with the deuce of spades and leads the deuce of clubs. That confirms declarer is missing the spade queen. If he weren't, he would be leading spades from his hand. Obviously, he needs to reach dummy to repeat the trump finesse.

If declarer has the club king, he will finesse the jack. When he later cashes the ace, I will drop the queen, the card I'm known to hold. But what good will that do if I'm still holding the nine? Perhaps, if I play the nine now, declarer will have something to think about when I drop the queen on the next trick. I'm not sure this play can ever gain, and it might cost a trick if partner has the king. But it appears we have little chance to beat this contract, so there is little to lose by giving it a try.

I play the nine. Declarer unexpectedly rises with the ace, and partner plays the four. If partner is giving honest count, declarer is 5-1-3-4.

Declarer plays the deuce of diamonds--five--jack. I win with the queen. What is going on? Why did declarer go up with the club ace? Apparently, he is convinced I have a doubleton. If I have queen-nine, he doesn't need to finesse; he can drop my queen later. If I have ten-nine, then he wants to lead the jack to pin my ten. He is postponing his decision until he finds out where the diamond honors are. But how is he getting back to dummy to lead the club jack if that's what he decides to do? Of course! He thinks partner's spade queen is dropping, since I must have three spades if I have a doubleton club.

I lead the queen of hearts--jack--four--spade four. Declarer continues his campaign of discovery by leading the king of diamonds--six--three--ace. Declarer is 100% convinced I'm 3-5-3-2, so he isn't worried about a diamond ruff.

Partner shifts to the ten of clubs, and declarer rises with the king. He must be quite disappointed to see me follow with the five. He cashes the king of spades--three--ten--eight. We have two black-suit queens coming to us. Down one.

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

Not bad. South can make four spades, and we managed to beat three.

Why didn't declarer repeat the spade finesse once he found out he was wrong about the club suit? I guess he judged it was more likely that I had falsecarded with ace-queen doubleton of spades than that I had opened one notrump in fourth seat with a ten count. In a sense, he's right. I didn't open with this hand. Officially, I passed. So perhaps he did the right thing.

The play of the club ace I find interesting. Jack assumed that I would never play the nine from queen-nine-small. If he is right about that, then going up with the ace loses only when I have queen-ten-nine. Although, admittedly, you must do some good guessing later on to exploit your position. I agree a defender is unlikely to play the nine from queen-nine-small. But never (as this deal demonstrates) is an overbid. This is a failing in the state of the art of computer bridge. Jack can draw only binary inferences. Either a hand is possible for an opponent or it isn't. He has no concept of "likely." Often this doesn't matter. But when the gain in making an assumption is small, there is a huge difference between "likely" and "certain."

Did my play of the nine have any way to gain (other than declarer's losing his mind)? My half-formed idea was that declarer, with king-eight fourth, might place partner with ten fourth and waste a dummy entry leading up to his king-eight. Who knows whether that would make any difference or not? True, playing the nine might cost if partner has the king, since if declarer has ten-eight, he can now finesse against my queen. But, even then, I rate to survive if declarer has 10862 or 10842. With either holding, he will probably lead low to the next trick, expecting my queen to pop up. Then I can laugh at him.

Unfortunately, this was an imaginary result. My official result, passing it out, is duplicated at the other table, so we win the match by three imps and pick up 16 out of 30 victory points. That gives us 125 victory points with two matches to go. We are still in first place, seven points ahead of second place. Our opponents for the penultimate match, Christian and Floyd, play Bridge World Standard.

Table 1: 0
Table 2: 0

Score on Board 8: 0 imps
Result on Match 7: +3 imps (16 VP)

Current Total: 125 VP (out of 210)