Free Weekly Instant Tournament - December 1 - Board 4

Board 4
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A K 9 5 2  ♥ 4 2  ♦ A 9 8 7  ♣ A 3

Partner opens with one heart in second seat. I bid one spade, and partner rebids one notrump. I have a king more than I need to bid game. That extra king means it's possible I should just raise to three notrump and not bother checking for a spade fit.

At IMPs I would do that. The fact that my spades are headed by ace-king is a plus for notrump. If spades break poorly, then, thanks to my extra high cards, I may be able to take nine tricks without needing to set up spades.

But this is matchpoints. If spades takes more tricks than notrump, three notrump will score poorly. And that's likely if spades break normally. In essence, choosing three notrump is a safety play against a bad trump break. At matchpoints, it's better to go with the odds and forgo the safety play.

I bid two clubs, artificial and forcing. Partner bids two spades and I raise to four. LHO leads the six of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
Pass	1 ♥	Pass	1 ♠
Pass	1 NT	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 ♠	Pass	4 ♠
(All pass)

If I can set up hearts for diamond pitches, I may be able to avoid the diamond finesse. But I need to preserve entries to dummy, so I play the club jack and, when East plays the eight, I overtake with the ace. East would have covered if he had the queen, so West must hold it.

Should I start hearts right away, or should I cash a high trump to see if LHO drops an honor? If I lead a heart to dummy and it holds, I'd like to return to my hand with a trump to lead another heart. If I've already cashed one high spade, I'm returning to my hand with the other one. Opening up the spade suit doesn't look like a good idea. It allows the opponents to draw dummy's last trump and lead a club to tap me when they gain the lead. If I retain control of the trump suit, they can't do that. It's not clear I can manage a safety play in trumps anyway, so seeing an honor drop on my left may gain nothing. It looks better to start hearts right away.

I lead the four of hearts (better than the deuce, since if someone plays the three, his partner won't know that's his lowest heart). West hops with the ace and East follows with the eight. West shifts to the deuce of clubs (revealing he started with at least five clubs)--king--ten--three. 

If spades break and no one has a stiff heart, I can make an overtrick: cash two spades, heart to dummy, ruff a heart, concede a trump, and claim.

I play a spade. East plays the queen, and West drops the three under my ace. I cash the king of spades. West plays the six, and East discards the five of diamonds. This is the current position, with West holding two high trumps:

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

West started with at least nine black cards, so he is probably short in hearts. If he started with two, I can play a heart to dummy and ruff a heart, setting up the suit. If West overruffs, draws dummy's last trump, then leads a club to tap me, I have the rest. He does better not to overruff. If he pitches a club, I can lead a diamond to dummy and take one pitch. But West ruffs, draws dummy's trump, and taps me. I can't get back to dummy to pitch my last diamond.

What happens if I don't bother setting up the hearts? If I play a heart to dummy's king, then cash the queen, pitching a diamond?  If West follows, I can play another heart and pitch my last diamond. If he ruffs and draws dummy's trump, this will be the position:

	NORTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ 9 7 ♦ K J 6 ♣ --
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ 9 5 ♥ -- ♦ A 9 8 ♣ --

If West taps me with a club, I have the rest, since, when I cash my last trump, East is squeezed in the red suits. To break up the squeeze, West must shift to a diamond. As long he has either the queen or the ten, this will give me a diamond trick and, again, I have the rest.

This looks like the right plan. All I need is three-three hearts or for West to have one diamond honor. I play a heart to dummy's king and cash the queen, pitching the seven of diamonds. West ruffs, cashes his last trump, and taps me. East shows out on the club lead, so the squeeze is no longer inferential. East is marked with all red cards. I ruff in my hand and claim.

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

Plus 620 is worth 82%. I was wrong that I needed West to have a diamond honor. Having a void worked as well. 

Raising one notrump to three would have turned out better, as one would expect when spades break poorly. After the normal diamond lead, it's easy to make four, which is worth 96%. You can actually make five by endplaying East in hearts to force another diamond play. But if you ever duck a spade, you can't do that. You can't execute a throw-in for eleven tricks if you've already lost two. Since it's hard to imagine a sensible line that doesn't involve ducking a spade at some point, making five notrump is unlikely.

Another interesting feature of this deal: Against certain declarers in four spades, East has an opportunity to place North in his debt by executing an anti-cervisial coup. At the point I pitched the seven of diamonds, such declarers would pitch the eight. Now, when South executes the squeeze, East must pitch his heart stopper--not a diamond--to prevent declarer from scoring the beer card at the end.