Jaz Hands -- Board 11

Board 11
Neither side vulnerable

We continue our discussion of the Ong-Tan vs Noervita-Sugandi match from the SEABF Mixed Teams.

You can watch Alex's discussion of Board 11 on our YouTube channel:

♠ K 9 5 4  ♥ 10 7 5  ♦ Q J 10 7  ♣ K J

RHO opens one club, Precision, in fourth seat, nominally showing any hand with 16 HCP or more. Jazlese passes, and LHO bids two clubs, showing a positive response with five or more diamonds. Gideon doubles to show clubs, and RHO bids two hearts. LHO bids three clubs. RHO bids three spades. It's unclear what this bid shows. It could be a second suit or it could be a notrump probe. LHO bids four hearts, which ends the auction.

What should Jazlene lead? Partner stuck his neck out to make a dangerous double. So if a club lead is right and you don't lead one, partner may find it hard to forgive you. On the other hand, you are supposed to think. You know a lot more about the layout than partner did when he doubled. If spades is indeed a second suit, you know you have a stack. And you know dummy is hitting with a doubleton trump. A trump lead could be necessary to cut down on spade ruffs. So Jazlene chooses to lead the five of hearts.

I don't like it. I'm not talking about the heart lead itself. It's a reasonable decision. But I don't like the choice of the five. More on that later.

	NORTH Paulus ♠ J 6 ♥ J 6 ♦ A K 8 4 3 ♣ 7 6 5 3
WEST Jazlene ♠ K 9 5 4 ♥ 10 7 5 ♦ Q J 10 7 ♣ K J

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

Declarer plays low from dummy, and partner wins the ace. What does that leave declarer? King-queen of hearts and ace-queen of spades. Declarer must have the club ace for his one club opener. So it doesn't appear we beating this. The best we can hope for is that partner has the spade ten and we take one heart and two spades.

Partner returns the four of hearts to dummy's jack. Declarer cashes the diamond ace, pitching a club, then leads the jack of spades, conceding a trick to your king. Making five.

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

A club lead would probably beat it. If declarer wins the first or second round of clubs and plays a heart to the jack, partner can win and play more clubs, promoting your ten of hearts. The only way declarer can succeed is by the unlikely play of leading the nine of hearts and floating it.

I don't subscribe to the theory that you should follow partner's lead suggestion just to keep him happy. That's not playing bridge. That's playing Keep Partner Happy. Besides, if I'm your partner, the way to keep me happy is to do what you think is right. But on this particular hand, perhaps the ten of hearts should persuade you that a club lead is right. This contract may be hard to beat if the heart ten doesn't score a trick, so maybe going after a trump promotion is the right idea. Another layout where a club lead is necessary is if partner has the club ace and the heart jack. Now three rounds of clubs promotes the heart ten.

Whatever the merits of a heart versus a club, I do think the five of hearts was a mistake. If you lead a heart, you should lead the seven. There are two reasons for this:

The first is conventional. When leading trumps, second highest from three is standard. This springs from the fact that you must lead low from a doubleton, retaining your higher spot for a possible overruff. David Burn says he once gave declarer a game by leading the five of trumps from five-three doubleton. Declarer's game going trick was a ruff with the four of trumps. Had David led the the three, declarer couldn't make it. That's an extreme example, but the principle is valid. If you lead a doubleton trump, you should lead low. It follows, then, that if you have three trumps and want partner to know that, you should lead second highest. If you lead middle, then play low, partner knows you have a third trump.

The second, and perhaps more important, reason is technical. Leading the higher of your two low spots may enable partner to retain a high trump over dummy, thus depriving declarer of an entry. This is particularly important if dummy has a doubleton trump. This deal was almost a classic example. Let's just switch a few cards around:

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

A club lead beats it, but you survive a trump lead--provided you lead the seven. If you lead low, dummy's six forces an entry. If you lead the seven, partner can withhold his queen. Declarer then has no way to get to dummy and must lose three spades and a club.

How about Gideon's actions? I wouldn't have doubled two clubs with Gideon's hand. For all you know clubs is opener's main suit. I don't relish playing three clubs redoubled if that's the case. But what can I say? He was right. A club lead beats their game, and if he doesn't double, there is no chance he's getting one.

I don't understand his trump play at trick two, however. I don't see where he thought four tricks were coming from. Couldn't partner have the club ace instead of the king? Perhaps that's even why she didn't lead one. If this is the layout:

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

a club shift at trick two beats it. Partner cashes two clubs, plays a second trump, then waits for her spade trick. Wouldn't that be embarrassing? You ask for a club lead. Partner ignores you and, instead, finds the only lead to beat it, then you let it score?

At the other table, their teammates bid naturally to four hearts and got the lead of the queen of diamonds. Declarer made five.