Match 2 - Board 59

Board 59

Neither vulnerable

As Brooks Hughes used to say before the antepenultimate round, "Turning for home now. Three rounds to go." I never did understand what that meant.

♠ A K J ♥ Q 7 3 ♦ 10 7 5 3 2 ♣ 9 5

I pass. Partner opens one notrump (12-14) in third seat and buys it. West leads the king of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 NT
(All pass)

Some pairs, perhaps many, will play this hand in a diamond partscore after a one diamond opening. If they can avoid the loss of two trump tricks, they will score 130. If not, they will score 110. This is something I will need to keep in mind as I plan the play.

I play the five of clubs from dummy, and East plays the eight. I discourage with the three. West continues with the seven of clubs, and East plays the jack. East seems to have king-queen-ten-seven fourth. The seven, his original fourth best, is the standard card to lead from either four or five clubs, so, in theory, I can't tell how clubs are splitting. But I have observed that Jack doesn't seem to know this. From a five-card suit, he would lead his lowest club at trick two, so I am fairly confident that clubs are four-four. That means there is no reason to duck. (This is why paying attention to your opponents' quirks comes in handy. In general, I like to zone out when I'm dummy to save mental energy. But, in a long knockout match, I try not to do that. I watch the opponents' carding carefully, since knowing their tendencies may help me later as declarer.)

If there were no danger in ducking, I would duck anyway, just in case I'm wrong. But there is a danger. East may find a heart shift. There are a number of hands where a heart shift, while not clear cut, will at least look attractive. For example:

♠ x x ♥ A J 10 x x ♦ Q J ♣ J 8 4 2

A club continuation sets up only one more club trick. A heart shift might actually beat the contract if you catch  declarer with king doubleton and partner with a diamond entry.

♠ x x x x ♥ J 10 x x ♦ A ♣ J 8 4 2

If partner has ace fourth or even ace-nine third of hearts, a heart shift sets up more tricks than a club continuation. I don't know whether Jack would play a heart from either of these hands or not. But he might. And I am confident enough that clubs are four-four that I don't want to risk it. I play the club ace.

I have little chance to go plus 150. If I am to beat the pairs playing in a diamond partscore, I must hope they are scoring 110, which means the ace of diamonds must be offside. Perhaps I should lead a spade to dummy, lead a diamond toward my hand, and, if East plays the queen or jack, duck it, hoping to find a singleton ace offside. If I'm right about four-four clubs, I will then be plus 120, beating all the diamond partscores (unless they magically play diamonds this way as well).

Is this actually the right play? Let me think about it more carefully. If West has a doubleton diamond, my play will not matter. If he has a singleton, it will be the ace one third of the time.

First, let's consider how I do against a pair who also plays a notrump partscore. If I play low and I'm wrong, I will cost myself a matchpoint. (It doesn't matter how the other declarer plays. If he ducks also, my ducking will tie the board instead of win it. If he plays the king, my ducking will lose the board instead of tie it.) Similarly, if I play low and I'm right, I will gain a matchpoint. Thus I will lose a matchpoint two thirds of the time and gain a matchpoint one third of a time for a net expected loss of one third of a matchpoint.

How do I do against a pair in a diamond partscore? If I play low and I'm right, I convert a loss to a win and gain two matchpoints. If I play low and I'm wrong, it makes no difference; I was losing the board anyway. I gain two matchpoints a third of the time. Thus my net gain is two thirds of a matchpoint.

My expectation from ducking, then, is two thirds times x minus one third times y, where x is the percentage of pairs in diamonds and y is the percentage of pairs in notrump. In other words, if there are twice as many pairs playing notrump as playing diamonds, ducking will break even. If there are fewer people playing notrump, ducking shows a net gain. I think it's safe to say that notrump partscores will not be twice as popular as diamond partscores, so my percentage play is to duck.

I lead the five of spades--deuce--king--seven. I play a diamond from dummy. East plays the ace. So much for my plan. I play the six, and West drops the jack. East shifts to the four of clubs--six--ten. I pitch a diamond from dummy. West, instead of cashing his last club, shifts to the six of spades. What's that all about? One thing for sure. West has the heart ace. He doesn't know who has the thirteenth club. So he would never decline to cash the club queen unless he knew he had an entry. I can cash out for plus 120, but that will surely be a below-average score. If I can sneak a heart through him, I'll make the 150 I need. I play the spade jack--eight--queen. Now the nine of hearts. West plays the jack. I play the queen. It holds, and I claim all but one of the remaining tricks. Making three.

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

I'm still not sure what the spade shift was all about. But I'm not complaining.

To my surprise, my decision to try to duck out the singleton ace of diamonds was wrong. I was right that the field was in diamonds. In fact, every pair but us played in three diamonds. But I was wrong about how many tricks they took. Only one pair was plus 130, so plus 120 would have been a fine score.

I was curious how so many declarers were holding themselves to nine tricks. So I had Jack bid and play the deal himself, playing Eastern Science Fiction. The auction went one diamond--double--three diamonds--all pass. West led the club king. South took his ace and played a low diamond from his hand at trick two.

Five out of six declarers played the hand this way? For this line to make sense, declarer must think West is better than two-to-one to have the diamond ace as a result of his double. I don't think that's true, especially given he has the king and queen of clubs. And, even if it were true, why lead low from your hand? How can it be wrong to lead up the king just to give East a chance to hop? I'm not impressed with Jack's declarer play on this deal.

Score on Board 59: +150 (12 MP)
Total: 468 (66.1%)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 58

Board 58
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 9 7 2 ♥ K 9 5 4 ♦ 6 5 ♣ 9 5 4 3

RHO opens one heart. I pass, LHO bids two clubs, partner passes, and RHO bids two diamonds. I pass again, and LHO bids four hearts, ending the auction. Four hearts should show four-card support. But my heart suit suggest that's not what LHO has. Spades seems like the suit to attack. Perhaps it will kill the entry to dummy's clubs, or perhaps we will simply cash some top spade tricks before declarer has a chance to pitch them. I lead the deuce of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
			1 ♥
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	2 ♦
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)

Declarer's likeliest shape is 2-5-5-1. Dummy plays the three of spades, partner plays the king, and declarer follows with the five. Presumably he has queen-five. Partner shifts to the deuce of hearts. Shifting to a singleton trump is a dangerous move. This suggest partner has both minors under control and envisions a crossruff as declarer's best chance to take tricks.

Declarer plays the three. I cover with the four, and dummy wins with the six. Declarer plays the ten of spades--six--queen. What's the spade ten all about? It's hard to see the point of that play. In any event, partner's failure to cover suggests to declarer that he does not have jack-nine, so I play nine, the card I'm suspected to hold.

Declarer leads the heart seven. So he isn't crossruffing. He apparently intends to establish his diamond suit. I play the five, declarer rises with the ace, and partner pitches the three of diamonds. I suppose declarer needs to ruff one diamond in dummy, so there was no point in taking the heart finesse.

Declarer cashes the spade ace--eight--club ten--nine. This confirms he is 2-5-5-1. He then leads the jack of diamonds--seven--queen. I suspect partner already knows how many diamonds I have, so I play the five. Declarer cashes the diamond ace, pitching dummy's spade, and partner follows with the four.

What are declarer's diamonds? He can't have ace-queen-ten-nine fifth. He would have taken a ruffing finesse against me rather than take a fruitless finesse against partner. Declarer leads the diamond nine. Obviously partner has king-ten left. If declarer ruffs this trick, then ruffs a club to his hand, he is down to two trumps. When he drives partner's king of diamonds, partner will tap him, promoting my long trump for down one.

I pitch the three of clubs. Declarer sees the futility of ruffing. He pitches a club as well, allowing partner to score the ten. Partner plays the spade jack--diamond deuce--club four--ruff. Declarer then leads the seven of clubs. When partner plays the deuce, he pitches the eight of diamonds. Nice play, Jack! The old isochromatic coup! The hope is that West just assumes declarer is ruffing this trick, sees a red card, and carelessly follows with five. I once saw Marshall Miles make a grand slam this way. (Against someone nicknamed "Rocket." Isn't that exactly the nickname you'd like your opponent to have if you try this play?) Fortunately, I'm awake. I win the trick with the nine of clubs. The heart king is the setting trick.

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

Four pairs made this contract, so we get ten matchpoints.

Declarer was in too big a hurry to pitch his club loser. It's not even clear that pitching it is a good idea. The ten of clubs is potentially a useful card. Upon winning the heart six in dummy, declarer should float the jack of diamonds. If the jack of diamonds loses to the king and the defense cashes a club, you will need to bring home the trumps. But, if you do, you are well placed. You have five heart tricks, two spades, and two diamonds. Either one club trick or the ten of diamonds dropping will see you home.

If the jack of diamonds holds, you lead a spade to your queen and cash the ace of diamonds. You are now down to this position, needing six more tricks:

	NORTH ♠ A 4 ♥ A 10 ♦ -- ♣ K J 8 7
	SOUTH ♠ -- ♥ Q J 8 7 ♦ Q 9 8 ♣ 10

At this point, you have two sensible ways to proceed:

(1) Play for a crossruff: Ruff a diamond, ace of spades pitching a club, club ruff, diamond ruff with the heart ace, club ruff. That's nine tricks and you still have the queen-jack of hearts to produce a tenth. As it happens, this line will fail. LHO pitches his last spade as you ruff a diamond to dummy, so you can't cash the spade ace.

(2) Play for a club trick: Float the ten of clubs. This may drive the ace or West may hop. Failing that, you can take a ruffing finesse against the ace later. If you score a club trick, you need only one diamond ruff, so you can time the play differently to ensure you score the spade ace. As the cards lie, this line will work.

Which line is better? It's impossible to calculate precisely, since it requires making some guesses about what the opponents will do. Would East have covered the jack of diamonds with king third? How about king-ten third? Will West hop with the club ace when you lead the ten of clubs? What can you conclude about East's minor-suit holdings from the fact that he shifted to a trump at trick two? In the end, you have to rely more on instinct than on calculation. And it's hard to be objective about your instincts when you already know the right answer. To be honest, I think I would have gotten it wrong. (1) feels like a stronger line to me.

Score on Board 58: +100 (10 MP)
Total: 456 MP (65.5%)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 57

Board 57
Opponents vulnerable

♠ 6 2 ♥ K ♦ K Q 9 8 4 ♣ K J 10 6 2

Partner passes, and RHO opens one spade. If partner were not a passed hand, I might bid two diamonds in an attempt to reach three notrump. Opposite a passed hand, I'm less worried about missing a game, so I bid a slightly overstrength unusual two notrump, LHO passes, and partner bids three clubs. RHO bids four spades. I pass, LHO passes, and partner bids five clubs. If you want to bid five clubs, partner, please bid it the first time. Auctions like this--both in bridge and on eBay--are one of my pet peeves.

Not to be outdone, RHO bids five spades. Everyone passes.

Declarer probably has a singleton or void in clubs. If partner has the club ace and it's cashing, it can probably wait, since I rate to gain the lead with the king of hearts. But if we need to develop diamond tricks, I may need to start the suit now. So I lead the king of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1 ♠
2 NT1	Pass	3 ♣	4 ♠
Pass	Pass	5 ♣	5 ♠
(All pass)
1Unusual

That's quite a dummy to catch! An ace plus fillers opposite declarer's secondary length.

Declarer plays the ace of diamonds--seven--jack. Partner's seven should be a singleton. If we gain the lead, we are in a cashout situation, so we should be giving count. Even though I almost always give attitude at trick one, I make an explicit exception here. When the opponents play the five level or higher, I give count on the lead of a king. I do not assume that Jack plays this way, however, so I'm not sure who has the remaining diamond.

Declarer leads the seven of spades from dummy. Partner plays the ace--four--deuce. I don't see any reason partner would hop with ace doubleton of spades. While it is unlikely declarer would bid this way missing two spade honors, why take the risk if there is nothing to gain? So it appears declarer has eight spades.

Partner shifts to the queen of clubs. Again, a count card would be more helpful. If I had ace-jack of clubs, I might need to know which minor-suit trick to try to cash next. Why did partner lead the queen? Maybe he's trying to retain the lead in case I have the ace-king of clubs and a heart void. He expects me to overtake the queen if I don't have a heart void and to duck if I do. That might be a sensible plan in other circumstances. But I wouldn't have led the diamond king with a heart void. If I led a diamond honor at all, I'd lead the queen, forcing partner to overtake if he has the ace. More likely, I'd lead an alarm-clock fourth best club.

Declarer plays the ace. I encourage with the six. Declarer now exits with the seven of clubs. I win with the ten as partner plays the three. Why is declarer conceding a club trick? Could he be trying to ruff a club in dummy? That would give him an 8-1-1-3 pattern, leaving partner with 1-7-2-3. Is that really possible? Probably not, but I don't see any reason not to play a trump just in case. If declarer has a diamond loser, it's not going anywhere. I play a spade.

To my surprise, partner follows with the spade three. Declarer wins the trick with dummy's nine and leads the heart queen for a finesse. I take my king. I can place declarer with seven spades, two hearts (presuming he has the ace), one diamond, and two clubs. He has one card unaccounted for. If it's a club or a diamond, declarer has no low hearts, so he can't reach dummy for a discard. That means it doesn't matter which minor I try to cash. I try the diamond queen. Declarer ruffs and claims. Down one.

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

Two other pairs defended five spades and beat it, so plus 100 is worth ten matchpoints.

Maybe I was too hasty in assuming partner wouldn't hop with ace doubleton of spades. What if declarer had something like

♠ K Q J x x x x x ♥ A K x ♦ x ♣ x?

Now partner must hop. If he ducks, declarer can abandon trumps and pitch his club on dummy's fourth heart. I made the classic error of assuming partner knew as much about the hand as I did. I knew hearts weren't running, but partner didn't. 

Declarer made two mistakes on this deal. First of all, he should not have conceded the club trick. Had he led a spade to dummy and taken an immediate heart finesse, I would not have known which minor to cash (thanks to partner's leading the club queen instead of the eight). I suppose declarer was trying to execute a scissors coup. If he lost the heart finesse to a singleton king, he didn't want me to lead a club to partner's putative jack to get a ruff. But that's necessary only when I'm three-one in the majors. In addition, he's only saving an extra undertrick. Surely it's better to maximize his chance of making his contract.

Second, I think declarer should actually drop my heart king and make six. An alarm went off in my head when partner unexpectedly followed to the second trump. It should have gone off in declarer's head as well. There is no reason for East to hop unless he is afraid of pitches on dummy's hearts. If he has the heart king, he has no such fear. Furthermore, if he has the heart king, hopping actually hands declarer his contract.

If East takes the spade ace, he gives declarer a dummy entry with the spade nine with which to take the heart finesse. If he ducks, declarer can stay in dummy by letting the seven hold. But, when he takes two heart finesses, West scores a ruff for down one. That's not hard for East to see, so hopping with the spade ace marks me with the heart king.

To test this theory, I switched the king and three of hearts and replayed the deal. East indeed ducks the spade ace in that layout, as he must. 

Score on Board 57: +100 (10 MP)
Total: 446 MP (65.2 %)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 56

Board 56
Neither vulnerable

♠ A K 10 4 ♥ 10 9 ♦ A K 10 8 6 ♣ J 6

LHO deals and passes, partner passes, and RHO opens with one heart. If you take away the diamond king, I might bid one spade. But I avoid overcalling in a four-card suit unless I'm happy to pass if partner raises. With this hand, if partner were to raise to two spades, I wouldn't know what to do. As a general rule, if you step out on a limb, get lucky (e.g., find the fit you were hoping for), and now find yourself faced with a a difficult problem, it's fair to say it was a mistake to step out on that limb in the first place.

So my choices are two diamonds or double. Two diamonds risks burying the spade suit; doubling and correcting clubs to diamonds suggests a better hand (without an agreement to the contrary). I decide to stretch a little and double. I do have four honor tricks after all, so it's not that much of a stretch.

LHO passes, partner bids one notrump, and RHO bids two hearts. I was intending to raise to two notrump if RHO had passed, and I see no reason to change my mind. I bid two notrump. LHO bids three hearts, partner bids four diamonds, and RHO passes.

One notrump, then four diamonds? I have a suspicion I'm going to disagree with at least one of partner's bids. It goes against the grain to pass with undisclosed five-card support for partner's suit. But it's hard to see how I can take 11 tricks opposite a hand that bid only one notrump the first time around. I pass, and LHO passes. RHO leads the five of spades, fourth best.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	Pass
1 ♥	Double	Pass	1 NT
2 ♥	2 NT	3 ♥	4 ♦
(All pass)

Four diamonds was downright weird. But one notrump was a mistake as well. With only two hearts opposite my known shortness, partner should anticipate there will be more bidding by the opponents, so he should get his five-card suit into the auction, allowing me to compete if I have good support. If he had just bid his long suit when he had the chance (look who's talking), he wouldn't need these heroics at the four-level.

I play the spade ace--nine--six. East must have the spade queen for his signal, giving West jack-eight-five. Wait. Does that make sense? Would East squander the nine with queen-nine-three-deuce? He could conceivably permit me to establish dummy's four by doing that. East must have five spades--queen-jack-nine-eight fifth--and West must have five-three or five-deuce doubleton.

I suspect West has both aces. With queen-jack fifth of spades and an ace, East would have bid over the double. If West has the club queen as well, I can establish a club trick to make this: Draw trumps, ruff a spade to my hand, and play a club toward the jack. West can't get his partner in to put a heart through.

Is there any way I can make it without assuming West has the club queen? Yes, there is, as long as West has at most one of the minor heart honors. I can draw trumps, cash the spade ace, then lead the ten of hearts. If East plays low, so do I. If he covers, I play the king. West is then endplayed. This line fails only if East has both the queen and jack of hearts.

I cash the diamond ace--five--three--seven, then the diamond king--club three--four--queen. The club three sets off all kinds of alarms. If East is 5-3-1-4, why is he pitching a club rather than a spade? I cash the spade king to get a look at the spots. East plays the deuce; West, the three. That certainly looks as if West led a doubleton spade. But I don't just believe East would clutch his fifth spade like that. Perhaps West led a middle spade from three small. I change my mind about floating the ten of hearts. I play the spade four--jack--jack of diamonds--spade eight. Whew! That was close. I have seen Jack lead middle from three small in the middle of the hand. But his convention card specifically says low from three small on opening lead. Good thing I got the wake-up call from East.

So West is 3-6-2-2. Can I lead a trump back to dummy and float the ten of hearts? No. That leaves me with only one trump in my hand. West will play three rounds of hearts. I can ruff, pitching a club loser from dummy. But now I have no trumps left to ruff dummy's last spade. The only way to endplay West is to lead a heart from my hand. That requires West to have both minor honors instead of just one.

It may appear that it's better to play on clubs. After all, that play requires West to have only one card, the club queen, while exiting with a heart requires him to have two, the queen and jack of hearts. But that reasoning ignores the fact that he is more likely to hold a particular heart than he is to hold a particular club. Let's examine the relevant hands:

(A)	♠ 8 5 3 ♥ A Q x x x x ♦ Q 7 ♣ A Q
(B)	♠ 8 5 3 ♥ A J x x x x ♦ Q 7 ♣ A Q
(C)	♠ 8 5 3 ♥ A x x x x x ♦ Q 7 ♣ A Q
(D)	♠ 8 5 3 ♥ A Q J x x x ♦ Q 7 ♣ A x

If West has (A) , (B), or (C), I must play a club. If he has (D), I must play a heart. Each of these hands leaves East with a normal two-heart bid over the double. If I were playing against anyone but Jack, I would rate (A) unlikely and would rate the other hands impossible. Therefore, I would play a club. But, after the last board, I'm not attaching much significance to East's failure to raise. So I will assume they are all possible.

A priori, (D) is roughly five times as likely as either (A) , (B), or (C), since there are five ways to hold ace-small of clubs and only one way to hold ace-queen. That's enough of a difference that, at the table, I wouldn't bother incorporating the heart suit into my calculation. But, since we have time, let's do it anyway just for the sake of completeness. There are 20 ways to hold three small hearts out of six, 15 ways to hold four small hearts out of six, and six ways to hold five small hearts. So there are 15 ways to hold (A), 15 ways to hold (B), six ways to hold (C),  and 100 ways (20 times five) to hold (D). As long as I'm right to pay no attention to East's failure to raise, exiting with a heart is by far the better play.

I play the heart king. West takes the ace, cashes the queen, then cashes the club ace. Making four.

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

It didn't matter what I did. Either play would have worked.

Almost everyone played four diamonds, but only one other pair made it, probably because they didn't have the foresight to play it from the South side. A heart lead from East beats it easily. So there! For those of you who didn't like my take-out double.

One pair defended four hearts and allowed it to score. I guess it's not that hard to slip up. You lead the diamond king and it holds. Unless you play three rounds of spades now, declarer will make it. That looks easy looking at all four hands. But what if you simply make one of declarer's spades a small club? Now the winning defense is to tap dummy with a second diamond, killing the entry to the spades and leaving declarer with a club loser. How can you decide? You could cash the spade king at trick two to get a count card from partner. But if you can't read his card, then you still won't know what to do. Perhaps the pair who allowed four hearts to score was playing upside-down signals. If declarer correctly drops the eight, South's six will be unreadable.

We get nine matchpoints for plus 130.

Score on Board 56: +130 (9 MP)
Total: 436 (64.9%)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 55

Board 55
Both sides vulnerable

♠ K 9 6 3 ♥ A K J 10 6 2 ♦ A ♣ 6 3

I open one heart. LHO overcalls two clubs, which is passed back to me. Jack suggests two hearts at this point. But I don't see how that can be superior to double. I'm happy to correct diamonds to hearts at whatever level partner chooses to introduce the suit. And double brings spades into the picture. Even if we don't have an eight-card fit in spades, the knowledge that I'm four-six in the majors may help partner to evaluate his hand.

LHO bids two spades. Advancer couldn't raise clubs, opener has shown spade length, and responder has implied club length and might have a trap pass. All in all, this is a dangerous move on LHO's part, so he should have quite a good hand. Some would play that this bid promises five spades. But those who employ Michaels indiscriminately would probably never have five spades. For those players, this bid should show self-sufficient clubs with a secondary spade suit--much like my hand with hearts and clubs reversed. I don't know how Jack plays this auction, and RHO isn't very forthcoming with the explanations.

Partner bids three diamonds, and I correct to three hearts as planned. Everyone passes, and West leads the six of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
			1 ♥
2 ♣	Pass	Pass	Double
2 ♠	3 ♦	Pass	3 ♥
(All pass)

What is going on here? This is the second time partner has declined to produce a perfectly normal single raise after an opponent's overcall. Had he bid two hearts, we would have had no trouble reaching game.

I play the diamond eight from dummy; East covers with the ten. That suggests the diamond lead is from a doubleton. Otherwise East would know my ace was singleton and might not cover. If two spades promised five, then West is 5-0-2-6. I don't have the entries to pick up four-zero trumps, so I cash the heart ace. West plays the queen; East follows with the four. I'm just as glad I was short of entries.

So it appears West is 4-1-2-6. He should have both black aces. Not only would his bid be exceptionally imprudent without them, his decision to lead a small doubleton in dummy's suit suggests that either black suit lead is unattractive.

I play the heart jack (Not the king. No reason to let West know his partner isn't winning the trick)--club deuce--seven--five. Then the heart king--club five-eight--nine. I play the club six--ace--eight--four. West returns the seven of clubs--king--ten--three. Jack tends to play up-the-line after his initial count signal. So East's remaining club is probably the jack.

I might as well cash the diamond king in case West made a sneaky lead from queen doubleton. King--three--spade three--diamond five. The only way to take an eleventh trick is to play East for queen doubleton of spades, even though it is unlikely he has it. Even with the queen West has a rather thin two-spade bid.

Well, maybe there is another way. Suppose I ruff out the queen of diamonds, then play a low spade toward dummy. If West has the spade queen, this is the problem he faces:

	NORTH ♠ J 10 2 ♥ -- ♦ 9 2 ♣ --
WEST ♠ A Q x ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ x x		EAST ♠ ? x ♥ -- ♦ 7 4 ♣ x
	SOUTH ♠ ? x x ♥ x x ♦ -- ♣ --

West must decide who has the king. If East has it, West must duck to untangle his spade tricks. But if I have it, he must hop with the queen. (Yes, I know technically that isn't true. He can also untangle his tricks by hopping with the either honor and continuing with a low spade while East still has a club exit. But, for practical purposes, that is the same thing as ducking, so I will ignore that option.)

If I play this way, will he duck? Or am I better off pinning my hopes on the unlikely chance that East has the spade queen? Let's look at the problem from West's point of view. The auction suggests I have the spade king. I don't need it for my opening bid, but I might have balanced with two hearts rather than double if my spade suit were four small. Furthermore, the spade king would be a huge card for East on this auction. He might well bid four clubs over three diamonds if he had it. There is also a clue from the play. On the second club East had an opportunity to give a suit-preference signal. While I am not nearly so big a fan of suit preference as most experts, even I would give suit preference in this situation.

Against that, West might reason that if declarer has the spade king, the field will be in game, rendering his play immaterial. The only time his play is apt to matter is when East has the spade king. So he might as well assume that's the case and duck. If I were West, I would probably duck for this reason.

Of course, these considerations apply only when playing against a human. Jack will not consider any of these things. He will simply deal out some random hands and choose the play that works most often. Even if he doesn't deduce that I have four spades, he knows I have at least three. So I will hold the spade king more often than not in his simulation, and he will conclude that the percentage play is to hop. As unlikely as the finesse is to work, it probably has a better chance than the swindle.

Too bad. I hate it when I decide the normal play is right. It's much more fun to make the abnormal play. I lead the spade jack--five--six--queen. Making four.

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

Just to make sure, I backed up the play and tried the swindle. I ruffed out the queen of diamonds then led the nine of spades (advertising that, if I have the king, I have spurned a legitimate play). West hopped with the queen and cashed the ace. I'm glad to see my judgment was correct.

Not surprisingly, we are the only pair not to reach to game, so this is a well-deserved zero.

Score on Board 55: +170 (0 MP)
Total: 427 MP (64.7%)

Current rank: 1st

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

Match 2 - Board 53

Before we begin, those of you who read my earlier posts advising Hartford Opera Theater about the mechanics of playing bridge might enjoy seeing the use to which my advice was put. The following video is from the rehearsal of Samuel Barber's A Hand of Bridge. Michelle Hendrick's stagings are always creative. I've never seen a bridge game quite like this one.

The video takes you through the auction and the opening lead. If you want to see the rest of the hand, you can purchase tickets here.

Board 53
Our side vulnerable

♠ A 5 4 3 ♥ Q 10 2 ♦ Q 8 ♣ 9 7 6 4

Partner passes, and RHO opens with one heart. I pass, LHO bids one notrump (forcing), and RHO bids two hearts. I pass again, and LHO raises to four hearts. Everyone passes.

If I had the same hand with three small hearts, I might lead the queen of diamonds, hoping either to build up diamond tricks or to maneuver a ruff. But, since I have a trump trick that I didn't have to have, there is less reason to be aggressive. I lead a third-and-lowest six of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1 ♥
Pass	1 NT1	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)
1Forcing

Declarer plays the club king from dummy; partner plays the eight; declarer, the deuce. Declarer cashes dummy's club ace. Partner plays the five, and declarer pitches the seven of diamonds. Since partner knows my club count, there is no reason for me to reveal it to declarer. So I decide to conceal the four. I choose the nine rather the seven, since it is the card I'm known to hold. (Partner obviously intended the eight as high, so he cannot hold the nine.) It may appear to the casual kibitzer that I'm giving suit preference for spades. Rest assured I am not.

Declarer's likeliest shape is 3-6-3-1. If he has a third-round spade loser, he can ruff it in dummy. If that is his plan, he will lead a spade from dummy at trick three. If he doesn't lead a spade, it's likely he has either the spade queen (with or without the king) or a doubleton spade. In the latter case, he is probably 2-7-3-1. 2-6-4-1 is unlikely, given the diamond pitch.

He doesn't lead a spade. He leads the three of clubs. Partner plays the ten, and declarer ruffs with the heart three.

What's this play all about? It appears declarer is stripping the hand for an endplay. Perhaps he intends to play ace and a heart to his jack, endplaying me if I win with queen doubleton. Although, given my conclusions about his spade holding, I can't construct a precise hand where that makes any sense.

Perhaps there is no technical basis for this play. Perhaps it is only a discovery play. Maybe declarer is trying to gather information about the lie of the club suit to help resolve a guess in another suit. If so, what card should I play? Either card will reveal something. The four will reveal my count; the seven will reveal I don't have an honor (since he knows I have only one card left higher than the six). How will this information help him? Count will help him if he is trying to guess the trump suit. Knowing about my high cards will help him if he is trying to place honors. Since there is nothing he can do about his trump loser, I would rather he have an accurate count than know I don't have a club honor. I play the club four.

Declarer plays the four of hearts. Declarer has no reason I can see to insert the eight, and splitting would cost a trick of partner has a stiff king. So I play the deuce--ace--nine. Declarer leads the eight of spades--seven--ten.

This looks like king-ten third of spades. So it appears declarer does need to ruff a spade. He just postponed the spade play, although I'm not sure why. It seems awfully risky--as well as pointless--to make this discovery play in clubs. What if I had something like

♠ Q x x x x ♥ Q x ♦ x x x ♣ 9 7 6 ?

I could win the spade queen, return a spade to partner's ace, and get a trump promotion on the fourth round of clubs. Maybe I was wrong to play the club four. The seven, making it appear that I was now out of clubs, might have given declarer more to worry about.

I take my ace and return the three of spades--jack--queen--king. Declarer cashes the king of hearts. In the fullness of time, I take my heart queen. Making five.

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

One pair got all the way to six hearts, down two. (Down two is a bit of a surprise. That means West didn't lead the spade ace, looking at a likely trump trick.) Of the five declarers who played in game, two made only four. So we get three matchpoints for minus 450.

Would I have done better to conceal the club count, playing the seven instead of the four on the third round? One of the advantages of playing against Jack is you can actually answer such questions. I replayed the hand to find out. Declarer was indeed afraid of an uppercut if I did that. Instead of playing a heart to the ace right away, he cashed the heart king, then played a heart to ace. He can no longer make five. Even if he guesses spades, I can take my ace, cash the heart queen, then exit in a minor to score partner's queen of spades.

Should I have seen this? I certainly should have seen that concealing the club count will make declarer worry about an uppercut. Annoyingly, that didn't occur to me until a few tricks later. It may be hard to see precisely how this worry will play out, but I don't need to. Instilling this worry must represent some advantage to the defense, and that fact is sufficient reason to play the seven. So I did made a mistake.

Declarer misplayed it, of course. It's unlikely he would learn anything useful from ruffing the club. He should have played a spade to the ten at trick two (taking the percentage guess in spades, since my failure to lead the suit increases the likelihood that I have the ace). But that's little consolation. When declarer misplays a hand, I'm supposed to make him pay.

Score on Board 53: -450 (3 MP)
Total: 418 MP (65.7%)

Current rank: 1st