Board 2

Board 2
Our side vulnerable

♠ K Q 9 6 5 2 ♥ Q 5 ♦ J 9 4 ♣ A 2

East bids one club. Opposite a passed hand, I might bid two spades so partner knows I have six. (I'm a believer in the Law of Total Tricks, so I like to let partner know how many trumps I have in a competitive auction.) But, even at this vulnerability, I think this is too good a hand for two spades opposite an unpassed hand. I bid one spade. West bids three diamonds, weak, and partner bids three spades. East passes. Do you bid on?

Seven losers is a lot for partner to cover. Partner's going to strain to raise any time he has support, so you have to give him some leeway. I pass. West leads the four of clubs and partner tables:

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

West	North	East	South
		1 ♣	1 ♠
3 ♦	3 ♠	(All pass)

With four-card support and seven losers, I would have raised to four. Still, it appears partner’s judgment is better than mine. They can probably beat four on a diamond ruff. More importantly, had he bid four spades, they might have “saved” in five clubs, which will actually make unless we can take two heart tricks. Nice bid, partner. How do you play?

If you win and play a spade, East will probably win and play a diamond to West for a ruff. How will West know the diamond shift is from a singleton?

East has no reason to play diamonds otherwise. If he wants West to shift to hearts on winning the ace of diamonds, he can simply exit passively with a spade and wait. Your contract is in no jeopardy, but you can make an overtrick if you can stop the ruff. Do you see any way to do this?

You can try leading a diamond yourself, making it look as if you have the singleton. West will probably win and shift to hearts. This gambit may backfire if East is void in diamonds. But West would probably have led a diamond from ace seventh.

This next question is important. At the table, players frequently get this wrong. Which diamond should you lead to make it appear that you have a singleton?

Assuming the opponents play standard carding, you should lead the four. If you lead a high card and East's singleton is higher than the four, West will know his partner doesn't have three diamonds. If the opponents play upside-down count, you should lead the nine. East will play the nine from any three-card holding except 10-9-x, so if you hold on to the nine and East doesn't play it, West will know you have it.

I lead the four of diamonds. West hops and shifts to a heart. Making four. The full deal:

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

It appears my sneaky play could have cost a trick. They couldn't stop four after the opening lead without my help. It also appears that my play was riskier than I thought. It never occurred to me that West could have two aces. If he had seven diamonds, the heart ace, and a spade void, I was going down after my play. What do you think of the three diamond bid?

I think two aces is much too good a holding for a weak jump shift. I could understand passing, but my preference would be to bid two diamonds. With a long suit and shortness in the overcalled suit, I think it's OK, even advisable, to stretch a little. The shortness makes it likely LHO will raise, giving partner a chance to pass without a fit and letting your side off the hook. With a third spade I would pass. Now LHO is less likely to raise, and the auction may get out of hand. Further, if you pass and LHO does raise, you can balance. After a raise, it is much safer to balance holding three spades than it is holding two. With three spades, you have a greater expectation of finding partner with diamond support. With shortness in the opponents' suit, the safest way to find a fit is to bid your suit and see if partner can support it. On this deal, a two diamond bid might even propel you into five clubs, which will probably make. Why only probably?

Suppose I lead a spade. Declarer can make the contract by ruffing a diamond and leading toward the nine of clubs. But he’s unlikely to choose this line. More likely, declarer will lead the nine of hearts at trick two. If partner ducks, declarer will probably play low, then finesse again at some point. If partner plays the king, however, and switches to a trump when declarer ducks, declarer may later lead a heart to jack. Whether he should or not is a matter I’m not prepared to go into here.

In the replay, the auction and lead were identical. Declarer unimaginatively attacked trumps at trick two for a push.

Me:    +170
Jack:  +170

Score on board 2: 0 IMPs
Total: +10 IMPs