Board 25

Board 25
Opponents vulnerable

♠ 8 7 6 3 2 ♥ J 3 ♦ 8 5 ♣ A Q 9 6

Partner opens one diamond in first seat, and I respond one spade. Partner bids one notrump.  This is too weak a hand to pass one notrump, and it's been decades since one could rebid a non-forcing two clubs.  I have little choice but to bid two spades.  I just hope partner isn't 1-4-4-4 or 1-4-5-3.  Two spades ends the auction, and West leads the seven of clubs:

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

West	North	East	South
	1 ♦	Pass	1 ♠
Pass	1 NT	Pass	2 ♠
(All pass)

I have at least two spade losers, and one loser in each of the other suits. I can't afford any more. That means I need the heart ace onside and three-three spades. I also need to find something to do with my fourth club. I play the deuce of clubs from dummy, and East plays the king, and I win with the ace.

If clubs are four-two, I may need to set up a diamond trick for a club discard. It's tempting to play diamonds now. Unfortunately, I can't afford to. Say I duck a diamond and the defense continues clubs. I now play ace and a trump. If trumps are three-three (as they need to be), the opponents can separate their trump tricks via a club ruff. So I need to get trumps out of the way first.

I play a spade to the ace. West plays the four; East, the nine. I play dummy's ten of spades to East's queen, while West plays the five. East returns the ten of clubs, I win with the queen, and West follows with the three. So clubs are 4-2. It's possible West began with a doubleton and East's ten is a falsecard, but I doubt it.  I'm going to assume West began with J873.  If so, it's not going to be easy to avoid a second club loser. It appears I need the king-queen of diamonds to be onside. Let's say I play a third trump, and the opponents play ace and a heart. I ruff dummy's last heart to my hand. I'm down to:

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ A J 4 3 ♣ 5
	SOUTH ♠ 8 ♥ -- ♦ 8 5 ♣ 9 6

If West has king-queen of diamonds and J8 of clubs, I can play a diamond and duck if he plays an honor. Do I have any other chances?  Maybe.  If I'm confident West is out of hearts in this end position, it doesn't hurt to cash the last trump. If West has king third of diamonds (without the queen), he may think he's being squeezed.  From his point of view, I might have:

♠ x ♥ -- ♦ Q x x ♣ x

If so, he can't afford to pitch a diamond. Nor can he afford the eight of clubs, since I could then endplay him. Maybe he'll decide to play his partner for the nine of clubs and throw the jack. If he does, I'll not only make the contract, I'll make an overtrick.

I play the third round of spades. West plays the jack, I pitch the deuce of diamonds from dummy, and East plays the deuce of hearts. I can no longer make this. The best I can hope for is down one. West cashes his last trump, I discard dummy's three of diamonds, and East discards the six of hearts. West now cashes the jack of clubs, solving my club problem. The ace of hearts is onside, so I'm down only one:

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

West apparently was worried about my having queen third of diamonds and a singleton club.  Rather than wait to discard the nine of clubs in the diagrammed position, he chose to cash it now.  This would be necessary if my singleton club were the nine.

The auction is the same at the other table. But declarer takes a different approach to the play. He wins the club lead and plays a spade to the ten. This seems wrong. You need three-three spades, so why block the suit? East wins and returns a club. Declarer wins and plays a diamond to the jack. We saw the danger of playing diamonds too early, and our fears proved correct.  East takes his queen and crosses to his partner's heart ace. West plays jack and a club, promoting an extra trump trick for the defense. Down two.

Me: -50
Jack: -100

Score on Board 25: +2 IMPs
Total: +76 IMPs