| ♠ 9 7 ♥ A Q J 9 6 2 ♦ K Q 8 ♣ 10 3 |
The auction begins one spade--pass--two spades to me. This time I don't have much chance of producing a swing in the auction. Three hearts is the only reasonable action. I bid three hearts. LHO bids three spades, and partner bids four hearts. RHO bids four spades. I have nothing further to contribute. Four spades ends the auction, and partner leads the seven of hearts.
| NORTH ♠ Q J 8 3 ♥ 5 3 ♦ 10 9 6 5 4 ♣ K 8 | ||
| EAST ♠ 9 7 ♥ A Q J 9 6 2 ♦ K Q 8 ♣ 10 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
| 1 ♠ | |||
| Pass | 2 ♠ | 3 ♥ | 3 ♠ |
| 4 ♥ | 4 ♠ | (All pass) |
It seems all I need to do is to cash whatever hearts I can before they disappear on declarer's clubs. Nothing else can go away. I play the ace; declarer plays the four. I return the queen of hearts, declarer wins with the king, and partner plays the eight.
Declarer plays the deuce of diamonds--jack--four. Why is declarer playing diamonds before drawing trumps? If declarer were human, I would suspect him of attempting some kind of swindle. Perhaps he has three small diamonds and is hoping we get our diamond tricks tangled up so someone will be endplayed later on. If partner has ace-jack doubleton of diamonds, for example, he will have to cash the ace once his jack holds. Otherwise declarer can strip the hand and lead a second diamond to endplay him. Playing a diamond immediately makes it harder for the defense to see what's going on. If declarer were to strip the hand, then play a diamond, it would be easy for partner to see that he has to hop with the diamond ace and return the jack
If declarer indeed has three small diamonds, I can prevent partner from making a mistake by overtaking his jack and playing another diamond myself. That won't work too well if declarer has ace third of diamonds, since overtaking will give him a trick. But how can that be? If declarer has ace third of diamonds and needs to hold his diamond losses to one trick, he has a legitimate play available: strip the hand and play ace and another diamond, hoping someone has two honors doubleton. It would be quite a feat even to envision how leading a low diamond from ace third might entice the defense to give away a trick.
I've never seen Jack adopt a strictly deceptive line. But I can't see any harm in overtaking the diamond and playing another one just in case, since I don't believe it's possible declarer has ace third of diamonds. I play the queen of diamonds and continue with the eight. Partner wins the ace and plays a third round of diamonds, which declarer ruffs. Declarer plays a club to dummy and loses a spade finesse to partner's king for down one.
| NORTH ♠ Q J 8 3 ♥ 5 3 ♦ 10 9 6 5 4 ♣ K 8 | ||
| WEST ♠ K 4 ♥ 10 8 7 ♦ A J 7 ♣ J 9 6 4 2 | EAST ♠ 9 7 ♥ A Q J 9 6 2 ♦ K Q 8 ♣ 10 3 | |
| SOUTH ♠ A 10 6 5 2 ♥ K 4 ♦ 3 2 ♣ A Q 7 5 |
The auction is identical at the other table. The play begins the same way, but East doesn't overtake the jack of diamonds. Of course, this doesn't matter. Declarer is still down one. I'm not sure what declarer was up to with the diamond play. Perhaps he had nothing in particular in mind but was just giving us an opportunity to do something stupid--like win and play a third round of hearts. That's not a bad strategy. If the opponents can't do you any harm, you might as well put them on play and see if they can contrive to do themselves harm.
I can't say I approve of the three spade bid that both Souths chose. If it was intended as a game try, which I doubt, it's an overbid. If it was intended as competitive, it's a misbid. With no sixth trump or second five-card suit there is no reason to compete at the three level. Partner will almost always compete himself if he has a fourth trump.
If South had passed, West would have raised to four hearts, North would have no reason to bid, and South would have been plus fifty instead of minus fifty. On the actual auction, I see nothing wrong with North's four spade bid. Make South's heart king a small spade, giving him a more typical three spade bid, and both games could be making.
Me: +50
Jack: +50
Score on Board 72: 0 IMPs
Total: -135 IMPs
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