Board 106

Board 106
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 10 ♥ 9 6 5 ♦ Q 7 6 ♣ K Q 7 6 5 2

RHO opens four spades in first seat. I pass, and LHO bids Blackwood. RHO bids five spades, showing two key cards and the trump queen, in other words, showing a hand I wouldn't have opened four spades with. LHO bids five notrump. What more does he expect his partner to have?

Should I double six clubs when RHO bids it to direct a lead against a possible six notrump? No, I don't think so. I doubt LHO is going to bid six notrump, and I see no reason to tip declarer off about the location of the club honors. RHO bids six clubs, as expected, and I pass. LHO bids six spades, which ends the auction.

The king of clubs lead seems pointless, since declarer probably has a singleton club. I think my goal should be to set up a trick in a red suit, and diamonds offers better prospects than hearts. To see why, imagine a dummy like the following

♠ x x ♥ A ? ? x ♦ A ? ? x ♣ A x x

If declarer is 8-2-2-1, he has eleven cashing tricks, and, given time, dummy's red-suit honors will probably provide a twelfth. To beat this, I need to establish a trick for our side without simultaneously establishing a twelfth trick for declarer. If I lead a diamond, I need partner's diamonds to be king-ten or better to achieve this. If I lead a heart, I need partner's hearts to be king-jack or better. Actually, that's not even good enough. I need them to be king-jack-eight or better, so declarer can't establish a heart trick with a ruffing finesse. In short, a diamond lead requires less from partner to be right. So I lead the six of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
			4 ♠
Pass	4 NT	Pass	5 ♠
Pass	5 NT	Pass	6 ♣
Pass	6 ♠	(All pass)

Declarer rises with dummy's ace, partner plays the nine, and declarer plays the four. Declarer should have the ten left, since partner should have played the ten if he had it. But Jack is sometimes careless about that sort of thing. In any event, I'm happy with my opening lead. I doubt the king of clubs would have worked out very well.

Declarer plays a low spade to the king, then a spade back to the jack. I discard the seven of clubs. Partner follows to both spades. So declarer has seven solid spades. Isn't that a prototypical one spade bid? That's what I was always taught. Six solid is a weak two-bid; seven solid is a one-bid.

Declarer plays a spade to his hand, as partner pitches the deuce of hearts. I discard the club deuce. Declarer plays another spade.  I know declarer has no kings, so he has only ten tricks. Is there any danger he can find twelve? Provided he has another diamond, I don't see how. But suppose partner has miscarded with king-jack-ten sixth. Suppose declarer has

♠ A K Q 9 5 3 2 ♥ x x x ♦ 4 ♣ 9 4 .

At some point, declarer will lead the four of clubs toward dummy. If I split, he can win and lead a club to his nine, establishing two club tricks for heart discards. In fact, he doesn't even need the nine. Eight-four is good enough, since partner's nine will drop. To beat this, I must play low when declarer leads the club four. Can it hurt to play low?  What if he has

♠ A K Q 9 5 3 2 ♥ Q x x ♦ 10 4 ♣ 4 ?

If I don't split when he leads the club four, he can insert the jack, pitch a diamond on the club ace, then drive the heart king. But why would he spurn a legitimate chance to play the hand that way? I'm being paranoid even worrying about that. Anyway, I don't have to make up my mind just yet. But I do need to keep four clubs. I pitch the five of hearts, dummy plays the diamond deuce, and partner plays the diamond eight. That should be a count card, so partner should have begun with king-jack-nine-eight-three.

Declarer plays the eight of clubs. There's no reason to duck that card. I play the queen, declarer wins with the ace, and partner plays the four. Declarer plays a club to his nine. I win and lead the diamond queen.  Partner overtakes with the king, and declarer follows (though with the three, not the ten he is supposed to have). Down one.

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

As it happens, a heart lead would have worked, also. A club lead would not, though not for the reason I rejected it.  A club lead is wrong because, surprisingly, clubs is dummy's source of tricks.  Declarer should have flashed me his hand.  I would have led a club for sure if I had known he had a doubleton.

One of these days Jack and I need to have a serious discussion about carding. Of the five cards East might play at trick one, the nine would be second from the bottom on my list. In my opinion, if you want to play high, you play the jack, the highest card you can afford. I could understand the ten, since some players like to reserve the jack for an alarm-clock signal. But the nine makes no sense. The nine (if intended as high) should deny the ten.

Personally, however, I think East should play the eight at trick one, showing count. Declarer's Blackwood response marks East with both red kings, so attitude is unnecessary. If West can count the hand, he will know how to defend. So East should tell him what he needs to know.

At the other table, the auction is the same, but West leads the king of clubs. I'm surprised. The club king strikes me as the kind of lazy lead a human might make but not the kind of mistake I would expect from Jack. I find it hard to believe that a random sampling of deals actually reveals the club king to be the winning choice.

17 imps is a hefty pickup.  We've managed to get the opponents' lead down to something manageable. We have 22 boards left, and all we need is a little more than an imp per board.

Me: +100
Jack: -1430

Score on Board 106: +17 IMPs
Total: -26 IMPs

Board 105

Board 105
Opponents vulnerable

♠ K 10 9 8 ♥ 5 ♦ A 9 8 4 3 ♣ Q 5 2

Partner opens one club, and RHO overcalls with one heart. I double, LHO bids three hearts, and partner bids four spades.

How close are we to making a slam? Partner has only two bids to show spades over three hearts--three spades and four spades--so he might be stretching.  But I would still expect him to have about five losers. I can cover three of them for certain, and the singleton heart probably covers another. If partner has as little as

♠ A Q x x ♥ x x ♦ x ♣ A K x x x x

slam is cold on normal breaks.

What about the fact that we are playing weak notrumps?  Does that place a burden on the four spade bid?  Might partner bid four spades with a good strong notrump, for example, with

♠ A x x x ♥ A x x ♦ Q x ♣ A K x x ?

Personally, I would not. I don't think the negative double promises four spades.  So I think opener's jump to four spades shows a willingness to have responder correct to five clubs. With four spades and a good balanced hand, I would double, intending to bid four spades on the next round. This gives partner the option of defending three hearts doubled, which might well be right if both our hands are balanced.  That being said, I doubt Jack agrees with me.  I suspect he would bid four spades with either of these two hands.

Bidding over four spades is more attractive if you know partner has long clubs. But it's a bit pushy even then. I think I'm a jack or two shy of being worth a move. In the six-four example, make either one of partner's black aces the heart ace instead, and you see the importance of those jacks. Even the jack of diamonds offers a modicum of safety, since it means you have a shot at no diamond losers opposite queen doubleton. This hand is good enough to make me nervous about passing, but it's just too thin to risk a move in a jammed auction. I pass. RHO leads the ten of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
			1 ♣
1 ♥	Double	3 ♥	4 ♠
(All pass)

Partner had full values for his call, so it looks as if we missed a decent slam. That's why people pre-empt. That and the fact that it's fun.

The percentage play in spades is to lead low to the eight, then cash the king if it loses to an honor. That play loses two tricks only when there is a singleton queen or jack on my right. I win with the heart ace, East playing the eight, then play a low spade--five--eight--jack. East taps dummy with the queen of hearts, and I cash the spade king--deuce--six--six of hearts. I float the ten of spades, then play a club. When East doesn't ruff it, I claim. Making six.

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

East would have done better to switch to his singleton club rather than tap dummy.  I don't have the entries to draw trump and ruff a heart in dummy by myself, so a club shift would have held me to five.  The right contract for our side is actually six clubs, not six spades.  I suppose we might have found that had I moved over four spades.  But it would require knowing what our bids mean.  If we start interpreting club bids as cue-bids, it's not going to be easy.

At the other table, the auction is identical, but West leads the diamond king instead of a heart. Since it is now declarer's hand that is subject to a tap, the correct play in spades is the opposite of the way I played it. You should now lead the eight of spades and pass it, intending to cash the ace next if it loses. This loses two tricks only to a singleton queen or jack on your left.

At least that's the right play in isolation. Jack judges, not unreasonably, that West is more likely to have a singleton spade than East. So he cashes the spade king. This play loses to a singleton deuce, four, or five in the East hand. It's not as good as floating the eight a priori, since it loses to three cases instead of two. But it is better if you deem a singleton by East unlikely.

After cashing the spade king, declarer leads the spade eight, presumably intending to pass it. East covers with the jack. Declarer wins with the ace and plays a third spade. I expect East to win and play a fourth spade, holding declarer to five. Instead, East wins and plays a club. This should hold declarer to five, too, since declarer doesn't have the entries to take a ruff and draw trumps. Declarer takes the club queen, plays a heart to the ace, ruffs a heart, and plays a low club from dummy. East pitches. Declarer wins, cashes the seven of spades, and claims.

We would have picked up an imp had East ruffed, but I can't complain. If declarer had

♠ A 7 x x ♥ A x x ♦ x ♣ A K x x x,

ruffing would allow declarer to make his contract. Once East refuses to ruff, declarer must go down. Of course, declarer has misplayed if that is his hand. But sometimes declarers do that. I'm happy to have my teammate invest the imp.

Me: +480
Jack: +480

Score on Board 104: 0 IMPs
Total: -43 IMPs

Board 104

Board 104
Neither vulnerable

♠ J 5 4 2 ♥ Q 6 4 3 ♦ J 3 ♣ A 10 7

RHO opens one spade in third seat. I pass, LHO bids one notrump, and RHO bids two hearts. I pass again. LHO bids three spades. That's surprising. I thought Jack played Drury. RHO goes on to four spades.

This is not an easy opening lead. I'm not going to lead a major, so the choice is between the jack of diamonds and the ace of clubs--or maybe the ten of clubs. Declarer's likeliest pattern is 5-4-3-1, so the jack of diamonds seems dangerous. The ace of clubs will work out badly if dummy has king-queen. But if dummy has only the king, it might not cost. Even if declarer has a third-round diamond loser that he can pitch on the king of clubs, we may have no way to get to that trick in time anyway.

As for the choice of clubs to lead, the ten might give declarer a guess if dummy has king-jack, but that might not matter. My ace may simply ruff out even if declarer misguesses. And if dummy has queen fourth or jack fourth opposite declarer's singleton jack or queen, the ace will certainly work out better than the ten. In general, the ace underlead is more attractive from length than from shortness. I lead the ace of clubs.

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

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

Partner plays the nine, and declarer drops the king. Another reason not to underlead the ace. Sometimes I wish I could get Jack to signal a little less enthusiastically. The nine killed my club exit (although my seven might make a club continuation inadvisable even if partner had signaled with the five).

It doesn't appear that I have anything terribly constructive to do. I'd like simply to get off play without giving away a trick in the process. Should I switch to a diamond now? If we assume that a fourth-round diamond trick is immaterial (a convenient assumption, though not necessarily valid), then the diamond jack is safe provided partner has two honors or one honor plus the nine. A low diamond may be even safer. If I lead low, I might survive if partner has one honor without the nine. It occurs to me, though, that the safest exit may be a spade. It gives up a spade trick. But if declarer has to ruff at least one heart in dummy, the trick comes back. One advantage of a spade shift is it retains my potential edge in not leading a diamond at trick one. Since I'm hoping for a swing, why not hope that my decision not to break diamonds was correct? I switch to the deuce of spades--nine--eight--three.

Declarer leads the ten of diamonds--queen--six. I play the three. Partner continues with the deuce of diamonds, and declarer plays the ace, dropping my jack. I'm not sure what declarer is up to with this maneuver. Perhaps he's simply trying to get a count to help him guess the queen of hearts. In any event, it appears we have a second diamond trick coming. I should score either the heart queen or the spade jack in addition. So it looks as if this is going down.

Declarer plays a spade to the king, and partner discards the club deuce. On the spade queen, partner plays the heart deuce. Declarer ruffs a club to his hand, plays a heart to the king, and plays a heart back to the jack. I win with the queen and lead another club to tap out his ace of trumps. The tap is immaterial. I just wind up ruffing partner's diamond winner in the end. Down one.

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

It looks as if declarer has two unavoidable losers after partner shows out on the second round of spades.  Indeed that's what I thought at the time.  But, in fact, if declarer guesses the heart queen, he can compress his diamond and trump loser and make this. And the heart queen shouldn't be too hard to guess. It should be fairly clear from my trump switch that I have a dangerous holding in every suit. This was the position after declarer cashed the spade king.

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

Declarer needs seven tricks, and he can score them on a scramble. He ruffs a club to his hand, floats the jack of hearts, then plays a heart to the king. He can then ruff another club, cash the heart ace, and score two more tricks on a high crossruff.

At the other table, the auction is the same, but West leads the jack of diamonds. Declarer takes his ace, then cashes the king and queen of spades.  When East shows out, it's all over.  Actually, as the cards lie, declarer was down once he won the first trick. He must duck (so that he can afford to concede a club trick to West), then play along roughly the same lines as I suggested above. Since he has less reason to guess the queen of hearts, however, he is less apt to find this line.

The jack of diamonds turned out to be a better lead than the club ace.  Declarer really should have made the hand at my table.  While my teammate did err in winning the first trick, it's not clear it mattered.  Quite possibly he was destined to go down anyway.

Me: +50
Jack: +50

Score on Board 104: 0 IMPs
Total: -43 IMPs

Board 103

Board 103
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 8 3 ♥ K 10 7 4 3 ♦ A 10 6 ♣ 6 5 3

I pass in first seat. LHO opens one spade, partner bids two diamonds, and RHO passes. I can bid either two hearts or three diamonds. Three diamonds has the advantage of being more pre-emptive than two hearts, so it may create more of a problem for LHO. But we might have a game in hearts, so I hate to suppress the suit. I would probably bid three diamonds over a negative double. Over a double, not only is there less chance of our having a heart fit, but there is also more reason to pre-empt. On this auction, however, I'm bidding two hearts.

LHO doubles and partner bids three notrump. Everyone passes, and RHO leads the six of spades.

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

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

I play low from dummy, and East plays the jack. If he has the queen also, we have nine tricks. If he doesn't, I don't see much hope for a ninth trick. Even if I knew for a fact that West has the spade queen, I don't see what I could do about it. I win with the king and play a diamond to dummy's ten. East pitches the seven of clubs, suggesting he's 5-3-0-5.

I suppose I could play a diamond to my hand and a diamond back to the ace before taking the spade finesse. But how will that help? In fact, postponing the finesse may hurt by giving East a chance to make informative discards. If the spade finesse loses, I'd just as soon West didn't know enough about the hand to shift to a heart, allowing his partner to cash two heart tricks, squeezing my hand.

I play a spade--deuce--ten--queen. The good news is West doesn't find the heart shift. He plays another spade, and I cash out for down one.

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

At the other table, the auction begins the same way, but my hand chooses three diamonds instead of two hearts. Somehow the raise gives East the idea that he should bid three spades on his jack fifth. South bids three notrump. West and North pass, but East isn't through yet. He balances with five clubs. South doubles, West corrects to five spades, probably wishing he had bid four spades on the previous round, and South doubles that as well.

South leads his singleton heart.  That strikes me as a poor choice.  With so many entries in declarer's suits, it seems right to go for a tap in diamonds.  In fact, a diamond lead (or even a trump lead) would beat this two tricks. After the heart lead, declarer plays low from dummy, and North plays the king. (Yes, the ten looks more natural.  But it actually makes no difference on this particular deal.)

Declarer wins with the heart ace, cashes the club king, then plays a trump. South plays king, ace, and another trump. Declarer must still lose a trick to the club queen for down one. And things had been going so well!

Me: -100
Jack: +200

Score on Board 103: - 7 IMPs
Total: -43 IMPs

Board 102

Board 102
Opponents vulnerable

♠ 7 ♥ A Q 9 5 2 ♦ -- ♣ A K Q J 7 6 5

This is certainly an improvement from the flat boards we were dealt in the third quarter. RHO opens four spades in first seat. I don't need much to make a slam, but I do need rather specific cards. I have rule, however, that if I have twelve cards in two suits and bidding a slam crosses my mind, I bid it. Taking a conservative view with hands like this never seems to work out well. I bid six clubs.

After two passes, RHO bids six spades. Awfully undisciplined of him. I don't know what partner will think he needs to bid seven clubs if I pass, and I don't want to find out. In general it doesn't pay to bid a grand when the opponents have saved over a small slam and have the higher-ranking suit. Most of the time, they won't let you play the grand unless they are fairly sure of beating you. So, even if you're right to bid, the most you can expect to pick up is 200 (or 300) points from pushing the opponents a level higher. Depending on the result at the other table, this might turn out to be a paltry number of imps. If you're wrong to bid, however, it can be quite costly.

I double six spades, and everyone passes. I don't see much point in leading a trump when I won't be able to lead a second one. It may serve to do nothing other than pick up partner's trump holding. And I doubt it's necessary to risk any heroics in an attempt to score a diamond ruff. So I lead the club ace.

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

West	North	East	South
			4 ♠
6 ♣	Pass	Pass	6 ♠
Double	(All pass)

Partner plays the eight of clubs and declarer ruffs. Declarer leads the ten of spades--seven--four--deuce. He then plays the ten of hearts. I hop with the ace, and partner plays the eight. That's either jack-eight doubleton or jack-eight fourth. I'm voting for jack-eight fourth. It seems unlikely declarer would attack hearts from ten third before drawing trumps. If he has a singleton heart, however, he would surely lead a heart toward the king while he still had a spade entry to dummy.

If declarer could have a doubleton heart, I would exit with the heart queen, killing the entry for the potential double squeeze. But partner's card tells me that isn't possible, and I'd just as soon not give declarer a second dummy entry. So I exit with the club king.

Declarer ruffs, plays a trump to dummy as I pitch a club, and discards the four of diamonds on dummy's heart king. He then ruffs a heart and draws partner's last trump. He still has two diamond losers, so he's down two, plus 500 for us.

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

Surely declarer should have led a diamond to the nine while he was in dummy, since I must have a diamond void or a singleton ace. Did he really think I would leap to six clubs with a three-loser hand?

I expect my teammate to open South's hand with two spades. This is the kind of hand the Acol two-bid was invented for. But he opens four spades as well. This is not my idea of a four spade bid in any system. I think it's safe to say that if you open four spades and dummy hits with a Yarborough, you ought to be going down.

Over four spades, East contents himself with five clubs and buys it. It looks as if this should make, but that's an illusion. North leads the king of spades. South overtakes with the ace and continues with the ten of spades. West ruffs high. That's clearly the right play.  How likely is it that South opened four spades with a seven-card suit at unfavorable vulnerability?  But this time he did, and it's 11 imps for our side. We're on a roll!

The king of spades is a dubious lead, by the way. How is partner supposed to know what to do if he has the ace but not the queen?  If South, thinking the king was a singleton, had overtaken at trick one and set up declarer's queen, the disaster would be 100% North's fault.  North is looking at the king of hearts, so he knows that two spade tricks are probably sufficient to beat this.  The right way to go after two spade tricks is to lead a low spade, expecting partner to win with the ace and return one.  The king of spades would be the right lead without the heart king, since your best chance for three tricks would be to play for two spade tricks plus a trump promotion. You would have to hope partner also sees this as the likeliest route to three tricks and will conclude that it's pointless to overtake even if the king is a singleton.  One encounters this matrix most frequently when defending a slam, where one doesn't have to worry about the third trick.  Against six clubs, I'd demote the lead of the spade king from "dubious" to "suicidal."

As the cards lay, declarer will presumably still ruff high at trick two even after the lead of the spade four. He will simply think South's spade ace at trick one was a falsecard.

Me: +500
Jack: - 50

Score on Board 102: +11 IMPs
Total: -36 IMPs

Board 101

Board 101
Our side vulnerable

♠ A 8 7 4 ♥ A J 10 3 2 ♦ -- ♣ A J 9 7

Partner opens three notrump, showing a solid minor, and RHO passes. It doesn't seem like a good idea to let him play there, so I'm removing this to some number of diamonds.

How good a contract will six diamonds be? I have, probably, seven diamond tricks and three aces, so I will need to develop two tricks in hearts. If partner has a singleton heart, that's not likely. If he has a doubleton or tripleton heart and if dummy has a singleton in whichever black suit they lead, I have a shot. But I have no way to investigate that doesn't help the opponents with their opening lead. I can bid four diamonds to get partner to show a singleton. But if partner shows a singleton black suit as I hope, the opponents will know they have no slow tricks available in that suit. It would be nice if we were playing asking bids. I would consider asking for a heart control, intending to sign off if partner shows one and bidding a slam if he denies one. That would at least get a good laugh. But even that might be too aggressive.

I bid five diamonds, which ends the auction. West leads the king of hearts. Terrific! I certainly would have bid six if I'd know he was going to lead that.

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

West	North	East	South
	3 NT	Pass	5 ♦
(All pass)

To top it off, partner has an eighth diamond, so I need only two heart tricks to make a slam. I win, draw trumps, and concede a trick to the queen of hearts. Making six.

I wonder if they will be in six at the other table. Anything but a heart lead should beat it in practice, although declarer can always make it double dummy.

At the other table, South bids four diamonds over three notrump. North bids four spades, showing a singleton spade. South bids Blackwood--I'm not sure why--then goes on to six diamonds over North's five spade bid. To my relief, West leads the five of clubs. Declarer can still make this by winning and returning the club jack, then later leading the nine of clubs for a ruffing finesse, pinning the eight. Not unreasonably, however, declarer chooses a different line. He draws trumps and leads a club to the nine. Down one.

I'm impressed with West's lead. I think this is a solvable problem and that a low club is arguably the best choice, but I'm still impressed Jack found it. South surely has a source of tricks, and that source of tricks is probably hearts, your shortest suit. Once dummy has shown a singleton spade, you know your only chance to develop a trick is in clubs. The club lead will be wrong if your second trick is partner's spade ace and if you lose it by leading a club. But partner did spurn two chances to double spades, so, if there is a winning lead, a club rates to be it.

As for the auction, I can't reasonably argue with Jack's evaluation. This is exactly the kind of situation where he has an edge, since he can examine many more randomly generated dummies than I can. If he thinks he can make a slam more often than not, he's probably right. I certainly didn't consider the fact that I might get a heart lead, nor that clubs might offer a source of tricks, nor that a stray queen in partner's hand might prove useful. If taking all those factors into account tips the scale, then I guess I made a mistake. But I'm keeping the 12 IMPs.

Me: +620
Jack: -100

Score on Board 101: + 12 IMPs
Total: -47 IMPs

I'm taking the rest of the week off.  See you Monday.

Board 100

Board 100
Both sides vulnerable

♠ K J 9 8 ♥ A Q J 9 8 ♦ J 3 ♣ A 8

After two passes, RHO opens one diamond. I bid one heart, and LHO bids two hearts, showing a good diamond raise. Partner bids two spades. If we were playing weak two-bids, this bid would probably be based a five-card spade suit and a partial fit for hearts. Since we aren't playing weak two-bids, I don't have that inference available. Partner might well have a hand that will be opened with two spades at the other table. Either way, I have a raise to four spades. But I don't get the chance. RHO bids five diamonds in front of me. I might make five spades opposite ace-queen fifth of spades and out, so I have to bid it. LHO and partner pass, and RHO bids six diamonds.

Would you pass or double? If this were a forcing auction, I would surely double. Once I've bid two suits, partner would be entitled to expect a singleton diamond if I make a forcing pass. But I don't think this is a forcing auction. Nothing about our bidding indicates that this is our hand. (LHO's pass over five spades, however, was forcing in my opinion. A game-invitational cue-bid followed by an acceptance creates a force.)

That being said, I'm doubling anyway. I don't think they're making this, and they might be going down several. Even if they do make it, doubling won't cost much unless (A) they redouble or (B) partner would have bid on had I passed. Either scenario seems unlikely. On the other hand, it could be quite costly not to double if they are overboard, particularly since I expect to make five spades.

I double, and everyone passes. It doesn't seem that any of our fast tricks can disappear, so I see no reason not to lead a trump. I lead the diamond three.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 ♦
1 ♥	2 ♥	2 ♠	5 ♦
5 ♠	Pass	Pass	6 ♦
Double	(All pass)

I don't care for North's cue-bid. The cue-bid should be reserved for relatively balanced hands. With this hand, I would pass, intending to support diamonds aggressively at my next turn.  This should show primary hearts, essentially a "fit-showing jump" in hearts.  (This works only at the one-level.  At the two-level, one might pass with a fair hand and only moderate length in the overcaller's suit.  See The Cooperative Pass.)

I suspect declarer is void in hearts, so, to beat this partner needs either the spade ace or a club trick. It looks as if the trump lead was the right idea.

Dummy plays the six; partner, the seven; and declarer wins in his hand with the ten. He cashes the spade ace--nine--six--four. Partner could have afforded a higher spot with six spades, so I assume he has queen-ten-fifth and declarer has ace-three-deuce. Assuming partner doesn't have an undisclosed six-card club suit, he is 5-1-2-5 and declarer is 3-0-5-5. Declarer can ruff his two spade losers in dummy, but I can lead a second trump when I'm in with the club ace, so he can't ruff any clubs. I'm starting to feel a little better than I did when I first saw dummy.

Declarer ruffs the spade deuce with the queen of diamonds and plays a club--three--nine--ace. I play the jack of diamonds. Dummy wins with the king, and partner follows with the deuce. Declarer ruffs a heart, ruffs the deuce of clubs with dummy's last trump (five from partner).  Instead of ruffing his last spade, he's trying to establish clubs.  Since clubs are five-two, that's not going to work.  Partner surely has the club king, since the queen of spades is the only high card he's shown up with so far.  The fact that declarer is ruffing clubs suggests he also has some spot card that declarer is trying unsuccessfully to neutralize.  So it's starting to look like down at least three.

Declarer plays another heart. Partner pitches the spade seven, and declarer pitches the spade three. I'm in with the nine of hearts. I exit with the heart ace, which declarer ruffs. It's up to declarer and partner to battle it out in the club suit. Partner winds up with two club tricks, so down three it is. Plus 800 for our side.  Not a bad result, especially since I was wrong about our making five spades.

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

Partner's two spade bid is awfully aggressive, especially considering he has a singleton in my suit.  But I can't argue with success.

At the other table, West doubles the one diamond opening. I'm not a fan of offshape take-out doubles, so doubling didn't even cross my mind. But now that I think about it, I do see the merit. If partner hadn't made his questionable two spade bid, my one heart overcall might not have worked out very well.  (Just to be clear, I'm admitting only to seeing the merit of doubling.  I'm not saying I actually approve.)

Over the double, North bids two hearts, an explicit fit-showing jump in hearts (as opposed to the implicit one I suggested at our table), and East bids three spades. Another aggressive bid, but I suppose it's acceptable because of the presumed double fit. On this auction, South takes a dimmer view of his heart void. He bids only four diamonds. West raises to four spades. After two passes, South bids five diamonds. West, also discouraged by the heart bid on his left, goes quietly. He passes, as does everyone else.

West leads the nine of spades, which might allow South to get out for down one. Declarer takes the ace, ruffs a spade, and plays a club. When East plays low, declarer plays the queen. This would be the right play if East had ace third or king third. As the cards lay, however, he can no longer do any better than down two.

If I had to place the blame for this result, I would choose North's cue-bid at our table as the culprit. South never had a clue what his partner's hand looked like. At the other table, South (and, for that matter, West) was able to judge his potential much better after the fit-showing jump. But the idea of passing one heart and later jumping in diamonds to show this hand is, I suspect, a tactic with which Jack is unfamiliar.

Me: +800
Jack: +200

Score on Board 100: +12 IMPs
Total: -59 IMPs

Board 99

Board 99
Opponents vulnerable

♠ 10 7 6 4 ♥ J ♦ Q 8 7 6 3 ♣ A K 4

Seven losers and four controls. Looks like an opening bid to me. I open one diamond, LHO bids one heart, and partner bids one spade. RHO bids three diamonds, which is identified as a constructive raise. I'm not sure how this differs from two diamonds. There's not much point in opening this hand if I'm not going to raise spades when partner bids them, so I bid three spades. LHO cue-bids four diamonds, and RHO signs off in four hearts, ending the auction. Partner leads the deuce of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
		1 ♦	1 ♥
1 ♠	3 ♦	3 ♠	4 ♦
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)

Is two club tricks, the ace of spades, and a trump trick too much to hope for? Declarer rises with the diamond king. I encourage with the eight, and declarer plays the four. He plays a heart to the jack, ace, and nine and another heart to dummy's queen as partner plays the ten. So declarer is six-three in the red suits. He probably has three spades, since partner might have gone on to four spades with six of them. That leaves him with a singleton club. His spade holding probably includes the ace or king, since partner didn't lead a spade.  If my construction is correct, all we can take is one club trick and possibly one spade trick if partner has the ace. I pitch the spade deuce.

Declarer leads a diamond--seven--jack--five. Strange. Why didn't he duck the first trick with ace-jack third? He wanted to win in dummy to lead up to his ace-king sixth of hearts? He cashes the diamond ace and pitches dummy's queen of spades. He can't ruff all three spades in dummy, so he needs to establish clubs. I suppose he's going to play a club, use one entry to ruff out my other club honor, then use the second entry to reach the club suit.

Declarer plays the club deuce--three--seven. I win with the ace. Partner's three of clubs confirms that declarer's club is indeed a singleton. It probably doesn't matter whether I return a spade or a diamond. But, on principle, I'd just as soon not help declarer place the spade honors. I play the six of diamonds, declarer and partner pitch low spades, and dummy ruffs. Declarer plays the eight of clubs, I play low, and he ruffs it! He can ruff only one spade, so he makes five.

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

Interesting. Declarer seems to have played me for

♠ A x x ♥ J ♦ Q x x x x ♣ A x x x

Perhaps that looks more like an opening bid to him than the hand I held, and perhaps he's right. But I don't think I would have bid three spades on a minimum opening without a fourth trump. Take note, however, that if I had exited with a spade instead of a diamond, declarer would have played the king and discovered the location of the spade ace. He then could not go wrong. Even though I didn't have this specifically in mind when I led a diamond, I did choose the diamond for the reason it worked: because, unlike a spade, it revealed nothing. It's nice when following sound general principles pays off unexpectedly.

[Added at 12:37- It has been pointed out to me that, when I exited with a diamond, declarer should have ruffed in his hand and led the king of spades.  West knows declarer is going to ruff this, so he shouldn't cover.  But he might.  It certainly doesn't hurt to give West the chance to be careless.  This kind of pseudo-discovery play is completely beyond Jack's current capabilities.]

At the other table, my hand passes, and the auction proceeds one heart--four hearts. That hand's a little good for four hearts by my standards. It looks like a limit raise to me. West again leads the deuce of diamonds. This time declarer rides it around to his hand. Without no opposing bidding, he has no reason not to take the obvious twelve tricks, picking up an imp. And Edgar used to lecture me that opening light just helps the opponents in the play!

No post on Monday.  See you Tuesday.

Me: -650
Jack: -680

Score on Board 99: +1 IMP
Total: -71 IMPs

Board 98

Board 98
Our side vulnerable

♠ 3 2 ♥ K Q 10 8 4 ♦ J 7 6 ♣ 9 8 5

RHO opens one club. In my experience, bad things happen when your entire hand is in one suit and you don't bid it, so I overcall with one heart. The vulnerability doesn't bother me so long as we're at the one level. In fact, I consider the vulnerability a plus, since it means partner is unlikely to be saving.

LHO bids one spade. Jack's footnote claims this promises five spades. I don't see how that's playable. If you can't handle a diamond rebid by partner after a negative double, you may have no choice but to bid one spade with only four. Partner raises to two hearts, and RHO bids four spades, ending the auction. Partner leads the three of hearts.

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

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

Four spades! Wow! And you thought one heart was an overbid. Declarer rises with the heart ace. I encourage with the ten. Declarer plays a trump to his queen, a trump back to the king, and a third trump to his ace. Partner plays six, eight, ten, and I pitch the five of clubs on the third round. Declarer plays the deuce of clubs--ace--three--nine. Partner shifts perversely to the ten of diamonds, and declarer claims the rest.

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

Maybe the diamond shift isn't so perverse.  It would be right if I had both minor-suit kings (and no heart queen, so I can't duck the jack if he leads it).  I certainly might have that hand on the auction.  Of course, if I did, I would discourage at trick one to request a diamond shift.  But Jack doesn't know that.

That was some auction the opponents produced! First North bids four spades when I would bid two (if not playing support doubles). Then South passes four spades when I would consider bidding seven if partner were barred. At least Jack is consistent, but I confess I don't understand. Note that a heart is the only lead to stop six (even though we didn't), so it was indeed important for me to get my suit into the auction.

At the other table, North opens with a weak notrump, and the auction proceeds as follows:

West	North	East	South
	1 NT	Pass	2 ♥1
Pass	2 ♠	Pass	3 ♣
Pass	3 ♠	Pass	4 ♠
Pass	4 NT2	Pass	5 ♦3
Pass	6 ♣	(All pass)
1Jacoby transfer
2Ace asking for spades
31 or 4 aces

I don't think South's three club bid promises slam interest. With a 5-4-3-1 pattern, he's supposed to show his second suit even with only game-going values, so North's four notrump is a violation of captaincy. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I think that, after a transfer and a bid of a secondary minor, it's useful to play that a raise of the minor shows a fit for both suits. Playing that way, North should bid four clubs, intending to drive to slam if his partner bids four of a red suit.

They did well to choose clubs, since I suspect East would have known what to lead if he had the opportunity. Against six clubs, West leads a spade, apparently deciding that, on the auction, he is more likely to catch his partner with a singleton spade than a singleton diamond. Six clubs makes, so we pick up 10 imps.

Me: -480
Jack: -920

Score on Board 98: +10 IMPs
Total: -72 IMPs

Board 97

Board 97
Neither vulnerable

♠ 10 7 5 3 2 ♥ 4 ♦ 10 8 7 ♣ Q J 9 2

Two passes to me. I like one club better than one spade for three reasons: (1) I prefer a club lead to a spade lead. (2) Partner is more likely to try to outbid the opponents if I bid spades. (3) LHO is more likely to have a take-out double of my long suit, so one club may give him more of a problem. Of course, I could pass. But what's the fun of that? One club.

LHO doubles (so much for point (3)), partner bids one heart, and RHO bids two notrump. I pass. LHO bids three clubs (described as an "unassuming cue-bid"), RHO bids three notrump, and LHO bids four hearts. I'm not sure what this sequence means. If LHO has a self-sufficient heart suit, he could have jumped to four hearts over two notrump. This two-step must offer his partner a choice of contracts, but I'm not sure what choice or how RHO is supposed to choose. Partner doubles, as I was sure he would. I hope he has lots of trump tricks. Everyone passes, and partner leads the eight of clubs.

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

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

I have no idea what declarer has. Declarer plays low from dummy, I play the jack, and declarer wins with the king. He plays the heart deuce, partner plays the ten, and declarer wins with the queen in dummy. Maybe partner has ace-jack-ten-eight. I can hope. Two natural heart tricks and the threat of a third goes a long way toward beating this.

This hope vanishes when declarer plays the three of hearts from dummy. With king empty fifth, he would return to his hand to lead toward the nine. I encourage with the seven of spades, since I don't want partner shifting to diamonds. Declarer wins with the ace, and partner plays the five. So what are partner's hearts?  King-jack-ten-five? Declarer cashes the ace of spades--eight--four--five and plays the four of clubs toward dummy. Partner ruffs with the six of hearts and shifts to the seven of hearts. Declarer wins in dummy with the nine, while I discard the spade deuce.

My picture of the hand is becoming clearer. It appears partner split on the first heart from jack-ten fifth. The eight of spades was probably low from queen-nine-eight, so that gives declarer

♠ A 6 ♥ A K 8 2 ♦ ? ? ♣ K 10 7 5 4

Why he bid this way with only four hearts I can't say. Declarer plays a diamond to the queen. Partner wins with the king and plays the queen of spades. Seems a low one would have been better. Declarer can hardly afford to finesse, since he will go down if the finesse loses. Declarer wins with dummy's king, plays a diamond to the ace, draws partner's last trump, and claims the balance. He can pitch his two club losers on dummy's two jacks. Making an overtrick for minus 690.

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

Ruffing the second round of clubs is somewhat counter-intuitive, but it was correct. Leading away from the jack of hearts to remove dummy's last trump, however, was not. Presumably partner wanted to prevent declarer from ruffing a club in dummy. But what's the rush? Declarer needs to play the club ace to do that. Partner can always ruff the club ace and then play a heart. If partner had shifted to a spade (as I asked him to do -- ahem), we would have fared better.  If declarer finesses, he makes his contract but no overtricks.  If he rises with the king and takes a diamond finesse, he will actually go down.

As for South's auction, I still don't understand it. Why not just raise two notrump to three? Or to four if you are so inclined?

At the other table, South opens two notrump in fourth seat. As I've said in earlier posts, I don't see the point of offshape two notrump openings. You're unlikely to miss a game opening one club, and, if you have a slam, you are certainly more likely to have an intelligent auction after one club than after two notrump.

North bids three spades, which the footnote calls "minor suit asking," whatever that means. South bids four clubs, showing a five-card club suit, North cue-bids four spades, and South Blackwoods his way into six clubs. West leads the jack of hearts. This gives declarer the heart suit. To make this, he needs to pick up clubs and to guess which pointed-suit finesse to take (or to decide to play for a squeeze).

Declarer wins the heart with the king and plays a club to the ace. He plays a low club from dummy, and East splits with the jack. This is ill-advised. If East plays the nine and declarer inserts the ten, what has he lost? It's not as if East needs the tempo. In fact, if he plays the nine, declarer may well spurn the "safety" play for fear of a heart ruff.

Declarer takes the king and leads a low spade to the jack. I suppose, given the trump break, he thought the spade finesse was more likely to work than the diamond finesse. There are no further difficulties. Making six.

I still can't tell if the psyche gained or not.  If they reach six clubs at my table, they might go down, since I wouldn't split the club honors.  I replay it to see what would happen if I pass in third seat. The auction begins as my teammates' auction did, but North raises four clubs to five.  South goes on to six clubs, and North corrects to six notrump.  Against this contract, partner leads a low heart.  Declarer wins in his hand with the eight, crosses to the queen of hearts, and takes a diamond finesse.  If you consider the diamond suit in isolation, partner's best choice would be to duck, probably holding declarer to two diamond tricks.  But, in context, this wouldn't be a good idea.  Declarer would simply play on clubs and come to twelve tricks.

Partner wins the diamond and continues diamonds.  Declarer takes his ace, crosses to the club ace, and cashes the jack of diamonds.  When my ten falls, he has eleven top tricks.  At this point, I suspect we will beat it.  Declarer has a choice between a spade finesse or a black suit squeeze against me.  Since he will soon know I began with five spades, the squeeze will be the percentage choice.  (In fact, if he knows me, the squeeze will be a lock.  I would have psyched without the queen of spades after all.)

It doesn't work out that way.  When declarer cashes the club king, partner pitches a spade, giving declarer a claim.  Once again, Jack's assumption that declarer is playing double-dummy proves fatal.  At least I  know the psyche gained.  I'd hate to think I could have picked up 14 imps just by passing.

Me: -690
Jack: -920

Score on Board 97: +6 IMPs
Total: -82 IMPs

Board 96

Board 96
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A 4 3 ♥ K J 10 5 2 ♦ Q 6 5 4 ♣ 6

Three passes to me. I don't have the 15 casino points (high-card points plus spade length) that one needs to open in fourth seat. But, given the state of the match, this is no time to be passing hands out. Besides, this would be a pretty dull blog entry if I did.

I open one heart. Partner responds one spade. That's a relief. I'd hate to hear that bid on my left. I pass, and we buy it for one spade. How bad can this be? West leads the deuce of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	Pass
Pass	1 ♥	Pass	1 ♠
(All pass)

I play low from dummy, East plays the jack, and I win with the king. East would have played the ten if he had it, and West would have led the ten from ten-nine third.  So, for what's it's worth, I know West began with ten-three-deuce and East with ace-jack-nine. I have one diamond, one club, and one spade. If I can score four tricks on a crossruff, I'm home. I lead the nine of hearts, and East plays the four. There's nothing to gain by playing low. Even if the nine forces the ace, so what? What difference does it make whether I score tricks by cashing heart winners or by ruffing heart losers in my hand? Accordingly, I play the king, and East wins with the ace.

East shift to the five of spades. I cover with the six--nine--ace. I need to score two ruffs in each hand. Does it matter which hand I ruff in first? It matters only if someone has a doubleton in one of the round suits. If someone has a doubleton club, my chances are slim. But if someone has a doubleton heart, I might survive provided my last play is to lead a heart toward the jack doubleton of trumps in my hand.  To arrange that, I must start with a club ruff.

I lead a club--five--eight--ace. I play a low club and West follows with the king. That's not good. I ruff it, and East plays the three. Hmm. East echoed, so someone's falsecarding. That may be a first for Jack in this match. I ruff a heart to my hand and play another club. West follows with the nine. That's classy. Playing the king on the previous round couldn't hurt. He was just trying to worry me. I ruff in dummy, as East follows with the ten.

East surely has the jack of clubs.  He also began with the ace-jack of diamonds and the ace of hearts.  Since he passed in third seat, the remaining high cards--the queen of hearts and the king and queen of spades--must be with West. So the heart ruff is going to hold up.  I play a heart and ruff it. West drops the queen.

I've taken seven tricks and I'm down to this position, with the lead in my hand:

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ J 10 ♦ Q 6 5 ♣ --
	SOUTH ♠ J ♥ -- ♦ 8 7 ♣ Q 7

East has ace-nine of diamonds, the club jack, and a low heart.  So he has only one spade left, and it's not the king or queen.  It's hard to imagine taking another trick. But I play the jack of spades just in case I've misread something. West wins with the queen, and East follows with the eight. West cashes the spade ten, and East discards his heart loser. East has the ace-nine of diamonds and the jack of clubs left, and West still has a trump. There are no more tricks to be had. Making one.

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

The other table passes the board out, so we pick up two imps. 32 boards and 88 imps to go. We need to pick up an average of 2.75 imps per board to pull the match out.  My average so far is only 2.4 imps per board, and it's been hovering around there with some consistency.  (It was 2.4 in the first quarter, 2.6 in the second, and 2.2 in the third.) We're going to need some luck in the final quarter.

Me: +80
Jack: 0

Score on Board 96: +2 IMPs
Total: -88 IMPs

Board 95

Board 95
Our side vulnerable

♠ 2 ♥ Q J 10 2 ♦ J 9 8 3 ♣ A K 7 3

I seem to open lighter than Jack on shapely hands, but I tend to be conservative with 4441s. So, for the third time in this set, I'm passing a hand that I suspect Jack will open at the other table, a type of swing action I'm not used to. LHO opens one club, and RHO bids one spade. I double. LHO raises to two spades, and RHO carries on to four. I lead a pedestrian queen of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	1 ♣	Pass	1 ♠
Double	2 ♠	Pass	4 ♠
(All pass)

It doesn't appear that my pass affected the final contract. If I had opened one diamond, LHO would have doubled, and presumably they still would have reached four spades.

Partner plays the three of hearts, and declarer wins with the king. He leads the ten of spades and plays low from dummy. Partner follows with the seven. Assuming from the four spade bid that declarer has at least five spades, I don't see any reason partner would be ducking this trick. Declarer plays a low spade. A club is my only safe discard, so I pitch the club three. Dummy plays the nine of spades, and partner follows with the eight.

It was nice of declarer to let me know that partner doesn't have a spade higher than the eight.  He should have led the king or queen of spades at trick two. It seems declarer has six spades plus at least three tricks in the red suits. If he has three diamonds, he can ruff a diamond to dummy for his tenth trick. I need to hope he has a doubleton. If so, and if partner has the diamond king and the club queen, we can beat this. Can we beat it if partner has the diamond king and the club jack?

Let's give declarer

♠ K Q J 10 x x ♥ K x ♦ x x ♣ Q 8 x

He can ruff out the hearts and exit with a diamond, which I must duck to partner. Partner will then be forced to break clubs. Since Jack always assumes declarer is double-dummy, I doubt partner will think of shifting to the jack of clubs from jack-nine third. If he does, especially given my first-seat pass, we will probably beat it.

Declarer cashes the ace of hearts--five--four--deuce. If partner had seven-five remaining, I would expect him to play the seven, present count.  It seems more likely, however, that partner has miscarded than that his five is actually a singleton.  Why wouldn't declarer lead toward dummy's ace-nine-eight if he had two hearts left?

I expect declarer to ruff a heart, but he leads the deuce of clubs. I guess he doesn't have the hand I was envisioning. Partner plays the six; declarer, the five. I overtake with the seven and try, without much hope of success, to cash the jack of hearts. Declarer ruffs. He plays a diamond to the ace and ruffs a club to his hand. So declarer was 6-2-4-1. Either partner has the king of diamonds or he doesn't. He does, so we hold this to five.

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

At the other table, West opens my hand with one club. This turns out to be more pre-emptive than one diamond, since North can't double one club. He passes, East responds one notrump, and South bids three spades. This is an awfully good hand to be pre-empting with. What's wrong with two spades? North has a four-spade bid anyway, so there's no harm done. South makes five for a push.

Me: -650
Jack: -650

Score on Board 95: 0 IMPs
Total: -90 IMPs

Board 94

Board 94
Neither vulnerable

♠ 10 7 ♥ A J 2 ♦ K Q 10 9 4 ♣ A 4 2

I open one notrump (12-14) in second seat. LHO doubles, and partner and RHO pass. As a matter of principle, I don't play one notrump doubled at IMPs, since the risk/reward ratio is poor. There's little bonus for making it, and a large penalty for going down. If you aren't going to run, you should redouble to give yourself some upside potential. Lowenthal used to express this idea in his typically droll fashion: "One notrump doubled is a poor contract for declarer. One notrump redoubled is a sporting proposition for everybody."

I would redouble if it were natural, but Jack plays opener's redouble as S.O.S. (denying a five-card suit).  So I run to two diamonds, which ends the auction. West leads the five of clubs.

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

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

Partner is right to pass two diamonds, even though it's a six-card fit, since no one has doubled. If they do double, he can redouble, showing both majors, to ensure we reach a seven-card fit.

It appears from the lead that East has either the ace or king of spades, which doesn't leave room for much else. It does leave room for the jack of diamonds, which I hope he has. If I can bring home diamonds for four tricks, I can make this. I win in dummy with king of clubs as East plays the eight. I play a diamond--deuce--nine--ace. West continues with the ten of clubs. I win in my hand as East plays the jack.

I cash the king and queen of diamonds, pitching two hearts from dummy. Everyone follows low. If the carding is honest, clubs are three-three. I can lead a club to dummy and lead the last club now or I can concede a trump trick first. Conceding the trump gives me more flexibility in case I'm wrong about three-three clubs. Of course, I know I'm not wrong. I've never seen Jack falsecard on opening lead. But why should I assume anything I don't have to?

I play another diamond. West pitches the six of clubs, confirming that dummy's small club is good. I play a spade from dummy. East wins with the diamond jack and shifts to the seven of hearts.

What does West know about my high cards? He knows I began with king-queen of diamonds and the ace of clubs. That's nine high-card points. So he knows I have either the heart ace or the spade honor his partner has, but not both. He might conceivably think his partner has underled the heart ace and continue hearts if I duck this. I play low, and West wins with the queen. He cashes the spade ace. East plays the nine, and I discourage with the seven. West now shifts to the king of hearts and I claim, pitching my spade ten on dummy's long club. Making three.

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

What was the heart king all about? East did shift to his middle heart, which is a strange card. He should play either an attitude nine or a count three, depending on partnership agreement. (My own preference is to lead attitude in the middle of the hand.) Perhaps West thought his partner had led third best from ace fourth. That would give me a doubleton heart and king third of spades. If I had king-seven-four, then East's spade nine would have been low from ten-nine doubleton. In that case, if West didn't cash the heart, I would be able to pitch my heart loser on dummy's eight of spades. It's a good thing I played the seven, not the ten, else West could not have gone wrong.

To verify this statement, I back up the play and drop the spade ten under the ace. Yes. West does, in fact, continue spades if I do that. This shows the danger of falsecarding at random. When I said above that I "discouraged" with the seven, that was only partly in jest. Declarer should, in fact, signal attitude the same way the opponents do. If they play normal attitude, declarer's lowest card often makes it plausible that the signaler's card is high, and his highest spot card often makes it plausible that the signaler's card is low. If they play upside-down attitude, declarer should "signal" upside-down for the same reason.

At the other table, South opens one diamond. West doubles, North responds one heart, and South raises to two.

East leads the eight of clubs. Declarer wins in his hand and leads a diamond to the queen and ace. West cashes the spade ace, then continues clubs. Declarer wins in dummy and plays a spade to the queen and king. East persists in clubs. Declarer wins in his hand, ruffs a spade, cashes the diamond, ruffs a diamond, and ruffs another spade with the jack of hearts. That's seven tricks, and the ace of hearts makes eight.

Can my teammates beat this? It looks as if they can take two hearts, three spades, and the ace of diamonds if they're careful. They have to go after the spade tricks early before declarer has a chance to play a diamond to the nine, and they have to combine attacking spades with drawing trumps, so declarer can't take two spade ruffs in the dummy. East must start with a trump. West wins and shifts to the jack of spades. If declarer ducks, West continues with a low spade. Whenever East gets in with the spade king (whether at trick two or trick three), he leads another heart. I don't see that declarer has any counter to this defense. Two hearts from the South hand, however, appears to be unbeatable.

In fact, two of anything by South appears to be unbeatable.  I don't recall ever seeing a deal where, on best play by both sides, declarer can take the same of number of tricks in any one of the five strains.


Me: +110
Jack: +110

Score on board 94: 0 IMPs
Total: -90 IMPs

Post Script:

Some readers (both in the comments below and verbally) have objected to my two diamond bid, pointing out that I would have gained five imps had I passed. That's true only because of the overtrick, which I consider an anomaly. Surely overtricks are rare when partner can't redouble. Most of the time, if I pass and I'm right, I gain a mere two imps.  If I pass and I'm wrong, I lose five.  At those odds, what sense does is it make to pass?  I would certainly redouble if I could, since I would now stand either to gain ten or to lose seven. That makes redouble the percentage action even if I think I'm a slight underdog.  But, since redouble isn't an option (a point I neglected to state in the original post), I stand by my decision to pull.