Board 90

Board 90
Both sides vulnerable

♠ K J 6 5 ♥ -- ♦ K J 7 6 2 ♣ A Q J 9

I open one diamond in second seat. Partner bids one heart, I bid one spade, and partner bids four hearts. West leads the three of clubs.

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

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

If I had reason to believe the club king was offside, I could hop with the ace and try to cash three spades.  But I have no particular reason to think that West is more likely to have the spade queen than the club king, so I play the club nine. East wins with the king, and I drop the ten, the card I'm known to hold. If West holds the diamond ace, East has to guess which pointed suit to lead. If he shifts to a spade instead of a diamond, I may be able to dispose of my diamonds losers. Unfortunately, he shifts to the nine of diamonds. I play the eight, and West takes his ace. I've gotten off to a poor start. Unless the jack-ten of hearts are doubleton, I'm going down. Three notrump might have been easier.

West plays the four of diamonds, East follows with the five, and I win in my hand with the queen. I lead the heart queen, West takes the ace, and East follows with the three. No jack-ten doubleton. Now it's a question of whether I'm down one or down two. West play the five of clubs to dummy's jack and East's four. Even if knew that someone had jack-ten-third of hearts left, I no longer have the entries to ruff myself down for an endplay. I need to hope that trumps split or that someone has a singleton honor. I play a spade to my ace and play king and a heart. Down two.

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

If I guess everything right, I can actually make this. I have to start by taking the spade finesse instead of the club finesse. I rise with the club ace, then play three rounds of spades, pitching a club. Then I ruff a club and play a diamond toward dummy. Say West hops with the ace and plays another diamond. I win in dummy and ruff anything other than dummy's spade. I'm now down to five trumps. I play the king of hearts to West's ace, and he taps me. I'm down to queen-nine-eight of hearts, so I simply exit with a low heart, endplaying East and sparking an investigation.

As I said, three notrump would have been easier. Perhaps if partner had bid fourth-suit forcing over one spade, we could get there. I would raise two clubs to three. Partner would bid three hearts, suggesting that four hearts might be right even opposite a singleton, and I would bid three notrump. I don't necessarily have a heart void for this auction. But if I'm 4-1-4-4, I'll have good intermediates, else I would accept partner's suggestion and bid four hearts. With the ace-ten of spades and the diamond queen, partner might judge to leave me in three notrump. In truth, I don't really mind partner's just blasting. Weaselly auctions like the one I just described give me a headache.

At the other table, South does employ fourth suit. But he bids four hearts over North's three clubs. My teammate chooses the deuce of spades lead. The club loser is going away. But declarer has no reason to guess the heart suit, so I assume he'll go down one. He wins the spade ten, cashes the ace, and leads the queen of hearts. He can no longer make it.

Actually, if declarer is going to play double-dummy, I suppose he doesn't need to go for the endplay. He could just lead a low heart instead of the queen. Later, he leads another low heart to West's ace, picking up hearts for two losers the easy way. That line wouldn't work for me, because I have to play three rounds of spades before attacking trumps. If I lead a low heart, East can win and play his last spade, promoting a third trump trick for the defense.

Me: -200
Jack: -100

Score on Board 90: -3 IMPs
Total: -91 IMPs