Board 128

Board 128
Opponents vulnerable

♠ Q 6 4 ♥ K 8 5 3 ♦ A 9 4 3 ♣ Q 6

RHO opens one spade in third seat. I pass, LHO bids one notrump, and RHO bids two clubs. I could double, but with soft values in RHO's suits, it doesn't appeal. (Incidentally, in my opinion this double is take-out for three suits, not just for two. So a two-spade advance by partner would be natural.)

I pass, and LHO corrects to two spades, which is passed around to me. I pass again and lead the five of hearts.

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

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

Declarer plays low from dummy, partner plays the ten, and declarer wins with the queen. Another fine opening lead! Declarer plays the deuce of spades--four--king--ace. Partner shifts to the four of clubs. Declarer plays the ten, and I'm in the with queen. We have two spade tricks, one club, and the diamond ace. To beat this, we need two more tricks.

One trick in partner's hand plus a club ruff in my hand looks like a lively possibility. If partner has the club ace, a club return beats it immediately. If not, perhaps I can return a club, then find an entry to his hand when I'm in with the spade queen. That entry will be either the diamond king or a heart ruff. How do I decide? The only time I would need to underlead the diamond ace is if partner has king sixth of diamonds and a doubleton heart, which isn't possible.  With king sixth of diamonds and the spade ace, he would have bid.  So I can afford to lay down the diamond ace.  If partner discourages, I'll play a heart. If not, I'll play a diamond.

Is there anything wrong with this plan? What if partner doesn't have a third club for me to ruff? That can't be. Why would declarer duck partner's club shift holding ace-king fifth? Suppose partner has the club king and my continuation allows declarer to take a finesse he has no entry to take himself? My first thought is that partner wouldn't lead from the king with an apparently entryless dummy. But perhaps he would. Perhaps he thinks his best chance to beat this is to find me with ace doubleton of clubs. How about this layout:

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

If I don't play a club, we can keep declarer off dummy and can score partner's king of clubs, but we still don't beat it. To beat it, partner must have an additional trick somewhere.  If that additional trick is the diamond king or a singleton heart,  I can score my ruff, getting our club trick back. If it is the jack or ten of spades, I can't. In that case, I would need to avoid a club continuation to beat it. But that's a very specific layout. I think I just have to pay off to it.

I return the six of clubs--jack--deuce--nine. Despite partner's carding, I still don't believe he had a doubleton club. I assume he switched to a middle club from three small. Declarer plays a spade--five--jack--queen. I cash the diamond ace--eight--seven--five. Partner didn't play his lowest diamond, so, as planned, I continue diamonds. Partner wins with the king and gives me a club ruff. Partner has the spade ten as a bonus. So declarer is down two.

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

Declarer might have made this. I was reluctant to think partner had switched to a club from the king looking at an entryless dummy. It's even less likely he would have played a club from the queen. I admit it's possible. Partner might be hoping I have ace doubleton and that declarer can afford to lose two club tricks but not two club tricks plus a ruff.  In that case, a shift from queen third might be his only chance. Declarer might hop with the king, playing him for ace third. The odds are, however, that East is simply making what looks to him like a safe and potentially useful shift.  So I think declarer's percentage play is to try to drop the queen offside.

At the other table, the auction begins the same way, but West does make the aggressive double of two clubs. North, playing Acol, knows his partner has four clubs, so he raises to three clubs. East bids three diamonds and buys it.

South starts by cashing his three quick trick tricks. He then resolves any problem declarer might have in spades by shifting to one. Declarer might have guessed spades right anyway. Or he might not have to guess.  South can force him to guess by tapping dummy with a club.  But if he continues hearts, declarer might strip the hand and play ace and a spade, endplaying North.  (That's not necessarily the best play.  To have the entries to do that, declarer must cash his high trumps in the wrong order, giving up on picking up a stiff diamond honor in South's hand.)  In any event, I'd prefer we hadn't made it so easy for him.

Me: +200
Jack: +110

Score on Board 128: +3 IMPs
Total: +14 IMPs

Now what?  I have some ideas for what to do next in this blog. But I'm taking a break at least until after the premiere of my opera, Tom Sawyer. The rehearsals, the rewrites, and the commute leave me with virtually no free time. Perhaps I'll see you there. The cast is first-rate (and, of course, so is the music).  Even if you're not an opera fan, I promise you'll enjoy it.

Board 127

Board 127
Our side vulnerable

♠ J 9 4 2 ♥ 7 5 ♦ Q J 5 ♣ Q J 8 6

I pass in first seat. Partner opens one notrump in third seat and buys it. RHO leads the five of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 NT
(All pass)

If the club five is fourth best, East will have only one card higher than dummy's six. If I play an honor from dummy, I will have six tricks whether or not the honor gets covered, but I will have little chance for a seventh. The opponents have at least seven tricks in the majors as soon as they get in. And they don't even have to cash them right away. I will have to lose the lead lots of times before I establish a seventh trick of my own.

If I play the six at trick one, however, I will have seven tricks ready to cash anytime East's one high club is the singleton or doubleton king. And I have chances if his high club is the nine or ten. I can take his nine or ten with the ace, play a club to dummy's eight, then drive out the king.  Then I have to cross my fingers. Depending on how their high cards are distributed, it may not be easy for the defense to work out how to cash their tricks.  If they fail to do so, I'll make this.

Accordingly, I play the six. East plays the king. Aha! I cash out my seven tricks and concede the balance. Making one.

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

The opponents can make two hearts, and they would get there with no trouble if they were playing sensible methods (in other words, Astro). West would bid two clubs over one notrump, showing hearts and a minor, intending to bid two spades over his partner's putative two diamonds, thereby getting all three suits into the auction. As it happens, however, his partner would bid two hearts, and that would be that.

At the other table, South opens one diamond in third seat, and West doubles. North bids one spade. East passes, and South rebids one notrump. This is passed around to East, who doubles for penalties. We'll never know if they would have made this or not. With top tricks, support for his partner's suit, and a ruffing value, South, quite reasonably, pulls to two spades, which West doubles.

The defense starts with three rounds of hearts, tapping declarer. Declarer plays a diamond to the king, which West ruffs. West plays another heart. Declarer ruffs with the nine, and East overruffs with the ace. East plays a spade to his partner's queen. West shifts to the ten of clubs--queen--king--ace. Declarer plays another spade. West hops with the king, reaching this position:

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

West shifts to the three of clubs. Declarer could finesse the eight. But, more elegantly, he hops with the jack and plays the queen of diamonds. Diamonds are blocked, but West can't exploit this fact. If he ruffs and plays a club, he establishes a club trick in declarer's hand while declarer has the diamond jack as an entry. All he can do is to take is one more trump trick for down two. But that's plenty. +500 nets us 11 imps.

See? That's what happens when you play strong notrumps. You go for numbers.  Actually, in fairness, it wasn't my opponents' methods that got them into trouble, it was South's one notrump rebid.  Opposite a passed hand, he should simply pass one spade.  Passing should promise three trumps, so partner will know how high to compete if the opponents keep bidding.  South was somewhat unlucky to be punished for his mistake.  Most of the time, nothing bad would come of a one notrump rebid. But it's still an error.  Not only is passing more descriptive, it's also superior tactically. One notrump creates no problems for West, and it gives East a second chance to act.

We have a commanding lead going into the last board. In response to an earlier comment by a reader, let me point out that I didn't know this at the time.  My estimate going into the last board was that we were still down about 5 or 6 imps.  To avoid the temptation of playing to score, I played the last eight boards without comparing, then went back and had Jack play them against himself.  As it happens, my teammates came back with some pretty good results.

Me: +90
Jack: -500

Score on Board 127: +11 IMPs
Total: +11 IMPs

Board 126

Board 126
Neither vulnerable

♠ Q 10 3 ♥ A J 10 8 ♦ A 8 ♣ A J 9 8

RHO passes. I open one heart, and partner responds one notrump. With a balanced 15-count in this system, you should pass one notrump. With a balanced 17-count, you should raise to two notrump. A balanced 16-count is awkward. If you pass, you could miss a game. If you bid, you could be too high. You just have to use your judgment. With this particular 16-count, holding only one card lower than an eight, such judgment is easy. I raise to two notrump. Partner carries on to three, and RHO leads the seven of spades.

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

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

I can take four clubs, two hearts, a spade, and a diamond--eight tricks. I have lots of prospects for a ninth trick. But if they find a diamond shift the first time I lose the lead, I may not be able to give up the lead a second time.

My first problem is how to handle the spades. I'd like to win this trick in my hand to give myself a chance to pick up five club tricks. If I can run the clubs, my problems are over. So it is tempting to play low from dummy, intending to win with the king and lead a low club to the jack. If West has king doubleton, I'm home. And if he has king third, giving East a singleton ten, I'm home. (Jack isn't good enough to duck king-ten doubleton offside. So I can confidently "waste" my king of hearts entry to repeat the club finesse.)

But what happens if West has king-ten third? Now I've given myself a problem. When West wins with the club king, he can continue spades. If West has five spades to one honor and I misguess, I'm down.

Perhaps I do better to play the spade ten at trick one. If the seven is fourth best, West must have either the ace or jack (or both), so the ten will guarantee they can't run spades. But, if the ten holds, I will have to start clubs from dummy. Unless the king is singleton, I will have to lose a club trick. It shouldn't be hard for the defense to find a diamond shift, after which I will have to guess the queen of hearts to make it.

I decide to go with second line for several reasons: (1) The odds are better than even money that I can't pick up clubs anyway. It seems wrong to assume an unnecessary risk in the hope that I can. (2) Each line risks my having to guess a suit, but the first line requires me make an early guess while the second line requires me to make a late guess. If I have to guess something, I'd rather guess when I have more information. (3) If I play the ten and it's covered, I've transposed to the first line with the extra vig that spades have already been guessed. Finessing the spade ten, paradoxically, gives me a problem only when the finesse wins. (Yes, I know. If East has the jack and I can pick up the clubs, he is better off ducking the ten. But he can't possibly work that out.  Ducking gains only when West has the club king. And if West has the club king, then from East's point of view, he might just as easily have the spade king instead. In that case, ducking the ten would be a spectacular failure.)

I have to say that I'm not entirely sure the ten is the right play.  For one thing, I might not even have a spade guess.  Sometimes West has both spade honors.  I could make some attempt to work out the odds of each play.  But it's a complicated problem.  For starters, I would have to make some assumptions about the chance of West's having only four spades and about my chance of guessing hearts late in the play.  It's certainly too complicated to work out at the table, though I might give it shot later on to confirm my judgment.

I play the ten, and East plays the deuce. It didn't think of this earlier. But it occurs to me now that I have the option of changing my mind and overtaking with the king. East might duck with the ace. But how likely is it that he would duck and discourage with the ace? If he does that, how will his partner ever know the suit is running?

Of course, if East has enough high cards that he knows his partner can't have an entry, he has no reason to tell his partner the suit is running. He can just continue spades himself when he wins the club king and surprise his partner. But Jack isn't that deep. His trick one attitude signals have been quite reliable (assuming "attitude" is determined simplistically by whether or not you have an honor in the suit led).  I decide to take Jack at his word.  I overtake with the king and play the club three--six--jack--five. I then cash the club ace, dropping the ten and king.

Great! I've made it.  Now I'm playing for overtricks.  Since the match is close, overtricks could be important. I play the nine of clubs. East pitches the three of diamonds; West, the four of hearts. I overtake the eight of clubs with the queen. East pitches the four of diamonds; West, the four of spades.

I can safely lead a heart to the jack. It's probably best to do that now. If I cash the last club and pitch a diamond from dummy, it will be easy for East to find a diamond shift if the heart finesse loses. I play the deuce of hearts--seven--jack--queen. East shifts to the king of diamonds, killing my chance for a second overtrick. Making four.

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

I am convinced now that the spade ten was the right play. The wrinkle of being able to overtake the spade ten with the king makes it clearly superior to playing low. Even if I intend always to overtake, the only thing I lose by playing the ten is that I commit myself to a particular guess in the spade suit.  Since I'm not going to receive any useful information before I make that guess, there is no reason not to commit myself now.  So playing the ten and deciding whether to overtake or not based on East's spade spot (and possibly on table feel for those of you who have such a thing) must be right.

At the other table, North opens one notrump. South chooses to invite via Stayman and two notrump (since an immediate two notrump would have been a transfer). Once again, Jack fails to lead fourth from longest and strongest. This time he's right. A low diamond lead would scare declarer, but he would have to make a series of strange decisions to go down.

East leads the six of spades--five--jack--queen. Declarer cashes the club ace and plays a second club to West's king. West should shift to diamonds now, forcing declarer to guess the hearts. There is no holding partner would have led the spade six from where spades could be running. (Partner did well not to lead the deuce.) Nonetheless, West cashes the spade ace--three--deuce--king. Now he shifts to a diamond. Declarer hops and cashes out to make three. Who knows whether he would have gone down after a diamond shift or not? At least we pick up another imp, tieing the match.

The vu-graph crowd is going wild.

Me: +430
Jack: +400

Score on Board 126: +1 IMPs
Total: 0 IMPs

Board 125

Board 125
Both sides vulnerable

♠ Q 10 8 7 5 ♥ Q 5 ♦ 6 5 ♣ A 8 7 5

Two passes to me. I could open one spade.  But, playing this style, I don't typically open hands in third seat that I wouldn't open in first or second, unless perhaps I have concentrated strength.

Passing proves to be a good idea, because LHO opens one spade in fourth seat. Partner doubles, and RHO bids one notrump. I like my defensive prospects, but I'd like to get them a little higher than one notrump. I bid two clubs. After two passes, RHO bids two spades. That looks like a fine spot. I pass, and two spades ends the auction. Partner leads the jack of clubs.

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

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

Three clubs, a doubleton spade, and two defensive tricks! If I held the North hand, I would just defend two clubs. That seems likelier to yield a plus score than declaring two spades.

I win with the club ace, as declarer plays the deuce, and return the club five. Partner takes declarer's queen with the king then plays the ten. I never know what I'm supposed to play in this situation. Do I play the eight to show a heart card, or do I need better hearts than that--queen-ten, say--so that a heart shift by partner is more plausible? Subtle suit-preference signals have never been my forte. Fortunately, Jack isn't going to pay attention anyway. I decide to play the seven. Declarer follows with the three.

Partner shifts to the ace of hearts. Having played the club seven, at least I needn't feel complicit in partner's decision. Or perhaps I am complicit.  If partner thinks the seven denies a heart card, maybe he thinks he has nothing to protect by avoiding the heart suit.  This is all very confusing.  I hate suit-preference signals. I invite anyone who has firm understandings about these things to comment.

I play the five, and declarer follows with the ten. King-ten doubleton, I presume. That's a relief. He was probably guessing that suit correctly even if partner didn't lead the ace.  Partner appears to have five hearts. That makes him 1-5-4-3, leaving declarer with 5-2-3-3. Partner has at most two high card points more than he's shown up with so far, so we have no diamond tricks. We need to take two spade tricks to beat this.

Partner plays the four of hearts to my queen and declarer's king. Declarer cashes the spade king, on which partner plays the jack. I guess I have my two spade tricks now. Declarer plays the seven of diamonds--nine--king--five (I don't think partner really cares about my diamond count). He then leads a spade from dummy. There's nothing to gain by splitting, so I play the seven. Declarer inserts the nine, cashes the spade ace, then plays diamonds. I get my two trump tricks for down one.

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

As North should have expected, his two spade bid turned a plus into a minus. I wasn't making two clubs.

At the other table, my teammate opens in fourth seat with a weak notrump. West does well to pass; bidding could land his side in a fair amount of trouble.  If I were West, I wouldn't bid over a weak notrump as an unpassed hand. But I would certainly bid as a passed hand. (Or as an unpassed hand over a strong notrump. You need a better hand to bid over a weak notrump than you do over a strong notrump, because you have to worry about having game on power. Over a strong notrump, you presume you don't have a game without an excellent fit, so your bidding can be primarily obstructive.)

Once West chooses to pass, the danger should be over; East should not balance. Without a singleton, he can expect to do at least as well on defense as on offense.  He seems to agree. North passes, as does East.

Against one notrump, West leads the deuce of diamonds. That seems like a strange choice. What happened to fourth best from longest and strongest? Declarer wins with dummy's king. Declarer rates to have four diamond tricks (by finessing the ten if East doesn't show up with jack doubleton). So it seems declarer should play on hearts for his seventh trick. If he plays a heart to the ten, he'll wind up with eight.

Instead, declarer leads a spade to the nine. West wins with the jack and shifts to the ten of clubs. East takes his ace and continues with the eight of clubs. I don't understand the carding.  I know from previous deals that Jack doesn't play ten or nine shows zero or two higher at trick one.  Does he play it in the middle of the hand?  And why the club eight instead of the five?  How is West supposed to know that declarer isn't the one with four clubs? In any event, West cashes his two club tricks.

West should now play diamonds and let declarer play the majors for himself. After a diamond shift, it's conceivable that declarer will go down. But West continues the weirdness by shifting to the four of hearts--deuce--queen--ace. I don't see what layout West was playing for.  Even if declarer does have seven tricks without attacking hearts himself, how does shifting to a heart help?

Declarer takes East's queen with the king, then drives the heart ace to establish a seventh trick. He finishes with a heart-diamond squeeze against West for his eighth, obviating the need for a diamond finesse. Making two and picking up six imps. Not bad. Three boards left, and we've narrowed our opponents' lead to a single imp.

Me: +100
Jack: -120

Score on Board 125: +6 IMPs
Total: -1 IMP

Board 124

Board 124
Our side vulnerable

♠ K Q 6 ♥ A Q J 9 8 ♦ K J 4 ♣ 10 6

RHO opens two diamonds (weak) in third seat. I could bid two hearts, but I like two notrump better. It conveys the strength of my hand more exactly, and notrump may play better than hearts if partner has diamond length as well.

Over two notrump, partner bids three spades. I raise to four, and RHO leads the deuce of hearts.

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

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

I would not have bid three spades with partner's hand. With queen third of diamonds, I would have simply raised to three notrump. I suspect that wouldn't have worked out too well. East probably has an easy club lead against three notrump. Obviously, they can beat four spades with a diamond lead or with a club lead and a diamond shift. After the heart lead, I need only to bring home the spades.

I play the eight of hearts from dummy. East plays the three, and I duck. I cash the king of spades--deuce--three--seven, then the queen of spades--five--four--diamond five. So much for bringing home the spades. I'm still OK if East began with three or more hearts. Given the lead of the deuce, that would mean West would be 1-1-6-5, which isn't likely.

I play a spade to the ace and lead the ten of hearts--five--nine--four. West isn't 1-1-6-5.  Since I've never seen Jack lead low from a doubleton at trick one, my legitimate chances have vanished.  So I decide to play for a mistake. It's hard to see how they can get the cash-out wrong. But it's not my job to figure out what mistakes they can make. My job is just to give them the chance.

I play the eight of spades, pitching the jack of hearts from dummy. A fifth heart trick isn't going to do me any good, and throwing winners away sometimes confuses the opponents. East wins, cashes the ace and king of clubs, and plays a diamond to his partner's ace. Down one. I peer over just to make sure West has that third heart. He does.

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

Obviously I would not have tried this line if I thought there was any chance that Jack had led a low heart from a doubleton. That's the nice thing about playing against a computer. They're reliable that way. You don't even have to worry that they've mis-sorted their hand or have pulled a wrong card by accident.

At the other table, my teammate opens three clubs with the East hand. I would have chosen one club to avoid burying the spades. But I certainly like three clubs better than pass. South passes, and West raises to four clubs. Rightly or wrongly, this silences North.

If the defense doesn't lead spades to tap dummy, declarer can set up diamonds and run them. If it does, declarer can ruff three spades in dummy. So there is no way to beat this. In practice, the defense cashed two hearts and switched to a trump. Declarer ruffed out the diamonds, then conceded a spade. Making four. We pick up another imp. We're closing in on them.

Me: -100
Jack: -130

Score on Board 124: +1 IMP
Total: - 7 IMPs

Board 123

Board 123
Neither vulnerable

♠ 9 3 ♥ A K Q J 2 ♦ K J 10 5 4 ♣ 9

I open one heart in first seat. Partner responds two clubs, and RHO bids two spades. I bid three diamonds, LHO raises to three spades, and partner bids four hearts. RHO bids four spades.

Partner's two-over-one followed by his bidding game has created a forcing auction. Since I've bid two suits, partner would be entitled to expect a singleton spade if I were to make a forcing pass. Not that I would be tempted to pass even if that weren't true.  Our defensive prospects look pretty good.  Partner has clubs, and I have the red suits.  It's hard to see where declarer's tricks are coming from. I double, everyone passes, and I lead the nine of clubs.

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

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

With five trumps, a stack in dummy's suit, and minimal spade support, North was probably not too happy to hear his partner's four spade bid. Declarer plays the ten of clubs from dummy, partner plays the queen, and declarer follows with the six. Partner switches to the seven of hearts, and declarer plays the three. So partner bid four hearts on a doubleton! I guess he intended it as a transfer to four spades. He got them.

I doubt partner has four diamonds, else he would have bid four diamond rather than four hearts. That leaves declarer with at least four diamonds, so it seems right to cut down on his ruffs. I switch to the three of spades. Yes, I know. Lowenthal would have led that at trick one. (Lowenthal's Third Law: The lead of a trump shows a singleton or void in a side suit.) He's probably right, too. With all three side suits bottled up, I probably should have led a trump initially.

Partner takes the spade ace and continues spades. Nice of him to have the spade ace, saving me from my trick one error. Declarer wins in his hand and plays a club to the jack and ace. Partner shifts to diamonds. Declarer plays the queen. I win with the king, and declarer has the rest. He can pitch one of his diamond losers on a club and ruff the other. Down two.

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

Four hearts isn't a bad contract. But I don't have the communication to pick up the diamonds, so it appears I was destined to go down. We've collected 300 on a phantom. Still, our teammates may do the same thing. It's hard for South not to bid game once his suit gets raised. One can easily construct layouts where both four hearts and four spades are making.  Perhaps the knowledge that the diamonds are stacked behind him should slow him down.  But it's easy to say that once you see the full deal.

Not to quarrel with success, but partner's four heart bid was a little strange. Perhaps he was overly concerned that his two club bid wasn't game-forcing (or even "almost game-forcing") and thought he had to do something, since his hand was better than it might have been. It's true he might have a tad less, but opposite a red two-suiter his hand is still better suited for defense than for offense. In fact, if one of his hearts were a spade, I would double. So, with this hand, I see no reason not to suggest that we defend by passing, even though pass is arguably not forcing.

In general, I think players worry too much about whether their passes are forcing or not. Pass here says "I don't have enough offense to bid, and I don't have enough defense to double." Who cares whether it's forcing? If partner chooses to defend but isn't willing to double himself, how many tricks do you think you're going to beat it? So you collect 50 instead of 100. Big deal!  If you're beating it several, partner will double whether he thinks your pass is forcing or not.

At the other table, the auction begins the same way, but East does pass over two spades. Since in Eastern Science Fiction pass is clearly forcing, it's an easy choice. South passes and West bids four hearts, treating his solid five-card suit as a six-card suit.

North can be pretty sure that he doesn't want to hear his partner bid four spades, but not so sure that he can risk a double. He does have a surprise, but there is no reason the opponents can't have extras on this auction. The surprise may simply mean they make four instead of five. In fact, for all he knows, East isn't even through bidding.

But East is through, and, fortunately for our side, so is South. Of course, it makes little sense to bid four spades now. If South was going to bid it, he should have bid it on the previous round to put pressure on West.  Not only is bidding four spades at this point poor tactical bridge, it's also poor partnership bridge.  If partner has to worry about your doing such things, he will more inclined to make questionable doubles like the double that I'm sure crossed North's mind.

North leads the jack of spades. Declarer has no convenient way to take a club finesse for a spade pitch, nor does he have reason to believe he should. It appears he may be able to hold his losses to a spade and two diamonds. Taking taps in his hand might not be such a good idea anyway. Perhaps he's better off conceding a spade and using dummy's trumps to stop the third round. So he ducks the first spade, wins the spade continuation with the ace, and plays a diamond.

South hops with the ace and shifts to a trump. Declarer wins and cashes two more high trumps, on which South pitches two spades. Declarer can now play a club to the queen, pitch a diamond on the club ace, and play a diamond to the jack, holding it to down one. Instead, he lays down the king of diamonds. North ruffs.

North then shifts of the four of clubs. Any other club would guarantee down two. After the lead of the four, however, declarer can once again get out for down one. He can ride the club to his nine, draw North's trump, then concede a diamond. Of course, this risks down three. So, not unreasonably, he rises with the club ace and plays a diamond, losing a diamond and another ruff for down two.

We pick up 9 imps, bringing our loss back into the single digits. We needed this result, although I can't claim we deserved it. The main cause appears to be partner's questionable four heart bid. But sometimes questionable actions work out. If they didn't, we would learn to stop making them.

Me: +300
Jack: -100

Score on Board 123: +9 IMPs
Total: -8 IMPs

Board 122

Board 122
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 4 ♥ A K Q 4 3 2 ♦ K 8 7 ♣ 9 7 4

RHO passes, and I open with one heart. LHO bids two diamonds, partner raises to two hearts, and RHO doubles. I bid three hearts, obeying the Law. LHO jumps to four spades, which ends the auction, and partner leads the six of hearts.

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

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

North's hand is not my idea of a responsive double. I think a double should have both less shape and more high cards, so that partner is free to pass the double when he doesn't hold a second suit . A responsive double after an overcall isn't so much a take-out double as it is a penalty double without a trump stack. With this hand, I would bid two spades, counting on the diamond tolerance to see me through if partner doesn't have spade support.

I know partner has two hearts higher than the six. They must be the jack and nine. Otherwise partner would have led the top of his sequence. I consider winning with the ace and returning a low heart to conceal the location of the heart honors from declarer. But partner might reasonably think that I'm desperately putting him on play for a club shift. I decide to compromise. I win with the king, as declarer plays the ten, then play the ace. Declarer ruffs with the spade three, and partner plays the heart five.

It's rare for partner to have four hearts for his two heart bid. Usually, with four trumps, he should bid either three hearts (pre-emptive) or three diamonds (perhaps stretching a little) to put more pressure on the opponents. Either one of those calls might have shut North out of the bidding.

Declarer leads the jack of spades--five--deuce--four. He then leads the nine of spades, and partner wins with the ace. I pitch the four of hearts. Partner shifts to the queen of clubs. Declarer wins in dummy with the king. He plays the ten of diamonds, which I duck. It holds. He cashes the spade king, drawing partner's last trump, then leads the queen of diamonds, which I also duck. He overtakes with the ace, ruffs a diamond, and claims. Making five.

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

That's a strange way to handle the diamond suit. He should lead the queen for the first finesse. Then he can overtake the ten with the jack. On the line he took, he wouldn't have been too happy if I had held king fourth of diamonds.

At the other table, my teammate chooses to bid two spades over two heart instead of doubling. As you already know, I approve. East bids three hearts, and South raises to four spades. East leads the heart ace, then shifts to the seven of clubs. Declarer eventually scores eleven tricks for a push.

Both Wests chose to bid two hearts. What wimps! I would bid three hearts.  I'm not worried about missing a game, since I think opener should bid on with six hearts or with a hand that would make a game try opposite a single raise.  If you prefer not to pre-empt with this good a hand, even overbidding with three diamonds is better than bidding two hearts. The downside to cue-bidding is that it creates a force should the opponents bid game, which I don't want to do.

To see what would happen, I replayed the board twice with myself as West. The first time, I bid three hearts over the two diamond overcall; the second time, I bid three diamonds. In each case, North passed, and partner bid four hearts and bought it. Down two. Sigh. That would have been an easy 10 imps. Sometimes you're just sitting in the wrong seat.

Me: -650
Jack: -650

Score on Board 122: 0 IMPs
Total: -17 IMPs

Board 121

Board 121
Opponents vulnerable

♠ Q 9 ♥ Q 9 7 5 3 ♦ Q 10 4 ♣ Q 6 5

Partner passes, and RHO opens one diamond. I pass, LHO passes, and partner balances with one notrump. Since he's a passed hand, this should show a balanced 10 or 11 high-card points.  RHO bids two diamonds.

Partner probably has three diamonds, in which case, even if we have a heart fit, our diamond tricks will be ruffed away. These diamond tricks will be worth something on defense but not on offense.  Partner might have bid one notrump with a doubleton diamond. But, if so, he is offshape for a take-out double. And if he's offshape, it's probably heart support that he's missing.

You see where I'm going with this. Bidding two hearts is simply a bad idea. It is unlikely that both two hearts and two diamonds are making, which is the only time it's essential to bid at IMPs. And it is quite possible that both are going down, which is when it's essential not to bid. We don't care too much what we do if one contract makes and the other doesn't. I pass, as does everyone else.

I give fleeting thought to leading the queen of spades. Usually one doesn't go after ruffs with queen third of trumps. But in this case, a ruff may prove useful. If partner has king third of diamonds, for example, a ruff with my queen third will produce a trick. Still, when dummy rates to be relatively entryless, it's usually wrong to adopt an aggressive defense. So I choose a more passive three of hearts.

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

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

It appears partner did bid one notrump with a doubleton diamond. My best guess is that partner is 4-2-2-5, giving declarer 3-2-6-2.

Dummy plays the deuce, partner plays the eight, and declarer wins with the ace, presumably from ace-king doubleton. Declarer plays the three of clubs. I'm not sure what the point of this play is, but I see no reason to be on lead. I play the five. Partner takes dummy's seven with his nine and returns the six of hearts. Declarer pitches the four of clubs and I'm in with the queen of hearts.

What's going on? Partner did have three hearts, and he must have at least three spades, so why did he bid one notrump instead of doubling? As for partner's high cards, he has the heart king and presumably the diamond king. For declarer's club plays to make any sense, declarer must have ace third of clubs, giving partner the king and jack. That's ten high-card points. He can have at most the spade jack or the diamond jack in addition.

The only suit I can afford to play is clubs. I lead the six of clubs, expecting declarer to win with the ace. To my surprise, partner plays the king, and declarer follows with the jack. This is just like playing with Lowenthal. After every trick, I have to reconstruct the hand all over again.

Apparently partner is 4-3-2-4 with the ace-king of clubs and the king of hearts. So he can't have the king of diamonds. He bid one notrump not only with a doubleton diamond but with no stopper? I don't think so. Let's try again. As strange as it seems, declarer must have rebid two diamonds with only five. That means declarer is 4-1-5-3 and partner is 3-3-3-4. I think I have it now.

Partner continues with the ace of clubs, and declarer ruffs with the seven of diamonds. He cashes the spade ace. I drop the queen. I guess I didn't need to do that, since I have a safe exit in hearts. But it can't hurt. (Why do I have the feeling someone's going to post a comment showing how it can hurt?)

Declarer plays the deuce of spades to the king and ruffs out partner's king of hearts. He plays three rounds of diamonds, putting me in with the queen. I have to concede a trick to dummy's jack of hearts. But all declarer has to pitch on it is his fourth spade. He still has a spade loser, so he takes eight tricks, making his contract.

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

I like partner's one notrump bid. With three diamonds, he wants to discourage me from bidding too much if I have diamond length as well. He doesn't necessarily need a diamond stopper to make one notrump. And if I passed over one diamond with a good enough hand to raise him to three, diamonds is probably my best suit.

How would we do in two hearts? The defense would presumably start with the ace and king of diamonds, then the jack of diamonds (suit-preference for spades) ruffed. West must then cash the spade king and play a spade to his partner's ace. A fourth diamond allows him to ruff with the ten, forcing dummy to overruff with the king. When East gets in with the ace of hearts, a fifth diamond promotes the trump jack. Down two.

At the other table, the auction begins the same way, but West makes the ill-advised two heart call over two diamonds. I have hopes of picking up three imps. The defense starts with three rounds of diamonds, but North shifts to a low spade instead of the king. The defense can no longer score a trump promotion, and declarer escapes for down one, pushing the board.

Me: -90
Jack: -100

Score on Board 121: 0 IMPs
Total: -17 IMPs

Board 120

Board 120
Neither vulnerable

♠ A 3 ♥ A 7 3 ♦ 7 ♣ A K J 9 7 5 2

RHO opens two spades in third seat. I can make three notrump opposite the club queen and a diamond stopper. If I'm lucky, I might make it opposite neither one. So I bid three notrump, which ends the auction. LHO leads the four of spades.

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

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

I play low from dummy, and East plays the king. It's perfectly safe to duck, since they can't take four diamond tricks with East on play. I'll still have two losers after a duck, so it doesn't correct the count for a simple squeeze. But if they don't find a diamond shift, I may be able to make five on some kind of delayed-duck squeeze. I play low, and East continues with the deuce of spades. West unblocks the queen under my ace.

Do I have any legitimate chances for an eleventh trick? What if West has all the red-suit honors? When I cash seven clubs, he will have to come down to four cards: queen-jack third of hearts and a singleton diamond honor. I can then lead a heart. He splits. I take the king and toss him in with a diamond to lead into my heart tenace. He probably doesn't have all the red-suit honors, though. The diamond honors rate to be split, since he didn't lead the king of diamonds. If so, he can hold queen-jack third of hearts and any pointed card other than the ace of diamonds.

What four cards will East come down to? If he works out I have the heart ace, he should hold two hearts even if he has no honors. He has to follow to the ace and king anyway, and holding two of them makes it dangerous for me to finesse against West if I have ace-jack third. If the thinks his partner has the heart ace, he might pitch down to a singleton. What about diamonds? If he has the king and thinks I have the ace, he may hold on to king doubleton.

I start cashing clubs. I lead a club to the queen, then lead the ten. If East shows out, I intend to duck so that East must make his second discard before he sees a signal from his partner. If East follows, I intend to overtake to give West the same problem.  Little details like this are worth paying attention to.  They can sometimes make a big difference. On the club ten, East discards the four of diamonds, so I let the ten hold. On the next club, he discards the five of diamonds; West, the deuce of hearts.

I doubt West would pitch a heart from three, so East is either 6-1-5-1 or 6-2-4-1. The latter is more likely, but if he pitches a third diamond, I might think about placing him with 6-5. On the next club, West pitches the six of diamonds; dummy, the deuce of diamonds; East, the six of spades. Everyone is pitching diamonds from the bottom up. Neither opponent seems interested in helping his partner out, so neither player knows his partner has the other high diamond.

On the fifth club, West pitches the diamond eight; dummy, the diamond three; East, the spade eight. It appears each opponent has pitched down to a doubleton diamond honor. On the sixth club, West pitches the jack of diamonds, presumably holding on to a stiff ace; dummy, the diamond nine; East, the heart four. East must have started with two small hearts. Surely he wouldn't stiff an honor. We are down to this position:

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ K 10 8 5 ♦ Q ♣ --
WEST ♠ 10 ♥ ? ? x ♦ A ♣ --		EAST ♠ J 9 ♥ ? ♦ K 10 ♣ --
	SOUTH ♠ -- ♥ A 7 3 ♦ 7 ♣ 7

I suspect West has queen-jack third of hearts. If so, he must throw the diamond ace on the last club.  But he doesn't.  When I cash the last club, he pitches the ten of spades. Now I can pitch a heart from dummy and execute the endplay I imagined earlier. But what if I'm wrong? If I lead a heart and West doesn't split, I can't afford to insert the ten. If it loses to a singleton honor, I'm down. (If East has held two diamonds,West can unblock the diamond ace when East cashes his spade.) Since I can't afford to play for that position, I'll play for the other, less likely, scenario: East's having pitched down to a singleton heart honor. In that case, I don't need dummy's diamond.  I pitch it, and East pitches the spade nine. I now cash the heart ace--six--five--jack. Aha!

I've cashed nine tricks already, so it's safe for me to finesse the heart even if I've completely misread the position. I lead a heart to the ten. East pitches the ten of diamonds, and I claim. Making six.

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

What would I have done playing matchpoints?  Would I have backed my judgment, played the other way, and gone down?  I don't even want to think about that.

At the other table, East passes in third seat. Our team does not play weak two-bids, but that doesn't mean East is supposed to pass. He should open one spade. South opens one club in fourth seat. North responds one diamond. Now East bids two spades, and South bids three notrump. I think a one spade opening bid would have given them a tougher time. The auction might continue double--two spades--three hearts or pass--three spades. It's not so obvious that South would trot out three notrump any more, whatever North chose to do over two spades.

Against three notrump, West leads the four of spades to the king. South takes his ace, relieving the pressure on his opponents. They have no trouble holding him to ten tricks.  We pick up two imps.  If we can do this on every board, we'll lose by only an imp.

Me: +490
Jack: +430

Score on Board 120: +2 IMPs
Total: -17 IMPs

Board 119

Board 119
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A 3 ♥ Q 8 6 ♦ 8 6 4 ♣ K 9 5 4 3

I pass in first seat. LHO opens one spade, and RHO bids two hearts. LHO raises to three hearts, and RHO bids four clubs. LHO bids four hearts, ending the auction. It might be right to attack clubs while I still have a spade entry, but I doubt we can take two tricks in clubs. Nor does it seem likely we can take a second trick in either major. To beat this, I will probably need to find partner with a diamond trick anyway, so I might as well lead that suit now.  That way, the club play can come from partner's side. I lead the four of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	1 ♠	Pass	2 ♥1
Pass	3 ♥	Pass	4 ♣2
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)
1Almost game-forcing
2Control in clubs for hearts

Declarer plays the jack from dummy--three--deuce. It doesn't appear we have much chance to beat this. We have the spade ace and whatever heart tricks we can manage. Declarer plays the jack of spades, partner plays the deuce, and declarer ruffs with the deuce of hearts. OK. Maybe we don't have a spade trick. But now it appears declarer will have some club losers to dispose of. Declarer cashes the king of diamonds--six--five--ten, then the ace of diamonds, which partner ruffs with the five of hearts.

This is a curious line. I can't imagine what declarer has to gain by letting partner ruff a diamond. One thing for sure, declarer isn't playing this way with king-jack-ten sixth of hearts, so he must be 0-5-4-4. Partner shifts to the six of clubs, declarer plays the ace, and I play the three. Declarer ruffs the seven of clubs in dummy, as partner follows with the eight. Declarer ruffs another spade with the four of hearts, dropping my ace. He ruffs another club in dummy, dropping partner's queen, then cashes the heart ace, dropping partner's king. We are down to this position:

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

Declarer discards his club on dummy's spade queen as I ruff. My heart queen is our last trick. Making four.

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

At the other table, the auction goes the same way except that my teammate bids six hearts over North's four hearts. This makes no sense at all. In Eastern Science Fiction, North's three-heart bid could be just about anything. And, since South knows his partner can't cue-bid four diamonds over four clubs, he might fear that he's missing something by passing four hearts. But my teammate should have no such fear. His partner's three heart wasn't even forcing! South has a void in his partner's suit, his trumps are headed by the jack, and his partner was willing to stop short of game opposite a minimum two-over-one. Personally, I think even four clubs was an overbid. It would never occur to me to bid again over four hearts, much less drive to slam.

I'm rooting for the ace of spades lead, but it's hard even to make a case for it. West leads four of diamonds. At least there's some hope. A club lead would have guaranteed two trump tricks for the defense. Declarer wins with the ace and floats the nine of hearts. East takes his king and shifts to the ten of spades. Not a good idea. His partner would have led some kind of alarm-clock card if he were void in spades. This shift reveals that the spade ace is offside, so declarer should now make it.

Could East know enough to make a deceptive shift from ace fourth of spades? Maybe. Declarer, in theory, marked himself with a spade void by not Blackwooding (except for the fact that my teammates don't play Blackwood). So a clever and trusting East might find that shift. But, in the long run, you lose more than you gain by playing your opponents to be geniuses. I would be hard-pressed to play my opponent to have done such a thing. I can name players who are good enough to find the shift. But (sad to say) I doubt any of them has sufficient confidence in my bidding to infer the spade void with any certainty.

Declarer ruffs the spade and floats the ten of hearts. Since the queen of hearts was third, declarer can't ruff any clubs in dummy. That means he needs four spade tricks, which he can take only if West began with ace doubleton or if East began with ace fourth.

Declarer plays a heart to the ace, as East pitches the deuce of spades. Declarer plays a diamond to his king, then a diamond back to the queen. East pitches yet another spade, the four. Declarer leads the jack of spades, and East follows with the seven.

It's now 100% to ruff. Declarer has seen four spades from East, so he knows he didn't start with ace fourth. Even if you give your opponent credit for underleading the spade ace, the spade pitches tell you that's not what happened. Any defender capable of the underlead is capable of seeing that he can't afford to pitch spades from ace fifth or sixth. But, instead of the 100% line, declarer opts for the 0% line. He pitches a club. Down one.

Computers! I don't think there's a human in the world above the level of novice who would go down in this deal having reached this point in the play. Nine boards to go, and we've dropped back to minus 19 imps.

Me: -620
Jack: +100

Score on Board 119: -12 IMPS
Total: -19 IMPs

Board 118

Board 118
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A 8 6 3 2 ♥ J 10 ♦ 9 5 3 ♣ 9 8 6

RHO opens one heart in first seat. I would overcall one spade if he had opened one club, but I don't see much point in bidding over one heart. When an overcall has no pre-emptive value, it must stand or fall on its own merits. I think this one would fall.

LHO bids two notrump, showing a forcing heart raise, and partner bids three clubs. RHO bids four hearts. Even at this vulnerability, five clubs rates to be expensive. Give partner six solid clubs and and out, and we could go for 700. [Actually, as poohbear points out, we couldn't go for 700 unless I were keeping score.  We'd go for 800 under the "new" scoring.] To make matters worse, I can't even be sure they're making four hearts. If partner has a singleton spade, we could have four fast tricks. When you sacrifice, you should be sure either that your save isn't going to be too expensive or that the opponents can make their contract. In general, when you take an action that has two ways to be wrong, that's a clue that your action is anti-percentage.

I pass, and four hearts ends the auction. Probably our best chance to beat this is to catch partner with a singleton spade. Even so, I doubt it's necessary for me to lead the suit at trick one. If we have enough tricks to beat this, partner rates to get in time to shift to a singleton spade himself. If I had a potential entry with which to give partner a second ruff (say, the club queen), I might lead the spade ace.  As it is, it's probably better to lead partner's suit in case I'm wrong about how we're going to beat this and a spade lead would blow a tempo. I lead the club six.

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

West	North	East	South
			1 ♥
Pass	2 NT1	3 ♣	4 ♥
(All pass)
1At least four-card support, game-forcing

A game force with a nine-loser hand! North seems to have given full weight to the queen-jack doubleton of spades. Declarer plays the seven of clubs from dummy. Partner wins with the jack of clubs as declarer follows with the deuce. Partner lays down the club ace, and declarer ruffs. Declarer draws trumps in two rounds, plays a diamond to the jack, then leads the five of clubs. When partner follows with the four, declarer pitches the four of spades. I'm in with the club eight. I certainly wasn't expecting that. I cash the spade ace, and declarer claims the balance.

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

I'm not sure why declarer didn't claim the balance after drawing two rounds of trumps. Maybe, when he pitched the spade, he pulled the wrong card by accident. Anyway, it does seem we missed a good save. Four spades is down only one. Even over-saving at five spades is a better result than this. Where did we go wrong?

I don't think I can fault myself for not overcalling with one spade. I doubt that bid satisfies the Rule of Two or Three. (Not to be confused with Culbertson's Rule of Two and Three for deciding how high to pre-empt. The Rule of Two or Three is a rule Karen McCallum and I used to play: If you're contemplating a bid and you can find two or three people in the room who would make that same bid, you're allowed to make it.)

Partner might have bid four clubs (showing clubs and spades) over two notrump, but that seems a bit flaky without a fifth spade. Should partner have doubled four hearts? The lack of diamond support is no deterrent, since advancer shouldn't pull the double to five diamonds. If he wants to play diamonds, he should bid four notrump, giving the doubler a chance to bid five clubs with inadequate support for diamonds. (If advancer has a singleton club, he probably won't be pulling the double at all, since he will have good prospects on defense.) Even with that understanding, however, East's hand is thin for a double of four hearts. He probably needs either a sixth club or an extra high card. I suspect the only reason we're even discussing a double is that we know it works. We just have to face the fact that there are 11 imps up for grabs on this board that we have no sensible way of grabbing.

In the other room, East doesn't bid over North's two notrump. I think that's a serious error. South bids four diamonds, showing a five-card suit, and North bids four hearts. South's four diamond bid makes it more attractive for East to act than the four heart bid did at our table, if for no other reason than that it diminishes the chance that four hearts is going down. But what can East do? Looking at this hand, it's easy to think that double should be for take-out. But you're not supposed to be looking at this hand. You're supposed to be looking at a hand that doesn't merit acting on the previous round. If you can't bid at the three level, knowing the opponents have a fit and knowing they're about to bid a game, how can you want to bid at the four level? Given your previous pass, a double here must logically be for penalties.

South's auction makes the defense easier. West leads a club to East jack, East shifts to a spade, and the defense cashes their spade tricks, holding declarer to four.

Me: -620
Jack: -620

Score on Board 118: 0 IMPs
Total: -7 IMPs

Board 117

Board 117
Our side vulnerable

♠ K 10 8 5 4 3 2 ♥ 10 ♦ J 8 5 ♣ 9 4

Partner passes, and RHO opens one notrump. The vulnerability isn't going to keep me from bidding. It's just going to slow me down a little. I content myself with a mere two spades. That should be safe enough. If partner has spade support, I doubt I'll mind being raised to whatever level he chooses to raise to. If he doesn't have spade support, I don't expect to hear from him, since he couldn't act in first seat.

LHO bids three diamonds (forcing), and RHO bids three notrump. LHO bids four notrump, which my opponents insists on playing as Blackwood. RHO shows an ace, then two kings. LHO signs off in six notrump.

If partner has queen doubleton of spades and a probable entry, I would expect him to double this. Since he didn't double, I'm going to defend passively. I lead the nine of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1 NT
2 ♠	3 ♦1	Pass	3 NT
Pass	4 NT2	Pass	5 ♦3
Pass	5 NT4	Pass	6 ♥5
Pass	6 NT	(All pass)
1Forcing to game
2Ace asking for no trump
31 or 4 aces
4King asking
52 kings

Once again, North held a perfectly good quantitative four notrump call, which Jack's fondness of Blackwood prevented him from making. Dummy plays the eight of clubs, partner plays the queen, and declarer plays the three. Assuming partner has the king of clubs as well (you never know), then he has at most a queen unaccounted for. If we assume that it is the heart queen (the most favorable assumption), declarer has six diamond tricks, two black aces, and three heart tricks via a finesse. He needs one more trick. If he has a fourth heart and a third club, he will be able to squeeze partner in hearts and clubs for his twelfth trick. It seems our only real chance is that declarer is missing a threat in one suit or the other.

Partner shifts to the six of spades, declarer wins with the ace, and I encourage with the eight. Declarer plays the deuce of clubs to the ace, partner playing the five.  Since we know declarer has the jack of clubs, that means he has a club threat.  I have to hope he has only three hearts.  Declarer plays the three of diamonds from the dummy. Partner plays the seven, and declarer plays the nine. Well, now. I suppose declarer thought I was likely to be three-one the other way in the red suits. I win with the diamond jack and cash the spade king. Declarer takes the rest. Down two.

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

Since declarer held the eight of hearts, he didn't need the squeeze.  But he did need to pick up the diamonds. He should have read my Bridge World article The Majority Rule. I'm known to have nine cards in the black suits (assuming I didn't completely lose my mind when I bid two spades). According to the Majority Rule, it's right to finesse East for the diamond jack only if a four-one split still leaves him with a majority of the hearts. It does not. A four-one diamond split leaves North with three of the six hearts. If I were known to have ten black cards, declarer's play would be correct. This is a minor flaw in Jack's method of calculating odds. Since he calculates odds empirically from a sample rather than analytically from the entire population, he will occasionally reach the wrong conclusion through sampling error. In the long run, these errors won't matter much, since the second-best play he chooses will be only slightly inferior to the best play. Sometimes he can even get lucky. The second-best play might succeed when the best play fails. This time, however, his error was costly.

At the other table, South opens one heart, and West passes, which seems awfully timid. If I can make a simple overcall over one notrump, surely Jack can afford to pre-empt to the same level over one heart. North bids two diamonds, and South bids two notrump to show his strong notrump. North bids three hearts, and South bids three notrump, denying a fifth heart. North raises this to six. I've taken Blackwood off my teammates' card to keep them from using it in auctions like this, but they still don't seem to have figured out how to use a natural four notrump to invite a slam.

Having failed to make a discovery bid to help him with his lead, West has no reason not to choose the five of spades. Declarer wins with the queen and plays a heart to the ace. Seeing West's ten drop, he plays a low heart to his eight. West pitches the deuce of spades. Declarer cashes the diamond king then plays the nine of diamonds to the queen.

Declarer makes an overtrick and we pick up fifteen imps. We're back in the game.

Me: +100
Jack: -1020

Score on Board 117: +15 IMPs
Total: -7 IMPs