Board 109

Board 109
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A Q 7 4 ♥ Q J 4 2 ♦ Q ♣ A Q 9 6

Three passes to me. I open one club, and partner responds one diamond. I bid one notrump, 15-17. Partner raises to three notrump, and West leads the nine of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 ♣
Pass	1 ♦	Pass	1 NT
Pass	3 NT	(All pass)

I'm not sure whether partner judged not to worry about a four-four spade fit or if he thought I couldn't have four spades when I rebid one notrump.  I certainly don't think a notrump rebid denies a four-card major, especially when playing weak notrumps. On the contrary, I believe you should strive to rebid one notrump when that's a reasonable choice, since it limits your hand.  And it's useful to have the auction "one X--one Y--one Z" promise an unbalanced hand, usually with at least five X's.

In any event, three notrump is a perfectly acceptable contract. I have at least three spade tricks, two hearts, three clubs, and a diamond--nine tricks. If West began with nine doubleton of spades, I can take four spade tricks by covering the nine with the jack. But I would hold myself to two tricks if West began with king-ten-nine fourth. As I understand Jack's agreements, he's not supposed to have that, but opponents don't always follow their agreements. Three spade tricks are probably sufficient, and it's best not to make any assumptions you don't have to. I play the deuce of spades, East follows with the six, and I win with the queen.

To set up nine tricks, I must lose the lead three times.  Obviously diamonds is the last suit I intend to play, since the opponents might be able to establish some diamond tricks of their own.  Similarly, I want to postpone attacking hearts, because, if hearts are five-two, the opponents may have time to establish enough heart tricks to beat me. They can't hurt me in hearts so long as I give them their spade entry early, so I play the four of spades. West plays the five, and I cover with dummy's eight, losing to the ten.

If East shifts to a diamond now, I might regret my "safety play" in spades.  But I'm not too worried.  He doesn't know I have a singleton, so a shift into dummy's king-ten fourth will not look very appealing.  As expected, East chooses a passive defense.  He returns the spade king.  I take my ace, and West discards the deuce of diamonds.  It doesn't seem to matter much which hand I retain the spade entry to.  Somewhat arbitrarily, I decide to play low, retaining the dummy entry.

West probably would have led a four-card heart suit.  The diamond pitch suggests five diamonds, so his likeliest pattern is 2-3-5-3.  I lead the deuce of hearts--three--king--ace.  West returns the ten of hearts.  I win with the queen and lead the queen of diamonds.  West takes the ace and shifts to a club, solving my problem in that suit.  I take the rest, making four.

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

I'm not entirely sure my play at trick one was correct.  Playing the jack guarantees my contract most of the time.  The only risk is that West has made a strange opening lead.  Playing low guards against the strange opening lead, but it risks the parlay of a dangerous position in diamonds (ace on my left, jack on my right) and East's being a genius and finding the shift.  My judgment was that the former risk was greater, partly because it doesn't involve a parlay and partly because I've seen more strange opening leads in my life than I have genius defenses.  But it's a judgment call; I could be wrong.
 
At the other table, where my teammates have been instructed to overcall aggressively, West bids one diamond over the one club opening bid. (Actually, that's not my idea of an aggressive overcall.  It's my idea of a pointless overcall.  It takes no bidding room away from the opponents, and it's hard to see how it gains anything for your side.) North bids one spade. East raises to two diamonds, and South bids four spades. Three spades seems sufficient to me.  But it doesn't matter; North would have carried on to game.

East leads the three of diamonds to the ace. West continues with the nine of diamonds. Declarer inserts the ten, which holds. In due course, he loses a spade and a heart. Making four for a push.

Me: +630
Jack: +620

Score on Board 109: +0 IMPs
Total: -33 IMPs