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