Board 20
Both sides vulnerable
Both sides vulnerable
| ♠ 5 4 ♥ K Q J ♦ 7 5 3 2 ♣ Q J 7 2 |
Partner opens two notrump in second seat. I raise to three, and RHO leads the four of hearts (attitude).
| NORTH ♠ 5 4 ♥ K Q J ♦ 7 5 3 2 ♣ Q J 7 2 | ||
| SOUTH ♠ A K Q J ♥ 8 2 ♦ A K 10 6 ♣ K 5 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 2 NT | ||
| Pass | 3 NT | (All pass) |
East plays the three. That should show count, so hearts should be five-three. From West's point of view, the three might be low from three or high from three-deuce doubleton. I play the eight to leave both possibilities open. (You can accomplish the same thing with less effort simply by signaling as East does. He gives count, so you give count. Most of the time, that's the most effective way of scrambling East's message.)
It looks right to work on clubs. If clubs are four-two, I have nine tricks. If the opponents continue hearts, that makes ten. If they don't, I can probably develop a tenth trick in diamonds. Might I have a squeeze if East guards both clubs and diamonds? Suppose I lead a club the the king, then a club back to queen and ace. If East plays a heart and West takes his ace, I have a squeeze. But that's a pretty careless defense. West can stop the squeeze by ducking the heart so the count isn't corrected. Or East can stop it by returning a club instead of a heart or by ducking the club queen. So, if clubs are four-two, I'm probably taking ten tricks.
What if clubs are three-three? Now the defense can't afford to allow me to score a second heart trick. Say I play a club to the king; they duck. I play a club to the queen; they duck again. Dummy is now dead, and I must lose at least one diamond trick in addition to the two aces.
Actually, that would be poor play on my part. Since I must play on diamonds if the club queen holds, I should prepare for that possibility by cashing the diamond ace before playing the second club. Now, if I lead a club to dummy's queen and it holds, I play a diamond toward my hand. If East began with queen-jack fourth, he splits. I win, can cash spades, and exit with a heart. The defense must concede a trick to dummy's heart or to my diamond ten. Again, ten tricks.
Barring queen-jack fourth of diamonds on my left, it appears I'm destined to take ten tricks. Three notrump is not hard to reach, so the entire room should be plus 630 on this board. How am I ever going to get above average?
What if queen-jack third of diamonds is onside? Then I can take eleven tricks double-dummy. But how can I afford to play for that? If I lead a diamond to the ten at trick two and it loses (as it will roughly 75% of the time), the opponents can continue hearts and hold me to nine tricks (or even eight if diamonds don't break). Perhaps I can afford to finesse the diamond if I get one club trick in first. Suppose I play a spade to my hand, then play a low club toward dummy. If West has the ace, he must duck. I play the queen. If East has ace third, he must duck. Now I play a diamond to the ten. As long as diamonds are three-two, I'm in good shape. 75% of the time, I take ten tricks like everyone else (albeit a different ten tricks); the rest of the time I take eleven.
Can East prevent this by splitting his diamond honors? If he does, I win and play the club king. They must duck, else I have an entry to repeat the diamond finesse. Now I cash spades and play a heart. They must either play diamonds for me or give me an entry to dummy so I can play them myself. (Yes, I know. East can give me a problem by playing a diamond honor from honor doubleton or third, but let's see him do it.)
This line does entail some risk. I might hold myself to three. But matchpoints is a game for optimists. You don't win matchpoint events settling for average scores, so I'm going to go for it. I play a spade--eight--king--deuce, then a low club. West hops with the ace and plays ace and a heart. That wasn't exactly what I was playing for, but I'll take it. Making five.
| NORTH ♠ 5 4 ♥ K Q J ♦ 7 5 3 2 ♣ Q J 7 2 | ||
| WEST ♠ 10 9 2 ♥ A 9 6 5 4 ♦ Q 9 8 ♣ A 10 | EAST ♠ 8 7 6 3 ♥ 10 7 3 ♦ J 4 ♣ 9 8 6 4 | |
| SOUTH ♠ A K Q J ♥ 8 2 ♦ A K 10 6 ♣ K 5 3 |
Since Jack draws no inferences from declarer's line of play, he has no way of solving this problem. As we've seen in the past, playing the card that keeps Jack in the dark can reap huge dividends. It reaps these dividends less often against humans, since humans have other clues they can rely on. But playing the right card is important against humans, too. The more layouts your opponents have to worry about, the harder they have to work. And the harder they have to work, the more likely they are to make a mistake. It might not even happen on this deal. They might make a mistake later simply because you've worn them down.
One clown played five diamonds, down one. Everyone else was in three notrump making four. Plus 660, as we might expect, is a top.
Score on Board 20: +660 (12 MP)
Total: 163 MP (67.9 %)
Current rank: 1st
On re-reading this post, I discovered an error. I said, "the entire room should be plus 630 on this board." Actually, only half the room should be plus 630. The other half should be minus 630.
ReplyDelete