Match 2 - Board 40

Board 40
Neither vulnerable

♠ 10 ♥ K J 10 9 3 ♦ Q J 10 7 5 3 ♣ 8

RHO opens two clubs, strong and artificial, in third seat. I have two choices:

(A) I can bid slowly, trying to find the right spot for our side. This means starting with two diamonds (hoping to keep the auction low), then showing hearts later (possibly via an unusual notrump sequence). We don't play methods that allow me to show both suits simultaneously. Even if we did, I'm not sure I would use them. Diamonds may well play several tricks better than hearts when partner has equal length in the red suits.

(B) I can forget about investigating the right spot for our side and go for maximum obstruction. Four diamonds seems like the right call if that's the route I choose. If I bid four diamonds, I have to be content to bury the heart suit. It makes no sense to make the opponents guess, then take them off the hook by making the last guess myself.

I'm pretty much on the fence with this one. (B) could certainly work out well. Having an undisclosed major sometimes makes it hard for the opponents to find a sensible call, since it may deprive them of a take-out double. But we could also wind up under-competing if we have a big heart fit.

I decide to go with (A). I'm not sure how necessary it is to preempt over a two club opening. Two club auctions are difficult enough even when the opponents stay out of your way. So why preempt? If I bid two diamonds and partner can't raise, the auction rates to stay low (Two diamonds--pass--pass--two spades seems like a serious possibility.), so I will be able to introduce hearts easily on the next round.

I bid two diamonds. LHO bids two spades, partner passes, and RHO raises to four spades. I guess I was wrong about the auction's staying low. I've painted myself into a corner now. There wasn't much point in bidding only two diamonds unless I was intending to introduce hearts on the next round. I bid four notrump. LHO doubles. Two passes to me. I bid five diamonds. LHO doubles again--pass--pass back to me.

I wonder if Jack understands this auction. Probably not. It's quite possible we have a heart fit and partner doesn't realize it. I should have thought of that earlier. Now that I'm in this mess, I have to make the best of it and figure out what my percentage action is.

(A historical note: Cliff Bishop once insisted to me that an immediate five diamonds over four spades on an auction like this promised hearts. The way to show a one-suiter, he contended, was to bid notrump (ostensibly natural), then run when doubled. Either this was standard expert practice before the invention of unusual notrump or Cliff was making it all up to shift the blame for our disaster. I never figured out which.)

It seems unlikely partner has three-card diamond support. He could have raised diamonds over two spades, and he could have run to five diamonds when four notrump was doubled. On the other hand, if he doesn't understand this auction, he could easily have four or five hearts. I hate to make a unilateral decision. But I find it hard to believe that five diamonds doubled is a good spot for us. There probably isn't much downside to pulling to five hearts. And the potential gain is huge. I can't believe I'm bidding this way in print, but here goes. Five hearts. LHO doubles again, ending our inelegant auction. West leads the six of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	2 ♣	2 ♦
2 ♠	Pass	4 ♠	4 NT
Double	Pass	Pass	5 ♦
Double	Pass	Pass	5 ♥
Double	(All pass)

Well, I was right about one thing. I don't think my five heart bid cost us many matchpoints. Minus 800 is the best I can hope for in either contract, and I'm unlikely to do even that well. I play the four from dummy, and East wins with the king. The opponents play fourth best leads, so I'm guessing West has queen fifth of spades and East has ace-king fourth. East shifts to the seven of hearts. I play the ten. West wins with the queen and returns the deuce of hearts to his partner's ace. This is a pretty good start for me. They should be tapping me. Instead, they're wasting all their entries. East plays the spade ace. I pitch my club, and West follows with the deuce.

East plays the diamond ace--five--deuce--six, then shifts to the nine of spades. If trumps are three-three (as they rate to be given the opponents saw no urgency in tapping me), I can hold my losses to one more trick. I ruff and cash the heart king. Trumps split. I drive the king of diamonds and claim. Down four. A triumph! Minus a mere 800.

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

I don't understand jumping to four spades with only three trumps. I must have telegraphed the fact I was intending to bid again. Pretty crafty, that Jack.

Obviously the opponents can do at least one trick better. East could have given his partner a diamond ruff. Or he could have simply not cashed the diamond ace. If he hadn't given me that tempo, I would have to let him score the club ace in order to keep control.

Is it possible for the opponents to do better yet? Since East has only three spades and West has no side-suit entry, the way to do better is to use clubs as a tap suit.

West knows enough about the hand to see that. He knows his partner has long clubs. And he knows that his partner will have to lead clubs from his side of the table if declarer gets tapped out. Surely it makes sense to use his only entry to put a club through.

Say, after winning the heart queen, that West shifts to the queen of clubs. I cover, and East wins with the ace. East continues with a club to the ten and jack as I pitch a diamond. If I play a heart off dummy, East hops with the ace and plays a low club while his partner still has a trump. I'm tapped out, and East's hand is high except for the four of diamonds. I score my trump tricks and eventually capture East's four of diamonds for down six. Minus 1400.

Should the defense really find this line? Yes, it should. In general, when you are playing a forcing game, you should imagine yourself as declarer and ask yourself how you would play the hand. If you imagine East as declarer and West as dummy, this line is not hard to find. What could be more natural than setting up "declarer's" hand? But, because we are conditioned to think along different lines as defenders, it's hard even to think of this line. Leading dummy's long suit (except perhaps as a communication-killing maneuver) is just not a tactic we give much thought to most of the time.

Of course, since it's matchpoints, the opponents had plenty of leeway. They could have dropped another trick and still wound up with a top. Most pairs made an overtrick in four spades. One managed a second overtrick (I presume after a club lead), and one pair played three notrump, making five. Three notrump, eh? That's a very nice result. I feel just terrible taking their well-deserved top away.

Assuming partner would have led a diamond had I passed four spades, my four notrump bid cost us eight matchpoints. I don't mind taking a flier so much if we were destined to score average or worse. But I certainly mind it when we were destined for a good result. Part of the reason I bid was it seemed likely we were poorly placed. I could have preempted and didn't, and the opponents appeared to be in their best spot. How could I possibly imagine I was ahead of the field?

Score on Board 40: -500 (0 MP)
Total: 315 MP (65.6%)

Current rank: 1st