Match 2 - Board 48

Board 48
Opponents vulnerable

♠ J 2 ♥ A Q 10 8 5 ♦ A 2 ♣ A Q 8 6

Three passes to me. I open one heart--pass--one notrump--pass. I may be in the minority here, but I prefer an off-shape two notrump to two clubs. I like to limit my hand when possible, since it simplifies the ensuing auction.

I bid two notrump, and partner bids three diamonds. I seem to have saved myself a headache. If I had bid two clubs and partner had bid two diamonds, I would have a problem. I'm worth another move, but nothing appeals. I can't bid two notrump with jack doubleton of spades. The heart suit isn't quite good enough to treat as a six-card suit. Three diamonds understates my tolerance for notrump, since partner might reasonably assume I have a singleton spade. And two spades understates my tolerance for diamonds, since partner might think I have honor third of spades and a singleton diamond. My initial two notrump rebid was a less of a distortion than any one of those continuations would be.

I pass, and West leads a third-and-lowest eight of spades.

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

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

Three diamonds strikes me as a bit cowardly. I would have bid three notrump. It's not clear whether we would make that or not.

East wins with the spade king; I play the six. East cashes the spade ace, I play the four, and West plays the three. It appears West has queen-ten-eight fourth of spades. I expect to see a third spade, tapping dummy, but East shifts to the three of clubs--four--king--ace.

Why not tap dummy? Is it possible East doesn't have another spade? Hardly. I refuse to believe West passed in third seat with queen-ten sixth of spades and the club king. One thing for sure. East doesn't have queen-third of diamonds. If he did, he would have tapped me to prevent my finessing against his diamond queen. I decide to play ace of diamonds then a diamond to the king, trying to drop West's queen. I can then play three rounds of hearts, pitching my spade.

I cash the diamond ace--four--three--queen. How come every time I decide to drop an offside doubleton queen, my opponent plays the queen on the first round? As on Board 42, I know Jack isn't capable of a falsecard. So I could just play a diamond to my nine and claim. But what would I do in a real game? The falsecard with queen-ten doubleton isn't so clear this time. For one thing, West doesn't know I have the nine. For another, he doesn't know I have a third spade. So he can't be sure his partner's club switch marked him with the queen. Still, just because the falsecard isn't 100% doesn't mean some defenders might not try it.

If I can cater to the falsecard safely, I might as well do so. If I can't, I'll back my judgment and take the trump finesse. For starters, it can't hurt to cash the club queen. West would not have kept quiet with king-jack-ten sixth of clubs, so there is no danger of its being ruffed. I cash it. East plays the deuce, and West plays the five.

It appears East has three-deuce doubleton of clubs. That means he is either 4-3-4-2 or 4-4-3-2. I can cater to both cases. I can ruff a club to my hand, then return to dummy in whichever suit East pitched. (If he pitched a heart, I play king and a heart to the ace. If he pitched a spade, I ruff a spade.) I now ruff another club to my hand and return to dummy in the other suit, reaching this position:

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ 10 8 5 ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ K J 9 ♣ --

East has either three diamonds or two diamonds and a heart. I play a heart from dummy. If East ruffs, he was 4-3-4-2, and he's couped. If he follows, he was 4-4-3-2. I can ruff with the king and cash the jack, dropping West's ten. (If West falsecarded with queen-small, more power to him.)

So far, so good. What happens if East unexpectedly follows to the third club? Now I can't afford to play for the coup, since East might have begun with a singleton heart. In fact, he probably did. If East doesn't have a doubleton club, then the three was probably third best from four, and he's 4-1-4-4. So I must revert to the trump finesse and resign myself to going down if West falsecarded.

The problem, however, is that the hearts are blocked. To make it, I must lead the heart king and overtake with the queen. Now I take a trump finesse, draw trumps, and play a heart to the ten to take my spade pitch. This is fine if East is indeed 4-1-4-4. But what if he led a middle club from three and is 4-2-4-3? I don't think that's likely. But I'd hate to pay off to it if he did.

Actually, I don't have to. My nine of spades subjects West to a show-up squeeze. I can run diamonds, reaching this position at trick 12:

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ Q 10 ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH ♠ 9 ♥ 4 ♦ -- ♣ --

West must hold a high spade, so he can't hold a doubleton heart. In fact, I don't even need the ten of hearts. The deuce would do just as well. (Note that I've learned my lesson about saving threat cards. I didn't stupidly drop the nine of spades under the ace or king.)

I don't see anything wrong with this line. I play a club from dummy. To my surprise, East follows with the ten. So much for the trump coup. It's on to Plan B. I ruff with the seven and play the king of hearts--deuce--ace--six I play a diamond--five--eight--spade ten. Then I run diamonds, squeezing West. It turns out the squeeze is necessary. East did lead the three from ten-three-deuce of clubs, and he has the jack of hearts. I'm not sure why he led the three. I don't think I've ever seen Jack do anything like that.

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

That was certainly fun. The kibitzers probably didn't see the point of this line. They probably thought I was just showing off--wasting my heart king for no reason, then executing a squeeze to get the trick back.

I was the only declarer to score eleven tricks in a diamond partscore. Probably not because of my declarer play but because of East's defense. He should have continued with a spade at trick three. I could still make five double-dummy. But it requires a strange line of play that I would have no reason to adopt.

Even though we beat all the other partscores, this is only an average, because three pairs bid and made game. Two pairs made three notrump, and one got a top by reaching four hearts, making five. Four hearts! That's quite a nice contract. That's another reason not to bid two clubs over one notrump, On my auction, we had no chance to get to four hearts, so I can't feel bad about missing it. Had I bid two clubs, we would have had a chance to get there. So I would be annoyed when we didn't.

Score on Board 48: +170 (6 MP)
Total: 378 (65.6 %)

Current rank: 1st