Match 2 - Board 60

Board 60
Our side vulnerable

♠ A 6 3 ♥ Q 6 3 2 ♦ A 5 ♣ J 9 8 2

Partner opens one diamond, I bid one heart, LHO overcalls with one spade, and partner doubles, showing three-card heart support. RHO bids two spades. Had he passed, two notrump would have been the obvious call. I'm less sanguine about our prospects of making three notrump after the raise, but no call other than two notrump appeals. Some players would double showing "cards," but I've never understood that approach. What does partner care that I have extra high cards? I've never figured out what he's supposed to do with that information. It seems to me the only thing a card-showing double accomplishes is that it makes the doubler feel better.

I bid two notrump, LHO passes, and partner bids three hearts. Three diamonds by him would be (or at least should be) a signoff. It's less clear what three clubs would be. I would play it as a scramble. I don't think opener should have to pass two notrump with a 1-3-5-4 minimum, knowing full well he's going down and might be able to make a partscore elsewhere. Three hearts, however, should be forcing. It makes no sense to run to a known four-three heart fit, bypassing potentially playable spots in the minors. So this should suggest that four hearts may be a better game than three notrump.

Ace third of spades opposite partner's presumed shortness suggests playing in hearts, but my weak hearts suggest playing in notrump. The right game probably depends on how many tricks we have ready to cash. Even eight cashing tricks may be enough, since we may have squeeze possibilities. But if we have to knock out aces in our side suits, hearts will probably be better. I bid three spades to express my own doubt. Partner bids four hearts. I pass, and LHO leads the king of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	1 ♦	Pass	1 ♥
1 ♠	Double1	2 ♠	2 NT
Pass	3 ♥	Pass	3 ♠
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)
1Support double

This is exactly the kind of hand I was hoping partner would bid three notrump with: interior solidity in diamonds and aces on the side. Of course, I'm not sure which game I would rather be in. If West has the king and queen of clubs as he appears to, I would guess that I want to be in three notrump when West has the heart king and in four hearts when East has it.

The club king is a strange lead. We've announced that spades is a weak spot, so it would seem like the logical suit to attack. I suspect West has club length. We are obviously in a shaky contract, so this is hardly the time to try a speculative lead from a short suit. My initial guess is that West is 5-2-2-4, which makes East 4-4-4-1.

Is finding East with the heart king sufficient to make this? Say I win the club ace and play a low heart. East hops with the king and switches to a spade. I take the ace, ruff a spade, cash the heart ace, play a diamond to my hand, and cash the heart queen. If hearts are three-three, I'm home. But if East has the long heart, I need him to follow to four diamonds. If he does, I can promote my last trump with the fifth round of diamonds: three hearts tricks, one ruff in dummy, four diamonds, and two black aces.

While I suspect East has four diamonds, I'd rather not have to count on it. Is there a better line? What if, after winning the spade ace, I immediately drive the club queen? East may get a ruff. But that's fine with me unless he has a doubleton trump, which seems almost impossible. I will have lost only three tricks, and I will have the rest.

What if West declines to give his partner a ruff? Suppose he wins the club queen and taps dummy with a spade. I ruff, ace of hearts, diamond to the ace, queen of hearts. If East has a high trump left, I play a diamond to the king, queen of diamonds pitching my last spade, and I'm home. Now all I need is for East to follow to two diamonds.

Can West tangle up my entries by winning the club queen and playing a diamond? That doesn't appear to present any insurmountable problems, but I may have to do some guessing about how the red suits split. I'll worry about that if that happens. A low heart toward my queen looks like my best start.

I play the club ace. East follows with the six, and I play the deuce. I play the eight of hearts, and East follows with the five. I wasn't expecting that. Why didn't he hop with the king? If we consider the heart suit in isolation, hopping with the king is the wrong play. But, if I were East, I would be disinclined to give declarer a tempo. For example, suppose this is the layout:

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

If East hops, he can beat me off the top. If he ducks, I can make it. I win with the queen, play a heart to the ace, and start diamonds. Allowing me to draw West's trumps without losing the lead is fatal.

It's right for East to duck if he knows I have the spade ace. He can no longer beat me by force, so he might as well hope I do something foolish in the trump suit. But how can he know I have the spade ace? He's not looking at my hand. In fact, if I were East, I would assume my partner had the spade ace from his failure to make the obvious spade lead.

Should I play low, trying to duck out a doubleton king on my left? If I'm right that hearts are two-four, then a priori West will hold the heart king one time in three. If I expect East to hop with the heart king more than half the time, playing low is my percentage play.

Are there any other clues? What about the auction? Perhaps West led a club because his spades were weak. If they are headed by the queen or jack, he might not have overcalled without the heart king. In addition, if I give East good spades, the heart king, and the singleton club I think he has, he might have bid something more aggressive than a simple raise.

What about my matchpoint odds? If West has the heart king, three notrump is making. (To keep his heart and club stoppers, West must pitch a spade on the run of the diamonds. The defense no longer has a fifth trick, so declarer can set up clubs.)

Let's make some simplifying assumptions:

(1) If I guess hearts, I'll make four hearts. If not, I'm down one.

(2) Those pairs who play three notrump will make it if West has the heart king and will go down one if East has it.

Under these assumptions, if I play the heart queen and I'm right, I gain one matchpoint against each pair in four hearts (either beating or tying them instead of tying or losing to them) and one matchpoint against each pair in three notrump (beating them, instead of tying them at down one). If I play low and I'm right, I gain one matchpoint against each pair in four hearts, but I gain two matchpoints against each pair in three notrump. Instead of losing to them by going down, I beat them by scoring 620. So playing low gains more when it's right. It's the Half-Dollar Principle in action.

The arguments for ducking this trick seem pretty compelling. I hope I can persuade partner of that fact if it doesn't work. I play the deuce.

West wins with the king. Yay! He cashes the club queen, and East pitches the four of spades. West continues with the seven of clubs. I play low from dummy. Instead of ruffing, East pitches the ten of spades, and I win in my hand with the jack. I guess East has a natural trump trick and sees no reason to ruff with it.

This is the position:

	NORTH ♠ 9 ♥ A 9 ♦ K Q J 9 3 ♣ 10
	SOUTH ♠ A 6 3 ♥ Q 6 3 ♦ A 5 ♣ 9

The only thing that can beat me now is five-one trumps, which would presumably make East 4-5-3-1. Can I make it if I play for that? How about this: Ace of spades, spade ruff, diamond to the ace, diamond to the king, ruff a diamond, ruff a spade with the trump ace. I need two more tricks. I'm down to queen-six of hearts and a club. East has jack-ten-seven of hearts. I guess I can't make it. I need the seven of hearts instead of the six.

It's just as well I can't handle five-one trumps. Now I have nothing to think about. I play a heart to dummy's ace. West plays the four; East, the seven. I have pitches for both my spade losers, so there is no longer a need to ruff a spade in dummy. I play a heart back to my queen as West pitches the spade deuce, then concede a heart. Making four.

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

Two other pairs made four hearts, two made three notrump, and one went down in four hearts, so we score eight matchpoints.

One pair managed to make five clubs doubled. The defense must have slipped up to allow this contract to score. But that mistake wouldn't have been so costly if not for the double. Minus 600 would have been worth eight matchpoints, since there was a higher scoring game available, and plus 100 would have been worth 11. So the double cost eight matchpoints and stood to gain only one. As usual, doubling five of a minor was a poor bet.

Score on Board 60: +620 (8 MP)
Total: 476 (66.1 %)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 59

Board 59

Neither vulnerable

As Brooks Hughes used to say before the antepenultimate round, "Turning for home now. Three rounds to go." I never did understand what that meant.

♠ A K J ♥ Q 7 3 ♦ 10 7 5 3 2 ♣ 9 5

I pass. Partner opens one notrump (12-14) in third seat and buys it. West leads the king of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 NT
(All pass)

Some pairs, perhaps many, will play this hand in a diamond partscore after a one diamond opening. If they can avoid the loss of two trump tricks, they will score 130. If not, they will score 110. This is something I will need to keep in mind as I plan the play.

I play the five of clubs from dummy, and East plays the eight. I discourage with the three. West continues with the seven of clubs, and East plays the jack. East seems to have king-queen-ten-seven fourth. The seven, his original fourth best, is the standard card to lead from either four or five clubs, so, in theory, I can't tell how clubs are splitting. But I have observed that Jack doesn't seem to know this. From a five-card suit, he would lead his lowest club at trick two, so I am fairly confident that clubs are four-four. That means there is no reason to duck. (This is why paying attention to your opponents' quirks comes in handy. In general, I like to zone out when I'm dummy to save mental energy. But, in a long knockout match, I try not to do that. I watch the opponents' carding carefully, since knowing their tendencies may help me later as declarer.)

If there were no danger in ducking, I would duck anyway, just in case I'm wrong. But there is a danger. East may find a heart shift. There are a number of hands where a heart shift, while not clear cut, will at least look attractive. For example:

♠ x x ♥ A J 10 x x ♦ Q J ♣ J 8 4 2

A club continuation sets up only one more club trick. A heart shift might actually beat the contract if you catch  declarer with king doubleton and partner with a diamond entry.

♠ x x x x ♥ J 10 x x ♦ A ♣ J 8 4 2

If partner has ace fourth or even ace-nine third of hearts, a heart shift sets up more tricks than a club continuation. I don't know whether Jack would play a heart from either of these hands or not. But he might. And I am confident enough that clubs are four-four that I don't want to risk it. I play the club ace.

I have little chance to go plus 150. If I am to beat the pairs playing in a diamond partscore, I must hope they are scoring 110, which means the ace of diamonds must be offside. Perhaps I should lead a spade to dummy, lead a diamond toward my hand, and, if East plays the queen or jack, duck it, hoping to find a singleton ace offside. If I'm right about four-four clubs, I will then be plus 120, beating all the diamond partscores (unless they magically play diamonds this way as well).

Is this actually the right play? Let me think about it more carefully. If West has a doubleton diamond, my play will not matter. If he has a singleton, it will be the ace one third of the time.

First, let's consider how I do against a pair who also plays a notrump partscore. If I play low and I'm wrong, I will cost myself a matchpoint. (It doesn't matter how the other declarer plays. If he ducks also, my ducking will tie the board instead of win it. If he plays the king, my ducking will lose the board instead of tie it.) Similarly, if I play low and I'm right, I will gain a matchpoint. Thus I will lose a matchpoint two thirds of the time and gain a matchpoint one third of a time for a net expected loss of one third of a matchpoint.

How do I do against a pair in a diamond partscore? If I play low and I'm right, I convert a loss to a win and gain two matchpoints. If I play low and I'm wrong, it makes no difference; I was losing the board anyway. I gain two matchpoints a third of the time. Thus my net gain is two thirds of a matchpoint.

My expectation from ducking, then, is two thirds times x minus one third times y, where x is the percentage of pairs in diamonds and y is the percentage of pairs in notrump. In other words, if there are twice as many pairs playing notrump as playing diamonds, ducking will break even. If there are fewer people playing notrump, ducking shows a net gain. I think it's safe to say that notrump partscores will not be twice as popular as diamond partscores, so my percentage play is to duck.

I lead the five of spades--deuce--king--seven. I play a diamond from dummy. East plays the ace. So much for my plan. I play the six, and West drops the jack. East shifts to the four of clubs--six--ten. I pitch a diamond from dummy. West, instead of cashing his last club, shifts to the six of spades. What's that all about? One thing for sure. West has the heart ace. He doesn't know who has the thirteenth club. So he would never decline to cash the club queen unless he knew he had an entry. I can cash out for plus 120, but that will surely be a below-average score. If I can sneak a heart through him, I'll make the 150 I need. I play the spade jack--eight--queen. Now the nine of hearts. West plays the jack. I play the queen. It holds, and I claim all but one of the remaining tricks. Making three.

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

I'm still not sure what the spade shift was all about. But I'm not complaining.

To my surprise, my decision to try to duck out the singleton ace of diamonds was wrong. I was right that the field was in diamonds. In fact, every pair but us played in three diamonds. But I was wrong about how many tricks they took. Only one pair was plus 130, so plus 120 would have been a fine score.

I was curious how so many declarers were holding themselves to nine tricks. So I had Jack bid and play the deal himself, playing Eastern Science Fiction. The auction went one diamond--double--three diamonds--all pass. West led the club king. South took his ace and played a low diamond from his hand at trick two.

Five out of six declarers played the hand this way? For this line to make sense, declarer must think West is better than two-to-one to have the diamond ace as a result of his double. I don't think that's true, especially given he has the king and queen of clubs. And, even if it were true, why lead low from your hand? How can it be wrong to lead up the king just to give East a chance to hop? I'm not impressed with Jack's declarer play on this deal.

Score on Board 59: +150 (12 MP)
Total: 468 (66.1%)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 58

Board 58
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 9 7 2 ♥ K 9 5 4 ♦ 6 5 ♣ 9 5 4 3

RHO opens one heart. I pass, LHO bids two clubs, partner passes, and RHO bids two diamonds. I pass again, and LHO bids four hearts, ending the auction. Four hearts should show four-card support. But my heart suit suggest that's not what LHO has. Spades seems like the suit to attack. Perhaps it will kill the entry to dummy's clubs, or perhaps we will simply cash some top spade tricks before declarer has a chance to pitch them. I lead the deuce of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
			1 ♥
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	2 ♦
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)

Declarer's likeliest shape is 2-5-5-1. Dummy plays the three of spades, partner plays the king, and declarer follows with the five. Presumably he has queen-five. Partner shifts to the deuce of hearts. Shifting to a singleton trump is a dangerous move. This suggest partner has both minors under control and envisions a crossruff as declarer's best chance to take tricks.

Declarer plays the three. I cover with the four, and dummy wins with the six. Declarer plays the ten of spades--six--queen. What's the spade ten all about? It's hard to see the point of that play. In any event, partner's failure to cover suggests to declarer that he does not have jack-nine, so I play nine, the card I'm suspected to hold.

Declarer leads the heart seven. So he isn't crossruffing. He apparently intends to establish his diamond suit. I play the five, declarer rises with the ace, and partner pitches the three of diamonds. I suppose declarer needs to ruff one diamond in dummy, so there was no point in taking the heart finesse.

Declarer cashes the spade ace--eight--club ten--nine. This confirms he is 2-5-5-1. He then leads the jack of diamonds--seven--queen. I suspect partner already knows how many diamonds I have, so I play the five. Declarer cashes the diamond ace, pitching dummy's spade, and partner follows with the four.

What are declarer's diamonds? He can't have ace-queen-ten-nine fifth. He would have taken a ruffing finesse against me rather than take a fruitless finesse against partner. Declarer leads the diamond nine. Obviously partner has king-ten left. If declarer ruffs this trick, then ruffs a club to his hand, he is down to two trumps. When he drives partner's king of diamonds, partner will tap him, promoting my long trump for down one.

I pitch the three of clubs. Declarer sees the futility of ruffing. He pitches a club as well, allowing partner to score the ten. Partner plays the spade jack--diamond deuce--club four--ruff. Declarer then leads the seven of clubs. When partner plays the deuce, he pitches the eight of diamonds. Nice play, Jack! The old isochromatic coup! The hope is that West just assumes declarer is ruffing this trick, sees a red card, and carelessly follows with five. I once saw Marshall Miles make a grand slam this way. (Against someone nicknamed "Rocket." Isn't that exactly the nickname you'd like your opponent to have if you try this play?) Fortunately, I'm awake. I win the trick with the nine of clubs. The heart king is the setting trick.

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

Four pairs made this contract, so we get ten matchpoints.

Declarer was in too big a hurry to pitch his club loser. It's not even clear that pitching it is a good idea. The ten of clubs is potentially a useful card. Upon winning the heart six in dummy, declarer should float the jack of diamonds. If the jack of diamonds loses to the king and the defense cashes a club, you will need to bring home the trumps. But, if you do, you are well placed. You have five heart tricks, two spades, and two diamonds. Either one club trick or the ten of diamonds dropping will see you home.

If the jack of diamonds holds, you lead a spade to your queen and cash the ace of diamonds. You are now down to this position, needing six more tricks:

	NORTH ♠ A 4 ♥ A 10 ♦ -- ♣ K J 8 7
	SOUTH ♠ -- ♥ Q J 8 7 ♦ Q 9 8 ♣ 10

At this point, you have two sensible ways to proceed:

(1) Play for a crossruff: Ruff a diamond, ace of spades pitching a club, club ruff, diamond ruff with the heart ace, club ruff. That's nine tricks and you still have the queen-jack of hearts to produce a tenth. As it happens, this line will fail. LHO pitches his last spade as you ruff a diamond to dummy, so you can't cash the spade ace.

(2) Play for a club trick: Float the ten of clubs. This may drive the ace or West may hop. Failing that, you can take a ruffing finesse against the ace later. If you score a club trick, you need only one diamond ruff, so you can time the play differently to ensure you score the spade ace. As the cards lie, this line will work.

Which line is better? It's impossible to calculate precisely, since it requires making some guesses about what the opponents will do. Would East have covered the jack of diamonds with king third? How about king-ten third? Will West hop with the club ace when you lead the ten of clubs? What can you conclude about East's minor-suit holdings from the fact that he shifted to a trump at trick two? In the end, you have to rely more on instinct than on calculation. And it's hard to be objective about your instincts when you already know the right answer. To be honest, I think I would have gotten it wrong. (1) feels like a stronger line to me.

Score on Board 58: +100 (10 MP)
Total: 456 MP (65.5%)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 57

Board 57
Opponents vulnerable

♠ 6 2 ♥ K ♦ K Q 9 8 4 ♣ K J 10 6 2

Partner passes, and RHO opens one spade. If partner were not a passed hand, I might bid two diamonds in an attempt to reach three notrump. Opposite a passed hand, I'm less worried about missing a game, so I bid a slightly overstrength unusual two notrump, LHO passes, and partner bids three clubs. RHO bids four spades. I pass, LHO passes, and partner bids five clubs. If you want to bid five clubs, partner, please bid it the first time. Auctions like this--both in bridge and on eBay--are one of my pet peeves.

Not to be outdone, RHO bids five spades. Everyone passes.

Declarer probably has a singleton or void in clubs. If partner has the club ace and it's cashing, it can probably wait, since I rate to gain the lead with the king of hearts. But if we need to develop diamond tricks, I may need to start the suit now. So I lead the king of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1 ♠
2 NT1	Pass	3 ♣	4 ♠
Pass	Pass	5 ♣	5 ♠
(All pass)
1Unusual

That's quite a dummy to catch! An ace plus fillers opposite declarer's secondary length.

Declarer plays the ace of diamonds--seven--jack. Partner's seven should be a singleton. If we gain the lead, we are in a cashout situation, so we should be giving count. Even though I almost always give attitude at trick one, I make an explicit exception here. When the opponents play the five level or higher, I give count on the lead of a king. I do not assume that Jack plays this way, however, so I'm not sure who has the remaining diamond.

Declarer leads the seven of spades from dummy. Partner plays the ace--four--deuce. I don't see any reason partner would hop with ace doubleton of spades. While it is unlikely declarer would bid this way missing two spade honors, why take the risk if there is nothing to gain? So it appears declarer has eight spades.

Partner shifts to the queen of clubs. Again, a count card would be more helpful. If I had ace-jack of clubs, I might need to know which minor-suit trick to try to cash next. Why did partner lead the queen? Maybe he's trying to retain the lead in case I have the ace-king of clubs and a heart void. He expects me to overtake the queen if I don't have a heart void and to duck if I do. That might be a sensible plan in other circumstances. But I wouldn't have led the diamond king with a heart void. If I led a diamond honor at all, I'd lead the queen, forcing partner to overtake if he has the ace. More likely, I'd lead an alarm-clock fourth best club.

Declarer plays the ace. I encourage with the six. Declarer now exits with the seven of clubs. I win with the ten as partner plays the three. Why is declarer conceding a club trick? Could he be trying to ruff a club in dummy? That would give him an 8-1-1-3 pattern, leaving partner with 1-7-2-3. Is that really possible? Probably not, but I don't see any reason not to play a trump just in case. If declarer has a diamond loser, it's not going anywhere. I play a spade.

To my surprise, partner follows with the spade three. Declarer wins the trick with dummy's nine and leads the heart queen for a finesse. I take my king. I can place declarer with seven spades, two hearts (presuming he has the ace), one diamond, and two clubs. He has one card unaccounted for. If it's a club or a diamond, declarer has no low hearts, so he can't reach dummy for a discard. That means it doesn't matter which minor I try to cash. I try the diamond queen. Declarer ruffs and claims. Down one.

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

Two other pairs defended five spades and beat it, so plus 100 is worth ten matchpoints.

Maybe I was too hasty in assuming partner wouldn't hop with ace doubleton of spades. What if declarer had something like

♠ K Q J x x x x x ♥ A K x ♦ x ♣ x?

Now partner must hop. If he ducks, declarer can abandon trumps and pitch his club on dummy's fourth heart. I made the classic error of assuming partner knew as much about the hand as I did. I knew hearts weren't running, but partner didn't. 

Declarer made two mistakes on this deal. First of all, he should not have conceded the club trick. Had he led a spade to dummy and taken an immediate heart finesse, I would not have known which minor to cash (thanks to partner's leading the club queen instead of the eight). I suppose declarer was trying to execute a scissors coup. If he lost the heart finesse to a singleton king, he didn't want me to lead a club to partner's putative jack to get a ruff. But that's necessary only when I'm three-one in the majors. In addition, he's only saving an extra undertrick. Surely it's better to maximize his chance of making his contract.

Second, I think declarer should actually drop my heart king and make six. An alarm went off in my head when partner unexpectedly followed to the second trump. It should have gone off in declarer's head as well. There is no reason for East to hop unless he is afraid of pitches on dummy's hearts. If he has the heart king, he has no such fear. Furthermore, if he has the heart king, hopping actually hands declarer his contract.

If East takes the spade ace, he gives declarer a dummy entry with the spade nine with which to take the heart finesse. If he ducks, declarer can stay in dummy by letting the seven hold. But, when he takes two heart finesses, West scores a ruff for down one. That's not hard for East to see, so hopping with the spade ace marks me with the heart king.

To test this theory, I switched the king and three of hearts and replayed the deal. East indeed ducks the spade ace in that layout, as he must. 

Score on Board 57: +100 (10 MP)
Total: 446 MP (65.2 %)

Current rank: 1st