Match 2 - Board 62

First things first. Please click the 'like' button on the right. The Gargoyle Chronicles now has a Facebook page, which is updated via an RSS feed linked to this blog. So, if you 'like' the page, you will automatically receive a link to each new post on your news feed.

Please invite anyone else you think might be interested to 'like' the page as well. We are rapidly approaching the end of Match 2. Whether there will be a Match 3 or not depends largely on how many 'likes' I get.

Board 62

Neither vulnerable

♠ 8 4 ♥ K Q 8 7 5 ♦ Q 5 3 ♣ Q 8 5

RHO passes, I pass, and LHO opens with one diamond. Partner bids two clubs, and RHO passes. There are some tactical reasons to bury the hearts and raise clubs: (1) Three clubs jacks up the auction and puts a little more pressure on LHO than does two hearts. (2) If I bid two hearts, the auction may get too high, and I may miss my chance to raise clubs conveniently.

But the fact that RHO passed over two clubs makes those reasons less compelling. It's quite possible this is simply our hand, so perhaps I should pay less attention to tactics and more attention to constructive bidding. If RHO had made a negative double, I would certainly bid three clubs. But, over a pass, I'm bidding two hearts.

LHO bids two spades, and partner raises to four hearts. Since partner has heart support and didn't make a take-out double over one diamond, he is unlikely to have three spades. RHO should have at least five spades as well as moderate diamond support, so I fully expect him to bid four spades. But he doesn't. He passes, as do I. LHO passes as well and leads the king of spades. This doesn't add up. Why is the bidding stopping at four hearts with double fits all around? Somebody has done something strange.

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

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

Aha! It's partner. He failed to make a normal take-out double on the first round. He was lucky that it was convenient for me to bid hearts. We might easily have missed the fit had RHO acted over two clubs.

I can't afford to duck this trick, since I don't want West to play three rounds of diamonds next. I win the spade ace. East plays the deuce, and I play the four. The deuce should show a diamond honor (tolerance for the obvious shift), but Jack probably intends it to deny the spade jack.

West should be at least four-six for his two spade bid. So, by the Majority Rule, my percentage play in hearts is to cash the heart ace and float the ten. That is the wrong play, however, when considering the hand as a whole. If West is 4-2-6-1, I can make the contract by cashing the king and queen of hearts, ruffing out the clubs, then returning to dummy with the heart ace to cash the last club. I will give up on that possibility if I start by cashing the heart ace. If I cash the king instead, I can still pick up a singleton jack of hearts (and a singleton nine if I choose to) in addition to any singleton club. Better to cater to all singleton clubs and some singleton hearts than to cater only to all singleton hearts.

I play the three of hearts--deuce--king--nine. Of course! The one card that gives me a problem. Do I play a heart back to the ace in case the nine is a singleton? Or do I cash the heart queen in case the nine is a falsecard and clubs aren't breaking? (If West has jack-nine doubleton of hearts, it doesn't matter what I do. Either play will work.)

If West always drops the nine of hearts from nine-small (as he should), then my percentage play is to cash the heart queen. There are three ways for West to hold nine-small of hearts and five ways for him to hold a singleton club. So cashing the heart queen caters to 15 cases. There are ten ways for West to hold a doubleton club, so a heart to the ace caters only to ten cases. But I doubt West appreciates the need for the mandatory falsecard. If he chooses his card at random from nine doubleton, then cashing the queen caters to only seven and a half cases. In addition, I don't have enough confidence in West's bidding to rule out his being 4-1-5-3. If that is a possible pattern, then cashing the heart ace is a standout.

I play the five of hearts to the ace. West, I'm happy to see, discards the diamond seven. I float the ten of hearts, and West plays the diamond nine. Am I home? I am if West is 4-1-6-2. But what if he's 4-1-7-1? I don't think there is anything I can do about that against best defense, but it doesn't hurt to lay a trap. I cash club ace and unblock the eight from my hand. Maybe if West drops a singleton jack, ten, or nine and East splits when I play a club from dummy, I can work some kind of magic in the end position. West follows with the three of clubs, so there is no trap to set. I have to hope clubs break. I play a club to the queen. Everyone follows. I draw the last trump and claim 11 tricks.

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

It turns our West was four-five after all. Personally, I would pass over two hearts with West's hand, viewing the three-card club suit as a serious liability. If partner has club length also, the hand doesn't fit well. If not, then he doesn't have much, since he will strain to act over the overcall with two clubs or fewer. Some might choose to double with West's hand, but I think a double should show short clubs, not short hearts. In addition to the fact that I'm disinclined to act with club length, there is the consideration that responder may be tempted to pass the double with a club trap. In order to do that, he needs the assurance of some heart length in opener's hand.

Could the trap I tried to set in clubs ever pay off? I hadn't planned anything specific. I was just trying set up the right matrix in case something worked out. This kind of tactic is more common in checkers than in bridge. Thinking more carefully about it now, I can see that East's splitting isn't the only mistake the defense would have to make. Consider this end position:

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

Let's say West had a singleton nine of clubs. East, afraid I might be psychic and thinking he had nothing to lose in any event, split his honors when I led a club to the queen. I drew the last trump, reaching the position above.

Now I exit with a spade. West wins with the jack and plays the queen. I pitch a diamond. West can beat me by exiting with a low diamond while his partner still has a spade exit. But if he woodenly plays his last spade, I ruff and play a diamond, winkling him. There is no need to see this position ahead of time. It's sufficient to know that establishing a tenace over East in clubs is a good thing, so you might as well do it if you can. You can work out the details of how to exploit the tenace later.

One pair reached three notrump and scored 460. Not bad! Two pairs made five hearts, two made four, and one pair defeated three spades two tricks. We wind up with eight matchpoints.

One round left. I don't remember for sure, but I think the last time we weren't in the lead was Board 4. Let's hope we manage to hang in there.

Score on Board 62: +450 (8 MP)
Total: 496 (66.7 %)

Current rank: 1st