Match 2 - Board 63

Board 63

"Last chance to beat the other couples." (Another Brooks Hughsism. This time I know the reference.)

Our side vulnerable

♠ J ♥ 10 6 ♦ A 5 4 ♣ A Q 10 7 6 5 4

I open one club, partner responds one heart, and RHO bids four spades. I hate putting pressure on partner to act when I have the spade shortness. But there is a fair chance the clubs are stacked behind me. Maybe I would bid if you added the club jack. But with this hand I don't think I can act unilaterally at the five-level. I pass. Partner balances with five hearts.

At a different vulnerability, I would pass without a second thought, since partner might be sacrificing. But at unfavorable, he expects to make this. What could he have? Solid hearts and the club king perhaps? It feels inconsistent to bid on after passing four spades. But I do know considerably more about partner's hand than when I passed. There is a big difference between being able to respond at the one level and thinking you have a fair shot at eleven tricks. And, while partner might be stretching somewhat, hoping to find me with a better than a minimum opening bid, he can't be playing me for as much as I actually have. I have six and a half playing tricks and five controls, two tricks and two controls better than a typical minimum.

At IMPs I would pass, since the risk-reward ratio for bidding slam is poor. If we can make a slam, the opponents rate to have a good save. LHO will be well-placed to judge whether we can make slam or not. So, if he lets us play it, we are probably going down. That means if I bid, I may be risking 13 imps to gain three. This is a point that is often overlooked.

At matchpoints, however, I care only about the frequency of gain. If I think I can make a slam more than half the time, which I do, it's right to bid on. As for what to bid, six clubs seems right. If partner's hearts are solid, he'll correct. If not, clubs may play better. The right bid, of course, is five notrump, offering a choice of slams. But I doubt Jack would understand that bid, so I have to do the best I can. I think he should infer some degree of heart tolerance. I couldn't bid on the previous round, and I would be unlikely to change my mind now with a misfit. Of course, that might be wishful thinking. It's always tempting to think a bid shows the hand you happen to be looking at.

I bid six clubs. LHO bids six spades. Since LHO is saving, it appears I made the right decision. Partner doubles and everyone passes. Now what should I lead? I have no assurance the club ace is cashing. And, if it is, it can probably wait. So I lead the ten of hearts, hoping to make some use of my spade jack.

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

West	North	East	South
1 ♣	Pass	1 ♥	4 ♠
Pass	Pass	5 ♥	Pass
6 ♣	6 ♠	Double	(All pass)

That's some save! A probable trick in each of our suits and the diamond king for good measure! Dummy plays the seven. Partner overtakes with the jack and declarer follows with the four. Partner continues with the king of hearts, and declarer ruffs with the spade queen. That's not good. If declarer is 8-1-3-1, he can now establish a heart trick (using the ten and seven of spades as entries) and pitch his club away. Why did partner think I had a singleton heart? Perhaps my failure to lead the club ace suggested that. Now that I think about, it seems unlikely my spade jack could do any damage. Maybe it was wrong to lead a heart.

Declarer cashes the spade king; partner follows with the deuce. Declarer now leads the club nine. Whew! I survived my questionable lead. I take my ace, and partner plays the deuce. Assuming partner is giving correct count, declarer must be 8-1-2-2. Is there any way to score a second diamond trick? I can't afford to underlead (or duck) my ace. Declarer can take his king, ruff out partner's heart ace, and return to dummy to pitch his last diamond. I might as well just cash the ace and accept my plus 300. That's what I do.

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

Partner certainly wasn't making five hearts. Would I have made six clubs if North had let me play it? It's possible. I might decide to cash the club ace. Not because I expect the king to drop but because I expect the finesse to be futile: North might have saved with a small singleton club.

In the finals of the 1981 Grand National Teams (see The Bridge World, September 1981), I missed that inference. The opponents suspiciously failed to take a cheap save over our slam. Had I deduced that they had a potential trump trick. I would have made my contract. While that result by itself would not have swung the event, it certainly would have changed the dynamics of the match. Who knows what would have happened? If I had considered playing for a bad trump break and rejected it, I wouldn't have felt so bad. But it never crossed my mind until Lowenthal brought it up later. Ever since then, when the opponents spurn a cheap save, I'm at least cognizant of that fact in attempting to construct the layout.

Of course, even if I pick up the trumps, I'm not home yet. I must now decide to take the heart finesse rather than play for a three-two break. That problem I'm pretty sure I would get right. I wouldn't play North to have passed over one club at favorable vulnerability with six diamonds. So I would assume he was either 4-3-5-1 or 3-4-5-1, with the latter being more likely. In that case, the heart finesse looks pretty attractive. Too bad North didn't decide to defend. I'd like to know whether I would have made this contract or not.

One declarer did take twelve tricks in clubs, but he was only in five. Everyone else either went down in something or defended a lower number of spades. Plus 300 is worth ten matchpoints.  It's a good thing partner balanced. Minus 420 would have been worth one matchpoint. Four notrump for takeout would have been a better choice than five hearts, but these notrump-for-takeout bids don't seem to be in our arsenal.

Only one board left. We're probably far enough in the lead that I have nothing to worry about. If I get the chance, maybe I should just pass it out, so we can head over to Shoney's for a hot fudge cake before the crowd gets there.

Score on Board 63: +300 (10 MP)
Total: 506 MP ( 66.9 %)

Current rank: 1st