Event 3 - Match 1 - Board 7

Board 7
Both sides vulnerable

♠ K 10 7 ♥ A Q J 9 ♦ A K 6 4 ♣ 9 2

I bid one heart. This is a good hand for four-card majors. With a side suit like ace-king fourth, a four-three heart fit might easily be the right strain, and it may be hard to investigate without opening one heart. LHO doubles, partner passes, and RHO bids one spade. A bid of one notrump opposite a passing partner should show better than a strong notrump, and doubling without spade shortness is unthinkable. So I pass. If LHO passes as well, partner should suspect I have a strong notrump with three or more spades. (Not that my pass shows that. But my pass combined with the opponents' unwillingness to bid past the one level makes that my likeliest hand.) LHO bids two spades, which ends the auction.

Maybe this wasn't such a good hand for the system after all. A one notump opening might have shut the opponents out.

It's going to be hard to beat this without taking two heart tricks. But, since partner didn't raise hearts, there is a fair chance I have them. The likeliest heart split is 3-2-4 (in that order). That gives LHO a 4-3-3-3 pattern and RHO perhaps a 4-4-2-3 pattern. If my king-ten third of spades is worth a trick, I have book in hand and need to find only one trick from partner to beat this. Even the spade nine in partner's hand may be enough to give declarer a problem.

Should I start hearts right away to threaten a fourth-round overruff by partner? I might regret leading a heart if declarer has the king. (Although that's not necessarily true. I might find myself getting endplayed anyway.) I could postpone my decision by leading a high diamond. But that could work out badly also. Declarer probably wants to set up dummy's diamond queen for a discard and may be short of entries to her hand. Leading diamonds may just be doing her work for her. In addition, failure to lead a high diamond may get declarer to misplace the high cards. She may waste a hand entry taking a losing club finesse.

I have no real confidence in this decision. If a heart lead is wrong, it may be hard to justify in the post-mortem. Partners tend not to understand when you have an ace-king and lead something else. But it feels right, and Jack doesn't yell much. So I lead the heart ace.

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

West	North	East	South
Phillip	Sophie	Jack	Jacinta
1 ♥	Double	Pass	1 ♠
Pass	2 ♠	(All pass)

What kind of dummy is that? I don't care for either of North's calls. The hand is not good enough for an offshape double or for a raise to two spades.

Dummy plays the six; partner, the deuce; and declarer, the three. The deuce is attitude. Since I already know partner's attitude, it's not very informative. I continue with the heart queen--king--five--four. Partner's five should be present count, so he should be out of hearts now. Jack is rather inconsistent about present count, however. Most of the time--though, curiously, not always--he seems to play up-the-line after the initial signal.

Declarer plays the club three--four--queen. If partner's four is honest, declarer rates to be 4-4-3-2. She seems to want to pitch her fourth heart before touching trumps. But what's the point of that? I must be wrong about her shape. Maybe she's 4-3-4-2 and wants to pitch her only heart before touching trumps. That makes more sense. I guess partner decided not to give count in hearts this time. I play the club deuce. (No reason to advertise my doubleton. Partner will find out my count soon enough.) Declarer plays the seven of clubs--nine--jack--five, then the club king--six--heart eight. I ruff with the spade seven.

It's hard to see where the setting trick is coming from unless partner has a trump trick. If he has the spade ace, I have nothing to worry about. Is there any way to exploit the spade queen in partner's hand? Maybe I can get declarer to play me for a stiff ten of spades. Perhaps I can entice her to lead the spade jack from dummy in a position where I can win the king and give partner a ruff with the queen. What if I lead ace-king and a third diamond, ignoring the temptation to try to cash my heart? If declarer thinks I have

♠ 10 7 ♥ A Q J 10 9 ♦ A K x x ♣ x x

then she will lead the spade jack. I can then win with my king and lead a fourth diamond for partner to overruff.

Can it ever cost to try this? How about if the heart is actually cashing and I have to ruff the fourth club with a natural spade trick? That gives declarer

♠ A Q x x ♥ x x x x ♦ x x x ♣ Q x

which is inconsistent with both the auction and the play. I play the king of diamonds--seven--deuce--five. Partner's deuce should be telling me that he is out of hearts. But Jack's attitude signals are not that sophisticated. He is probably just telling me he doesn't have the diamond jack. I play the ace of diamonds--queen--three--nine. The three should show three diamonds remaining. But I don't believe it. I think partner's just not in the mood for present count today. I play the diamond six. Dummy ruffs with the spade six. Partner follows with the eight; declarer, with the ten. Not that it would have mattered, but declarer should have played the jack, the card she was known to hold (assuming partner's diamond deuce was intended to deny that card).

This ploy might actually work. If declarer is missing the spade queen and thinks I am 2-5-4-2, leading the spade jack is the right play. A singleton king or queen in my hand does her no good, so she might as well play me for a stiff ten.

Declarer plays the heart seven and ruffs it with the spade deuce as partner follows with the heart ten. Ah! If partner follows, she knows I'm 3-4-4-2, and she can play ace and another spade. If he doesn't follow, she can still choose to play me for a stiff ten of spades by leading a low spade to the ten and jack. Partner wins and must either lead a spade for her or put her in dummy with a club. Nice discovery play, Jacinta. I didn't think of that.

Declarer now leads the spade three. Partner must have the space ace, since this play makes no sense of declarer has it. I might as well duck in case it's singleton, although I don't think that's likely. Even if partner does have queen doubleton of spades, I have no need to give him an overruff in diamonds. He can give me an overruff in clubs instead. I play the ten--jack--ace. Partner returns a club. I ruff with the spade king and concede the balance. Down one.

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

At the other table, our opponents play one notrump, making two. So we lose one imp. It does seem our teammates dropped a trick, doesn't it? The king of clubs lead and a spade shift seems like a normal start. How will declarer find an eighth trick now?

Table 1: +100
Table 2: -120

Result on Board 7: -1 imp
Total: +13 imps