Event 3 - Match 4 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ Q ♥ K 6 ♦ A Q 5 4 2 ♣ A Q 9 5 2

I open one diamond, LHO bids one spade, partner bids two hearts, and RHO bids three spades (pre-emptive). I could bid four hearts. But if partner has a good fit in one of the minors, we may belong in a slam, so it must be worthwhile to look for a minor-suit fit by bidding four clubs.

If LHO bids four spades, four clubs will certainly work out better than four hearts, since partner won't be misled into thinking we have a good heart fit. If we don't have a fit in either minor, we probably don't want to compete at the five-level.

If LHO doesn't bid four spades, a four heart bid might work out better, but not necessarily. Occasionally, we might wind up in five clubs instead of four hearts. But, if we do, who's to say five clubs isn't a better spot? If partner wants to hear about a doubleton heart honor, he can always give a false preference to four diamonds provided he has at least two. And if he has a singleton diamond, he rates to have good club support or a six-card heart suit to rebid. Only if he is 4-5-1-3 will he have a serious problem. And that is unlikely on the opponents' auction.

I bid four clubs, LHO passes, and partner raises to five. For us to make a slam, partner needs an ace and the kings of both my suits. Would he have cue-bid four spades with that? I hope so. But if he thinks four spades promises a spade control, he might not. I don't think it should promise a spade control, since four spades is his only way to make a slam try in clubs. But I'm sure not everyone agrees. In any event, I can hardly play him for three key cards, so I pass. LHO leads the ace of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
Harry	Jack	William	Phillip
			1 ♦
1 ♠	2 ♥	3 ♠	4 ♣
Pass	5 ♣	(All pass)

East plays the spade nine. West continues with the spade ten, which I ruff with the club five.

As long as clubs are at worst three-one, I have no problems. I can play ace and a club to score four clubs tricks and six red-suit tricks. I can then ruff a red suit in either hand for my eleventh trick. What if clubs are four-zero? I may have difficulty scoring a ruff, but I probably don't need to. If someone has four clubs and neither red suit is splitting three-three, then the hand with the club void rates to be squeezed in the red suits. There are some cases where that's not true. But in all those cases, it seems the opponents would have been bidding beyond three spades. (For example, if East is 4-1-4-4 and West is 6-5-2-0, then there is no squeeze. But it's hard to imagine the opponents' being so timid if that's the case.)

I cash the club ace--three--six--ten, then play the club deuce--four--seven--spade three. I claim five.

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

East might have applied a little more pressure. To be content with three spades, he must have seen his partner's overcalls before. I would have bid four spades over two hearts despite the vulnerability. The singleton club suggests opener has a club suit he's just itching to bid. So even if it's wrong for us to bid four spades, opener may have a hard time punishing us. It would, of course, be foolish to bid three spades, then compete to four spades over four hearts, since that makes it easy for the opponents to defend when it's right. I hope that's not what East was intending to do. If so, then I regret not bidding four hearts.

Our teammates did play four spades doubled, though I don't know how they got there. This should have gone for 800. Fortunately, the defense dropped a trick (which seems to be rule against spade games at the other table), so we lost only three imps. I can't even guess how the trick disappeared this time. South will surely switch to the king of hearts as soon as he gains the lead. What bad can happen after that?


Table 1: +400
Table 2: -500

Result on Board 3: -3 imps
Total: -10 imps