Event 3 - Match 4 - Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A 10 6 5 ♥ J 4 ♦ K Q 9 4 2 ♣ 6 3

RHO opens one spade. I'm tempted to bid two diamonds, stretching a bit because of the four-card spade suit. But I think that is stretching a bit too much. I would certainly bid if partner were a passed hand. But opposite an unpassed hand, I'm not willing to risk partner's driving to three notrump and going minus when we should be going plus on defense. Even opposite an unpassed hand, I would bid if the red suits were reversed. Two hearts is more obstructive, since it takes up more room than two diamonds, and it is less apt to land us in an unmakable game. (The spade length is an asset in four hearts, since it gives me losers to ruff in dummy.)

I pass, LHO bids two hearts, and partner bids three clubs. RHO passes, I pass, and LHO bids three notrump, ending the auction. Partner leads the five of diamonds. What a nice partner. He leads my suit without my even needing to bid it.

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

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

Partner has either one or three diamonds. One is considerably more likely, since if declarer has the singleton, he would have either seven hearts or three-card spade support, giving him a strange three notrump call. If I place declarer with three diamonds, his likeliest shape is 1-6-3-3.

Why didn't partner lead a club? Clubs must be a likelier source of tricks than a singleton in a suit I wasn't willing to bid at the two level. Perhaps he has ace-queen-ten of clubs and was hoping we could run the suit off the top. One thing I can be fairly sure of: He doesn't have a heart honor. With a probable entry in hearts, he would have led his own suit, even from ace-queen.

Declarer will presumably win the diamond ace, unblock the heart ace, and lead a diamond toward his ten. I will hop and play a club. If partner has ace-queen seventh of clubs, we will take a lot of tricks. If he has ace-queen sixth, he will have to duck, allowing declarer to win with dummy's jack. Declarer will now lead a diamond to the ten and try to run hearts. If he has six heart tricks, he will make this. If his hearts aren't running (perhaps partner has ten fourth) or if he has only five hearts (giving partner 1-5-1-6), then he will go down.

Declarer plays the seven of diamonds from dummy, I play the queen, and declarer wins with the ace. Declarer leads the seven of spades. Partner plays the eight, and declarer plays the queen from dummy. What is going on? For starters, who has the jack of spades? If declarer has it, he obviously isn't trying to establish spades. If he were, he would lead the jack to avoid blocking the suit. But perhaps one spade trick is all he needs. Perhaps he is retaining the spade jack as a hand entry, so that I can't profitably win the spade ace remove his diamond entry while the hearts are still blocked.

But why block the hearts? If one spade trick is all he needs, why not play a heart to the ace and a spade toward his jack? His failure to unblock in hearts suggests he does have a singleton spade and he needs the heart ace as an entry to his spade trick.

I'm not entirely sure what is going on. This is such an unexpected play, it feels as if I should be able to call declarer's hand. But, annoyingly, I can't. In any event, it's hard to see how it can be wrong to win this trick and play a club. I take the ace and shift to the six of clubs--four--queen--seven. Partner cashes the ace of clubs, dropping declarer's king, then continues with the ten of clubs. Declarer pitches a spade from dummy.

So it was wrong to win the spade ace and play a club. I was supposed to cash the diamond king first. Now I may lose it. Declarer must be 2-6-3-2, giving partner 1-4-1-7. After partner runs the clubs, he will have nothing but hearts left. Declarer doesn't know that, of course, so he may have a hard time figuring out what to keep in the end position. It must be to our advantage to convince him to keep two diamonds in dummy. If declarer thinks partner has another diamond, he will keep jack doubleton of diamonds in dummy and the ten in his hand to prevent us from scoring two diamond tricks. So I must hold three diamonds (making him think I have two and partner has one) as long as possible.

I start by pitching the heart four, probably not the pitch declarer expects me to make with lots of diamonds. Declarer pitches the five of hearts. On the next club, dummy pitches the three of diamonds. I pitch the diamond four, hoping to persuade declarer that partner has the deuce. Declarer pitches the heart six. On the next club, dummy pitches another spade. If I am to keep up the illusion, I can't afford another diamond. I pitch the five of spades, and declarer pitches the seven of diamonds. Partner cashes the penultimate club, and dummy pitches a spade. I can't afford another spade. And I may need the heart jack. So the jig is up. I pitch the diamond deuce. Declarer pitches the eight of hearts. We are down to this position (assuming my inference that partner doesn't have a heart honor is correct):

	NORTH William ♠ K 9 ♥ A ♦ J 6 ♣ --
WEST Jack ♠ -- ♥ x x x x ♦ -- ♣ 2		EAST Phillip ♠ 10 6 ♥ J ♦ K 9 ♣ --
	SOUTH Harry ♠ J ♥ K Q x ♦ 10 ♣ --

On the last club, dummy pitches the ace of hearts, I pitch the diamond nine; declarer, the diamond ten. If partner has the ten of hearts, we will we score a trick at the end. He does, so declarer is down five.

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

Declarer has two ways to take the rest of the tricks in the diagrammed position: (1) He can pitch a diamond from both hands. Since partner can't play a spade, declarer has the entries to untangle the heart suit. (2) He can pitch a heart from both hands. Partner must play a heart to declarer's king-queen, and I get squeezed in spades and diamonds. Either play would have failed, however, if partner had a spade to lead. Declarer apparently decided to hope that his hearts were good instead.

The opponents can't make any game. They should have doubled us in three clubs, though it's hard to see how to manage that. North certainly doesn't have a double, and it's hard for South to double with king doubleton of clubs in the slot, especially at this vulnerability. He could be accepting a small penalty against a cold vulnerable game. On an unlucky day, three clubs might even be making.

Our teammates played four hearts down two, so we pick up seven imps to trail by three. The extra undertrick was important. Without it we would have picked up only five imps. Two boards left, and we are within striking distance.

Table 1: +500
Table 2: -200

Result on Board 6: +7 imps
Total: -3 imps