Event 3 - Match 4 - Board 7

Board 7
Both sides vulnerable

♠ Q 9 6 ♥ K 8 7 5 3 ♦ 10 2 ♣ Q J 2

I pass in first seat. LHO and partner pass, and RHO opens one club. I don't see much point in overcalling. I pass. LHO bids one diamond, and RHO bids two notrump (18-19 HCP, no four-card major). LHO bids three clubs (natural), and RHO bids three notrump, which ends the auction. I lead the five of hearts.

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

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

Partner has seven or eight high-card points, at least four spades, and at least three hearts. Declarer plays the jack from dummy, partner plays the queen, and declarer plays the ten. Declarer would not be ducking this trick with ace-ten third, so he must have ace-ten doubleton.

It appears we are going to beat this. Since partner has five or six high card points in addition to the heart queen, I don't see how declarer can take nine tricks without giving up the lead. Partner casts a cloud over my optimism, however, by shifting to the deuce of spades. Declarer plays the ace.

What's this all about? It makes no sense for partner not to continue hearts from queen fourth. He must have made a discovery play with ace-queen of hearts at trick one. He knows hearts are running, but, for some reason, he thinks it's a bad idea to run them. Perhaps he is afraid we will be squeezed if we cash out the hearts. Or perhaps he is afraid I won't have a safe exit.

Partner would surely cash out the hearts if he knew I had five. Since the opponents play that declarer's two notrump rebid denies a four-card major, partner would know I had five hearts if he had ace-queen third. So he must have ace-queen fourth.

I'm not happy with this development. But that doesn't mean I should discourage in spades just to express my displeasure. Partner has already shifted. What matters now is: Do I want him to continue spades or not when he gets in again? If declarer can cash four diamonds (which would bring him up to eight tricks), I may be in trouble, especially if partner doesn't have the spade jack. I will need to pitch two hearts on the third and fourth diamonds. If declarer exits with a heart, trying for a fratricide squeeze, partner must win and play another spade. After that, nothing bad can happen. (Assuming I've kept a low heart as an exit. So the two hearts I discard must be the king and the eight or seven.) To clue partner in to this plan, I encourage with the nine of spades.

Declarer plays the three of diamonds--deuce--queen--ace. Ace? You mean partner doesn't have the heart ace? Apparently not. He shifts to the deuce of hearts, and declarer plays the ace. I unblock the seven of hearts to maintian flexiblity. I can reach partner by leading a heart to his six if it proves necessary.

Declarer cashes the diamond king; partner plays the five. He then cashes the spade king. I'm pretty sure partner has the jack, but there is no need to unblock so long as we have communication in hearts. I play the six. Partner follows with the four.

Declarer leads the five of clubs. If I didn't have an exit card, I would have to play low on this trick, since splitting would leave me open to an endplay. It probably won't hurt to play low. Unless declarer has seen my hand, he isn't playing the club eight. But, to guard against good peripheral vision, I play the club jack. Declarer wins with the king, as partner follows with the deuce. Declarer plays a club to his ace, and partner pitches the diamond six. Declarer appears to be 3-2-3-5. His remaining diamond must be the four, since he would not have blocked the diamonds with king-jack third. So we must have the rest. And indeed we do. Down three.

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

I'm not sure why partner switched to a spade at trick two. But we seem to have gained a trick as a result. After a heart continuation, declarer would try to run clubs and would wind up down two. After the spade switch, declarer decided it made sense to attack diamonds first. And perhaps it does. If clubs are running, it makes no difference. If he happens to get lucky and establish three diamond tricks, he might wind up making his contract even if clubs don't come home. Still, once the jack or ten of diamonds didn't appear on the first round of the suit, it seems he should have abandoned that plan. He still had time to switch to clubs and hold this to down two.

Our teammates did finish down two in the same contract, so we pick up three imps and tie the match with one board left. The VuGraph audience is going wild.

Table 1: +300
Table 2: -200

Result on Board 7: +3 imps
Total: 0 imps