Event 3 - Match 5 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A Q 8 4 ♥ A J 5 3 ♦ -- ♣ K Q 8 6 5

I open one club, LHO bids one diamond, partner passes, and RHO bids two clubs, promising diamond support. I think the double of any artificial raise should mean the same thing as the double of a natural raise. So a double here should show a take-out double of diamonds. But I'm not sure what partner thinks. He might think it just shows good clubs. Since I'm strong enough to cue-bid two diamonds, it seems safer to do that rather than risk a misunderstanding.

I bid two diamonds, LHO bids five diamonds, passed back to me. I know people who would double. But doubling doesn't make sense to me. West thinks he's going to make it, partner agrees with him, and I have no surprises for either of them. Even if we're a slight favorite to beat it, we certainly aren't beating it more than one. So the IMP odds are stacked against us. I pass. Partner leads the jack of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
Jack	Stephen	Phillip	Sam
		1 ♣	1 ♦
Pass	2 ♣1	2 ♦	5 ♦
(All pass)
1Constructive raise

We have at least one club trick. If declarer has a spade or a third club, we're beating this easily. So I might as well assume neither of those things is true. That gives declarer something like

♠ -- ♥ K x x x ♦ A x x x x x x ♣ A x

But then there's no winning defense. I need to find some layout where it matters what I do. I can hardly take any high cards away from declarer. Suppose I give him a 0-5-6-2 pattern:

♠ -- ♥ K x x x x ♦ A x x x x x ♣ A x

Now perhaps partner's third trump is enough to give declarer some difficulty. Say declarer wins the club ace and plays a heart to my ace. I cash the club king and lead a low club, forcing declarer to ruff high. Declarer must now ruff two hearts in dummy. So if partner has ten third of diamonds, he has a trump trick.

I encourage with the club six. Declarer takes the ace and plays the five of diamonds--deuce--jack. I pitch the club five. Declarer plays the four of diamonds. I can't afford a heart, since declarer would have to ruff only one heart if I pitched one. So I pitch the spade four. Declarer plays the ace, and partner follows with the three. Partner echoed, so he has a third trump. Declarer plays the six of diamonds--ten--king.

Declarer drew three rounds of trumps to avoid the trump promotion. As a result, he can ruff only one heart in dummy. So he has to be going down. If the spade isn't cashing and a second club isn't cashing, I have to be scoring my heart jack, provided I don't pitch one. I pitch the spade eight. Declarer leads the queen of hearts--ace--four--deuce. I play the spade ace, and declarer pitches a club. I lead the spade queen. Declarer ruffs, cashes the heart king, and leads the nine of hearts for a ruffing finesse. My heart jack is the setting trick.

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

I didn't have much to do on this deal. All I had to do was pitch spades instead of hearts, which I probably could have figured out without bothering to construct hands for declarer. Still, it gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling to construct the one hand where what you do matters, then find declarer with that precise hand.

Partner, however, had a critical decision. He had to lead a club in order to threaten a trump promotion. Nice lead, partner. I'm not sure I would have found it. Knowing we had all three side suits bottled up, I might have led a trump. But Lowenthal's Fourth Law of Opening Leads strikes again: "The lead of a short suit is an attempt to force declarer to draw trumps."

The other table managed the identical result.

Table 1: +100
Table 2: -100

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