Event 3 - Match 6 - Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

♠ Q J 9 7 5 ♥ J 10 9 ♦ A 8 4 ♣ A 9

RHO passes, and I open one notrump (12-14). Most players are happy enough to open a strong notrump with a five-card major, but they shy away from opening a weak notrump with a five-card major. I have no such qualms. For one thing, it makes your rebid structure easier if one of a major denies a balanced minimum. For another, good things seem to happen when you open these hands one notrump, though I've never understood why. I will tell you in advance that one notrump should have worked out poorly this time, but not for any reason you would be likely to guess.

Everyone passes, and LHO leads the ace of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
Thomas	Jack	Adrian	Phillip
		Pass	1 NT
(All pass)

Partner's pass look strange, but he didn't have much choice. We are playing Jack's generic Acol card, and we have no way to sign off in a minor after a one notrump opening. On this deal, that might prove to be lucky for us. Unless the opponents lose their club trick, three diamonds will go down. But we have seven tricks in notrump unless the opponents take seven first.

Their convention card doesn't say anything about this lead, and I have no way to ask. If the ace asks for an unblock or count, it doesn't matter what I do, so I'll assume it's their standard lead from ace-king. East plays the five (upside-down attitude). Presumably East has the queen. Since I have no card lower than the five to conceal, my best chance to sow some confusion is if East has queen doubleton. Perhaps I can convince West that I have queen doubleton and get him to cash his king.

If I did have queen doubleton, what must my lower card be to be consistent with East's play of the five? If I had queen-jack, then East, with ten-nine-five, would play the ten. If I had queen-ten, East, with jack-nine-five, would play the nine. But if I had queen-nine, East would have jack-ten-five. In that case, he might play the five to avoid giving me a trick with queen-nine-third. True, he might play the jack instead. But deciding what East would actually do with that holding is West's problem, not mine. Jack-ten-five is the only three-card holding without the queen where the five is a possible play, so I must play the nine.

West shifts to the ten of clubs. I play the queen, East plays the seven, and I claim eight tricks.

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

The club shift looks like the right play. It has two ways to work. East might hold the club ace. Or East might hold ace doubleton of diamonds, in which case the shift kills the entry to the diamond suit. I'm less sure about the opening lead. I know ace (or king) from ace-king fourth is more common now than it used to be. But I'm still not convinced. If I chose to lead a heart, I would lead a low one. Leading an honor does maintain flexibility. But, in my experience, you frequently don't have enough information to take advantage of that flexibility. You wind up having a winning option at trick two but are unable to find it. Why should I risk blocking the suit on the opening lead if I'm just going to do the wrong thing at trick two anyway?

So why did I say my one notrump opening should have worked out poorly? Because this hand belongs to the opponents. East-West can make two spades, and a one spade opening picks off their suit. Admit it. Of the all the reason to open one spade, that one didn't occur to you, now did it?

Of course, two spades isn't the only thing they can make. They can make two hearts or three clubs as well. But, because each opponent has spade length, a one spade opening makes it hard for them to get into the auction. If I open one spade, it is likely that partner would respond one notrump and buy it. After my one notrump opening, East has a clear balance.

It's strange that East was so timid this time. On the previous board, holding a flat, defensively oriented hand, he refused to sell to two hearts on a potential misfit. Here, he sold out to one notrump with a singleton and seven losers. (The seven losers part is just a bonus. The singleton all by itself is almost enough reason to bid.)

Perhaps this was an awkward pattern for whatever method they play. It is an easy pattern for Astro, my preferred method. East starts with two diamonds, showing spades and a second suit. West then has a choice. He can bid two hearts (artificial) or two spades (natural). Two hearts has the advantage that it guarantees finding your eight-card fit if you have one. If partner has five spades, he will "rebid" them. If he has four spades and a longer suit, he will bid that suit (passing if it's hearts). The problem is, he might be 4-1-4-4, in which case he will bid two notrump, and you will not be happy. As a general rule, when I am 4-3-3-3, I bid two hearts over two diamonds with a four-card minor, but I bid two spades with four hearts. In this case, it doesn't matter. Either way, responder will bid three diamonds, and the balance will have turned a minus score into a plus score.

At the other table, our counterparts played two notrump, making two, so we push the board. The only auction I can think of where North-South wind up in two notrump is one spade--two diamonds--two notrump--pass. If West leads a low heart, six tricks are easy; so I must assume he led an honor.

Our teammates play standard attitude, so East would play the seven. South has a different problem than I did. He must play a card consistent with his holding queen third (where his lowest card is whatever card East holds lower than the seven). He would play the nine from Q9x. But he probably would not play the jack from QJx or the ten from Q10x, since that might cost a trick. So, even though his problem is different from mine, his solution is the same: He must play the nine.

Since West is looking for six tricks, not seven, and since, unlike my West, he knows declarer can't have four hearts, the club shift isn't nearly so attractive. It could be right, but it is playing partner for a specific hand: jack-ten-seven of hearts and the club ace. The best play is to cash the heart king and continue with the four. This draws a box around partner, forcing him to find the club shift. Thus this line works whenever partner has the heart queen and any ace. That is, unless partner decides he is expected to unblock the queen under the king. But he shouldn't. We aren't defending three notrump. If West has ace-king-jack fifth of hearts, he needs East to have another trick anyway. So he has no reason to continue hearts at trick two.

Only two boards to go, and we're still down five imps. The pressure is on.

Table 1: +120
Table 2: -120

Score on Board 6: +0 imps
Total: -5 imps