Event 3 - Match 7 - Board 2

Board 2
Our side vulnerable

♠ K Q 10 4 ♥ 9 5 ♦ K J 10 6 5 ♣ 5 2

RHO opens one spade. If I weren't vulnerable, a two diamond overcall would be clear, since the four-card spade suit makes it likely we have a diamond fit. Vulnerable, however, an overcall does not appeal. I pass, LHO bids one notrump, and RHO bids two clubs. I pass, LHO corrects to two spades, which is passed back to me.

This is annoying. I have good defense against spades, but the opponents have probably stopped low enough that we won't be able to beat them. This is precisely why, if not vulnerable, it makes sense to overcall. An immediate two diamond bid, before they have a chance to gauge their fit, might propel them to the three-level.

I pass. What should I lead? Often it's right to go for a tap when you have trump length. But with natural trump tricks, that's less clear. If declarer has aces and kings on the side, scoring his small trumps via ruffs may be exactly what he wants to do. The determining factor is how good declarer's clubs are. If he has slow club tricks, it will be right to deprive him of those tricks via a tap. If he doesn't, tapping him is probably wrong. I have no way of knowing for sure. But I do know I can't offer any assistance in stopping clubs, so I lead the diamond jack.

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

West	North	East	South
Phillip	Dimitri	Jack	Brodie
			1 ♠
Pass	1 NT	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 ♠	(All pass)

Declarer plays low from dummy. Partner plays the three; declarer, the seven. I don't know much more now than I did before seeing dummy. Tapping him still might be the wrong idea. But I've started on this path, and I don't see any clear reason to change my mind. I play the six of diamonds. Declarer plays low, partner plays the ace, and declarer ruffs with the deuce of spades. Partner couldn't work out to play the nine on this trick?

Declarer plays the three of clubs. I see no reason to give count, since partner doesn't have much to do on this deal. I play the deuce--king--six. The four is missing, so I can't tell if partner has played high or low. Declarer plays the six of spades. The fact that he is drawing trumps suggests his clubs are running. If they weren't, he would either be establishing them or he would be ruffing a diamond, preparing to play the hand on a scramble. So I can be pretty sure declarer has the club queen.

Partner plays the three of spades, and declarer plays the eight. That looks like ace-jack-nine-eight fifth. I win with the queen rather than the ten. I don't have anything in particular in mind. But, as Lowenthal demonstrated to me time and time again, you don't need to see why a falsecard might gain in order to produce it. If it can't cost, you might as well give it a try. It can pay off in unexpected ways. This particular falsecard might cost on a different deal. For example, I might find myself on play with king-ten of spades, with declarer holding jack doubleton, and be unable to draw his trumps. But that can't happen on this deal, since I have no entries outside the trump suit.

I have three trump tricks and the diamond ace. We need two more tricks. The only place we can get them is in the heart suit, so I need partner to have the king and queen of hearts. One way to take two heart tricks is to lead the suit. But that requires declarer to have three hearts. If I can tap him out and lock him dummy, maybe we can take two heart tricks even if has a doubleton.

Suppose declarer is 5-2-1-5. I lead the king of diamonds, tapping him. Now he cashes the ace of spades and starts running clubs. We will reach this position:

	NORTH Dimitri ♠ -- ♥ A 8 7 2 ♦ Q ♣ 10
WEST Phillip ♠ K 10 ♥ 9 5 ♦ 10 5 ♣ --		EAST Jack ♠ -- ♥ K Q 10 x x ♦ -- ♣ x
	SOUTH Brodie ♠ J ♥ J x ♦ -- ♣ Q x x

If he leads the queen of clubs, I ruff, draw his last trump, and play any red card. He's locked in dummy and must lose two hearts.

Double-dummy declarer can make it in this position. He needs only three tricks. He can take them by playing a heart to dummy, pitching a heart on the queen of diamonds, and ruffing a heart. But that requires partner to be out of trumps.

An alternative line is to lead the jack of spades, hoping trumps are three-three. If he does that, I win the spade king and play a diamond. Now I don't need partner to have the king and queen of hearts. The king alone will do, since I have a long diamond for the setting trick. This line would be particularly attractive to a gullible declarer who assumes partner must have the ten of spades.

So if declarer is 5-2-1-5, I need to lead the diamond king. I can't beat him by force. But it does give him a losing option. Does it hurt anything to lead the diamond king if declarer is 5-3-1-4 with jack third of hearts? Is partner in danger of being endplayed?

Say I tap declarer with the diamond king and, again, he cashes the spade ace and starts running clubs. I ruff the third round, reaching this position, needing three more tricks:

	NORTH Dimitri ♠ -- ♥ A 8 7 2 ♦ Q ♣ --
WEST Phillip ♠ K ♥ 9 5 ♦ 10 5 ♣ --		EAST Jack ♠ -- ♥ K Q 10 x ♦ -- ♣ x
	SOUTH Brodie ♠ J ♥ J x x ♦ -- ♣ J

My plan was to draw declarer's last trump and play a red card. I can't play a heart, however. Partner will be endplayed. Perhaps I can play a diamond, forcing declarer to pitch a heart, thereby destroying the endplay. No. That doesn't work. Partner can pitch one heart on the spade king, but when I play a diamond, he's squeezed. It's an unusual squeeze, since partner is squeezed out of a loser, not a winner. If he pitches his club loser, declarer can afford to pitch his jack of clubs, retaining the endplay.

What if I don't cash the spade so the count isn't corrected for the squeeze? Does that work? If declarer has three hearts (as I will know from partner's count signal in clubs), then I don't need to draw declarer's trump. He can't ruff anything that I can't overruff.

Suppose, in the above position, I immediately play a diamond. Partner pitches a heart. Now it is declarer who is squeezed. If declarer also pitches a heart, there is no endplay. When he plays a heart from dummy, partner can hop with the queen and return the king, and I will take the last two tricks. If, instead, declarer pitches a club, then partner's club is high. When declarer plays a low heart from dummy, partner hops and plays his club winner. Declarer ruffs, I overruff and cash the last diamond for the setting trick. Interesting. Refusing to cash the spade avoids correcting the count for the squeeze against partner. But the count is already corrected for the squeeze against declarer. That's because declarer has an extra busy card. He can't afford to "pitch" his trump on the queen of diamonds.

Back to this position:

	NORTH Dimitri ♠ 7 ♥ A 8 7 2 ♦ Q 8 ♣ 10 7
WEST Phillip ♠ K 10 4 ♥ 9 5 ♦ K 10 5 ♣ 5

I lead the king of diamonds; declarer ruffs with the nine of spades. But he doesn't cash the spade ace. Instead, he plays the six of hearts--five--ace--three, then plays the seven of spades to his jack. My falsecard paid off. This would not be a possible line had I won the first spade trick with the ten.

I win with the spade king. If partner has the heart king, declarer is down. I play a diamond to dummy's queen. Partner pitches the four of hearts; declarer, the four of clubs. Declarer plays a club to his ace, cashes the spade ace, and plays the club queen. I ruff and cash the long diamond. Unfortunately, it is declarer who has the heart king, so he takes the last trick. Making two.

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

Did partner's error at trick two cost the contract? No. We were never beating this. If partner plays the diamond nine and the play proceeds along similar lines, we would eventually reach this position with declarer needing three more tricks.

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

Obviously three more tricks are easy. In fact, he can score a fourth for an overtrick. Declarer cashes the ace and king of hearts and plays a club. The only way I can prevent him from scoring dummy's seven of spades is by ruffing and leading a trump. If I do that, declarer regains control and scores a club trick.

So we actually had no way to stop three. Yet, by presenting declarer with a gift of the queen of diamonds, we managed to hold him to two. I'm not sure why it works out that way, but I'll take it.

The key to this deal, as is often the case, is drawing the right inference in order to reduce the number of things you have to worry about. The fact that declarer tried to draw trumps rather than play for a scramble meant his clubs were solid. The end position was complicated enough even after drawing that conclusion. If you have to worry about layouts where partner has a club trick, the deal would be virtually impossible to analyze.

Our teammates play two spades, making three, so we pick up an imp.

Table 1: -110
Table 2: +140

Score on Board 2: +1 imp
Total: +3 imps