Event 3 - Match 7 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A 10 8 ♥ Q 9 ♦ A J 10 9 5 ♣ K 8 7

I open one notrump (12-14). I might upgrade this hand to a strong notrump if not for the fact that I would then have to open one diamond. I'd rather not give up the pre-emptive value of opening one notrump.

Partner bids two diamonds, a transfer to hearts. I bid two hearts, and partner bids three notrump. Everyone passes, and West leads the deuce of clubs, showing an odd number of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
Dimitri	Jack	Brodie	Phillip
			1 NT
Pass	2 ♦1	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	3 NT	(All pass)
1Jacoby-transfer

I have four club tricks, two spades, a heart, and a diamond. I need one more trick. Diamonds is the surest place to develop one. But I need two entries to my hand, so I can't afford to guarantee four club tricks by playing low from dummy. That's probably OK. In the unlikely event I cost myself a club trick by rising, I can probably get it back by developing a second trick in diamonds.

I play the club queen. (Not the ace, which would announce to everyone that I have king.) East plays the three. I follow with the seven. The opponents play upside-down attitude, so, if the carding is honest, the three is either a singleton or is encouraging from jack third.

I lead the eight of diamonds; East plays the three. I play the five, and West wins with the queen. West surprises me by continuing with the deuce of diamonds. He must think I was trying the old trick of attacking my weak suit to talk the opponents out of leading it. I pitch the three of hearts from dummy, East plays the diamond six, and I win with the nine.

The routine play at this point would be to drive the diamond king. But West's diamond play is suspicious. The usual inference when an opponent makes an aggressive, desperate play is that the cards lie favorably for you. West must think dummy's hearts are a threat, and, since he knows I have a doubleton heart, he wouldn't think that unless hearts were three-three.

For example, give West something like

♠ Q x ♥ J x ♦ K Q x x ♣ J x x x x

I can make five by driving the diamond king, since East gets squeezed in the majors. But would West ever continue diamonds with this hand? Unless I have king-queen doubleton, I can't set up hearts without losing the lead twice. So why not just persist in clubs, doing what you can to disrupt declarer's communications?

The same thing is true if West has king third of hearts. Only if I had queen-jack doubleton would I be able to establish the suit with one loser, so there is no need for desperation. It appears that East has king third of hearts, which means I can lead up to my heart queen and make five. Even if I'm wrong, I'll still make four on this line provided one of my assumptions is correct: either the heart king is on my right or the suit is three-three.

I cash the king of clubs--five--nine--four. So far, so good. If East had shown out, I would have to rethink my conclusions. Admittedly, it's not entirely safe to play another club. If West led a deceptive deuce from a doubleton or from jack fourth (or if he simply forgot his lead conventions) and if I get unlucky, I could wind up going down. I might worry about that against human defenders, but I'm not too worried against Jack. He's an honest sort who never forgets his methods.

I play a club to dummy's ace. West plays the six; East, the jack. If I cash the last club, I will have to pitch my diamond ten, and I'd rather not do that just yet. I'd like to retain the option of establishing a diamond trick. If I lead a heart to my queen and it holds, for example, I can just drive the diamond king to make five and not rely on the heart split. I play the five of hearts. East isn't going to allow me to make five that easily. He hops with the king; West follows with the deuce.

East shifts to the seven of diamonds. I rise with the ace, West plays the four, and I pitch dummy's deuce of spades. This is the position:

	NORTH Jack ♠ K 6 ♥ A 8 6 ♦ -- ♣ 10
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ A 10 8 ♥ Q ♦ J 10 ♣ --

If hearts are indeed three-three, I have the rest. But I have chances even if they aren't. I can cash the heart queen, play a spade to dummy, and cash the club, pitching the diamond ten. If East has four hearts and the queen-jack of spades, he is squeezed. Or, if West has four hearts and honor doubleton of spades, he is caught in a guard squeeze. To stop both red suits, he must pitch his last spade, allowing me to finesse against the remaining honor in East's hand. I just have to be careful to cash the club before the heart ace, else I will squeeze my own hand first.

I play accordingly. Hearts were three-three as expected. Making five.

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

The inference I drew on this deal (that an aggressive defense means suits are breaking favorably) and the converse (that a passive defense means suits are breaking unfavorably) come up frequently, often on the opening lead. West certainly knew he had little chance to beat this when he won the diamond queen, so an aggressive defense was called for. But I still don't understand the diamond continuation. A shift to the spade jack seems better.

I don't care for the opening lead either. I can understand not leading a diamond. If you are on lead against three notrump and have no five-card suit of your own, it is often a good idea to try to find one in partner's hand. But, on this auction, you are more likely to find partner with five spades than with five clubs. Dummy might have an undisclosed club suit (as it did), but it won't have an undisclosed spade suit. I assume Jack chose clubs on the idea that three small is safer than jack third. But now is not the time to be playing it safe. Three-three hearts screams for aggressive tactics just as much now as it did at thrick three. A spade lead probably won't beat the contract. But it will certainly worry declarer more than the club lead did.

I'm disappointed to discover this board is a push. I thought I did well to make five.

Table 1: +460
Table 2: -460

Score on Board 3: 0 imps
Total: +3 imps