Free Weekly Instant Tournament - November 4 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

For the first two boards of this week's tournament, I got 93% for results that should have been below average. If I can manage a result for board three that should be above average, maybe I'll do even better.

I pick up this hand in first seat:

♠ A K Q 7 5  ♥ 10 8 3  ♦ K J 8 7  ♣ 7

I open with one spade, partner bids one notrump, I bid two diamonds and buy it. West leads the heart four.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
			1 ♠
Pass	1 NT	Pass	2 ♦
(All pass)

If everything breaks, I can take five spades (ruffing one to set the suit up), three diamonds, and a heart. Nine tricks. If spades don't break, I won't score the long spade, but I'll still make eight tricks. A four-one diamond split, however, might prove to be a problem.

Let's say I hop with the heart ace and play a spade to the ace, ruff a spade, and play the diamond queen. It holds. I play another diamond and East shows out. Am I in trouble? West will win and tap me in clubs. Now I've lost control and can no longer run spades. Can I switch to a cross ruff? This is the position.

	NORTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ 6 ♦ 6 ♣ Q 10 5 4
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ K Q 7 ♥ 10 8 ♦ K ♣ --

I've taken five tricks and need three more. As long West follows to a spade, I have them. I cash the spade king, pitching a heart from dummy, ruff a heart, and still have the diamond king. So as long as at least one of my suits breaks, I can manage eight tricks. If both suits break, I can make nine.

Back to trick one. I play the heart ace, East plays the jack, and I follow with the three. I assume the jack is intended to signal possession of the king. Since the deuce is missing, a likely lie of the heart suit is queen fifth on my left and king-jack third on my right.

I play a spade--four--ace--six. It's superficially tempting to cash the spade king, pitching a heart from dummy. But that's an illusion. I must ruff a spade to set up the suit, and I don't have the entries to ruff a heart also. So pitching a heart from dummy accomplishes nothing. In fact, it would be a mistake, because playing three rounds of spades before losing to the diamond ace exposes me to a possible uppercut.

Say, for example, I cash another spade, pitching heart, then ruff a spade in dummy. Everyone follows. I play a diamond to the jack. West takes the ace and plays a spade. I've manufactured a trump loser out of thin air.

So I don't take the pitch. I play the spade five and ruff in dummy. West plays the eight; East, the three.

Now queen of diamonds--five--seven--ace. West cashes the club ace, East playing the seven. He then switches to the diamond nine--three--four--king. Here is the current position:

	NORTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ 6 ♦ 6 ♣ Q 10 5 4 3
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ K Q 7 ♥ 10 8 ♦ J 8 ♣ --

This wasn't the best defense. West should have ducked the diamond ace. If he has ace third, he could then win the next diamond and play a third one. If he has ace doubleton, he could play a heart to his partner for a third diamond. After this defense, I may be able to make a second overtrick by ruffing a heart in dummy, which I hadn't planned on doing.

I cash the spade king, pitching dummy's heart. West follows with the jack; East, the deuce. Now I ruff a heart in dummy, ruff a club to my hand, and claim all but the last trick. Making four.

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

I said at the start that I hoped to achieve a result that should be above average. Did I succeed? I suspect most declarers will not see the danger of taking the heart pitch from dummy and will do so routinely. So my best chance is that the error will cost. Unfortunately, it doesn't. The hand with the diamond ace has short spades, so there is no trump promotion. Anyone who takes the pitch will get away with it.

So plus 130 should be a fairly normal result. Still, I might do worse and I can't see doing better. So I suppose this qualifies as "a result that should be above average."

And indeed it is. Plus 130 is worth 100%.