Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 5 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A 4 3  ♥ A 8 7  ♦ K J  ♣ K J 9 7 5

I open with one notrump in first seat. Partner bids two spades, minor-suit Stayman, showing a game force with at least four cards in each minor.

Partner might have slam interest, but he doesn't promise it. With a major-suit singleton, he can bid two spades then show his shortness to search for the best game. So he could easily have a minimum game force. He might even be stretching a little. If he is interested in slam, I have a terrific hand for him: aces in the majors, secondary honors in both of his suits, six controls (a strong notrump typically has five), and a fifth club. Some hand such as

♠ K x x  ♥ x  ♦ Q x x x x  ♣ A Q x x

is all he needs for slam to be virtually cold.

I bid three clubs, and partner bids three notrump. This continuation should show at least mild slam interest. Without a singleton, there is no reason to explore for a minor-suit fit with a minimum game force. You would simply bid three notrump with such a hand.

I could cue-bid four hearts, but I don't see the point. If partner has any slam interest at all I have a clear acceptance, so I might as well just bid six clubs.

I do so. Everyone passes, and LHO leads the heart ten.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
			1 NT
Pass	2 ♠	Pass	3 ♣
Pass	3 NT	Pass	6 ♣
(All pass)

I agree with partner's decision to treat his hand as balanced. If he shows a heart singleton, I will be more worried about the heart situation than I should be. There is a big difference between a singleton king and and a singleton deuce. Frankly, however, I don't care for his two spade bid. I would raise one notrump to three. But who am I to complain? Slam is excellent. So I'm glad partner held that hand instead of me.

I play the heart king, and East follows with the deuce.

My only problem is a three-zero trump split. If someone has a club void, who is it apt to be? There are some hands that include a club void that might entice West to bid over one trump. There are fewer such hands that would entice East to bid at the three-level. So East is likelier to have a void than West. That means I should start clubs by cashing the king. I lead the ten from dummy. East plays the six, I play the king, and West follows with the three.

I've made my contract. Is there any way to make seven? Suppose I lead a diamond from dummy, East ducks, and I score my king. Is there a squeeze? No. To come to twelve tricks without touching diamonds again, I need to ruff both my minor-suit losers in dummy. And if I do that, I'm out of threats.

Is it possible I can get East to duck the diamond ace twice? Actually, he might. How I would I play this hand if I had king third of diamonds? My legitimate line would be do play someone for ace doubleton: lead toward one honor, then try to duck out the ace. But I can give myself an extra chance by leading toward the king, then returning to dummy to lead a low diamond. This works just fine if East has a doubleton ace, But it also give him a chance to make a mistake and hop on the second round. So it is certainly plausible for East to duck both diamonds, playing me for king third. Since East has no chance to beat this contract by hopping with the ace, this ploy would almost certainly work at IMPs. 

I play a club to dummy's ace, picking up West's queen. East plays the spade deuce. Now diamond six--deuce--king--five. How should I return to dummy? I want East to think I have three diamonds and a doubleton major. That doubleton is most likely in spades, so it's best to avoid leading spades, thus depriving West a chance to play a count card. 

Yes, this is pretty thin logic. If East were going to trust his partner to give count in spades, why not just trust him to give count in diamonds? But I need some reason for leading one suit rather than the other, and this is the only reason I can think. 

(I once phoned Alan Truscott and caught him in the middle of shaving. He was delighted. "For years," he said, "I've been shaving the left side of my face first so my left ear will be free in case I'm interrupted with a phone call. Finally, it paid off.")

I ruff a heart to dummy. Now another diamond. East plays the four! Did this actually work? No. West takes my jack with the ace. Making six.

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

West ducked the ace on the first round of diamonds? I'm surprised. I don't see how the duck ever gains. Apparently he was confident enough it wouldn't cost that he felt it was safe to toy with me.

Plus 920 is worth 100%. Everyone else who had this auction passed three notrump. Considering slam was excellent and partner arguably didn't even have his bid, passing three notrump strikes me as a misjudgment.