Free Weekly Instant Tournament - July 14 - Board 5

Board 5
Our side vulnerable

♠ K 10  ♥ Q J 4  ♦ K Q 7  ♣ K J 10 3 2

Partner passes, and RHO opens with one heart. Despite the 15 HCP and the five-card suit, it's not clear this hand is worth a one-notrump overcall. I have only three honor tricks. (A strong notrump usually has three and a half or four.) And I have no aces. But the alternatives to one notrump aren't attractive. Overcalling two clubs with a balanced hand and a five-card suit does not appeal. And we could easily miss a game if I pass. Even if we don't  have a game, a one-notrump overcall may enable partner to compete with a long suit.

I bid one notrump, LHO passes, and partner bids two clubs, Stayman. I bid two diamonds and partner bids two notrump. This is his only way to invite in notrump, so he doesn't necessarily have four spades.

Normally the fifth club would be enough to accept. But I arguably overbid this hand already. And queen-jack third is an inflexible stopper, meaning I don't have the option of holding up. If partner has no help in hearts, they can duck trick one, establishing four heart tricks and maintaining communication. I will then have to find eight more tricks without losing the lead. At IMPs, the vulnerability might tempt me to accept. But at matchpoints, if I can make nine tricks with good play, plus 150 may be almost a good a result as plus 600. So I pass.

LHO leads the ten of hearts.

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

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

Wow! Ace, ace-jack, and a five-card suit. Partner might have bid three notrump himself with that hand.

I have two heart tricks and five diamond tricks. I need one more to make this. If East has both black aces, I have a choice of which king to score. Does he need both aces for his opening bid? I'm missing 16 HCP, so no, he does not. West could certainly have one of them.

How will the play go? East will win trick one with the heart king and return a heart. I'll run five diamonds, coming down to this position.

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

I can then lead a club. I'll decide later whether to play the ten or king. But even if I guess wrong, I'm OK. West is out of hearts, so he must return a black suit, giving me my eighth trick. The only way the defense can beat me is for East to hop with the club ace and cash four spade tricks. If West has the spade ace, East should have at least the queen, so dummy's eight of spades should be enough to prevent them from cashing four tricks. Or maybe not. If East has QJ9x, or even Q9xx, dummy's eight fourth isn't good enough. Let's hope that's not the case.

I play low from dummy. East takes his king and returns the five of hearts. Which hand should I win this in? After I cash the diamonds and lead a club from dummy, East may hop with the ace and establish his hearts. If so, I'll want to win that trick in my hand so I can cash the club king. So I must win this trick in dummy to preserve my hand entry. I play the jack, West follows with the eight, and I overtake with dummy's ace.

I start running diamonds. On the third round, East discards the club eight. The robots usually discard count. If that's high, East is 2-5-2-4. If so, they can't take four spade tricks, since West can hardly have ace-queen-jack-nine.

On the next diamond, East discards the heart deuce. Pitching winners already? That suggests he has the club queen. 

I pitch the club deuce; West, the spade deuce. That looks like low from five, so East is indeed 2-5-2-4. If West has the club ace, I can make an overtrick. I'll cash the last diamond. reaching the position above, and play a club to the the ten, establishing my eighth trick. If West takes his ace, his black-suit return will give me a ninth. So West must duck.

Now what? It depends on what East's last five cards are. If he has stiffed the spade ace, I can duck it out. If he has stiffed the club queen, I can lead the king and pin it. If he has come down to 2-1-0-2, I can lead a low club. East wins with the queen and exits with a heart. I can then toss West in with his club ace to force a spade return.

On the last diamond, East pitches the club queen, spoiling all my plans. I pitch a club and drive the club ace. East returns a heart, so I score a heart and two clubs and lose the last two tricks. Making three.

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

The club queen was a strange discard, but no other discard does better. As long as I play East to be 2-5-2-4, I can make an overtrick whatever he does.

Plus 150 is worth 93%. See what I mean? Frequently you don't have to bid games at matchpoints. Simply making them is good enough.

A few pairs were in three notrump, but only one of them made it. Usually, declarer erred by winning trick two in his hand. Then, when East took the club ace and cleared hearts, declarer was stuck in dummy.

If you ask yourself which hand you want to win the third heart in, the answer is easy. But you do have to bother asking yourself that question. Apparently most declarers did not.