Free Weekly Instant Tournament - September 22 - Board 7

Board 7
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A K 10 9 8 4  ♥ K 9 7 4  ♦ A Q  ♣ K

I bid one spade; partner responds with one notrump.

Despite my 19 HCP, this hand hardly merits forcing to game. I have five spade tricks, one heart trick (half a trick for the king and half for the fourth heart), and one and a half tricks in diamonds. Seven and a half tricks in total plus a little for the club king. One generally needs eight and a half or nine to drive to game after a one-level response.

If I'm not going to drive to game, should I bid three spades or two hearts? Three spades has the advantage of getting my values across. Two hearts has the advantage of possibly finding a heart fit. If my heart suit were a minor, we might debate whether bidding three spades or showing minor will work out better. But we could easily belong in four hearts, so I don't want to risk missing a heart fit.

I bid two hearts, and partner corrects to two spades. My rule of thumb when partner shows a preference to my six-card suit is to bid one less than I would have bid had partner raised. If I would have invited game after a raise, I pass. If I would have bid game, I raise to three. With this hand, I would have bid four spades over a raise. So, by my rule, I should bid three spades now.

I'm inclined to override my rule however. After all, I would bid three spades even if my club king were the deuce. While I can't count the club king at full value, it's hardly worthless. To make the same bid with or without it feels wrong. Besides, stopping short of game with 19 HCP opposite a response is a scary prospect. Yes, I risked that when I bid only two hearts. But that was before I knew we had a fit. I'm not entirely confident with choosing four spades. But even if I'm wrong, I'm sure I'll have plenty of company.

I bid four spades. Everyone passes, and LHO leads the seven of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
			1 ♠
Pass	1 NT	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	2 ♠	Pass	4 ♠
(All pass)

My choice between three spades and four probably didn't matter. With three spades and an ace, partner should raise to four anyway. Personally, I don't care for his one notrump response. I see nothing wrong with raising one spade to two.

I have a shortage of dummy entries. I'd like to lead up to the heart king and take the diamond finesse, but it's hard to see how I can do both. My only convenient entry to dummy is with a heart ruff, so I have no easy way to lead up to the heart king. I suppose I could win this trick in dummy, wasting my club king. But that's giving up a sure club trick for a potential heart trick. That doesn't seem like a fair trade.

Suppose I cash a high trump and drop the spade queen. Now I can reach dummy with the spade jack and lead a heart. But the opponents can then play a third spade and stop my ruff. Again, I'm giving up a sure trick for a potential one. I might as well simply lead hearts out of my hand.

Since I intend to lose two heart tricks, I have to avoid either the spade loser or the diamond loser. Let's step through the play to see how that works.

I'll win the club in my hand and duck a heart. East will win and play a trump. I win and play another heart. If East is out of trumps, the opponents can't play a second trump, so I can score two heart ruffs. I can then pitch the diamond queen on the club ace, losing only two hearts and a trump.

If East wins the second heart and plays another trump, I'll hop. If the queen drops, I have ten tricks: six spades, a heart ruff, two clubs, and a diamond. If West shows out, I can ruff a heart. If the ace falls, the heart king is my tenth trick. If it doesn't, I can pitch my heart king on the club ace and try a diamond finesse.

Is there anything to gain by cashing a trump before I embark on this plan? Not that I see. I've already noted that I can't exploit dropping a stiff queen. So all cashing a trump does is increase the possibility the opponents can play two more rounds, depriving me of my heart ruff.

I play a low club from dummy, East plays the deuce, and I win with the king. I play the heart four--five--deuce--eight. East surprises me by switching to the diamond king. 

The diamond king? What's that all about? I suppose he is catering to my having a stiff queen. He doesn't want to set up a ruffing finesse against his king. If he thinks his partner might have the diamond ace, that suggests the heart ace is on my left. If East held it, he probably would not expect his partner to hold the diamond ace. There's not much I can do with that information. But it's good practice to draw whatever inferences you gain when something weird happens. Unusually plays can be revealing.

I win with the diamond ace; West follows with the three. I play a second heart. Seven--jack--six--three. West continues with the diamond deuce. East follows with the four. I win and cash the ace and king of spades.

East pitches the diamond eight on the second spade. I ruff a heart, pitch my last heart on the club ace, and concede a trump. Making four.

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

Plus 620 is worth 86%. Lots of declarers cashed the ace and king of spades before attacking hearts. Drawing trump prematurely is a common mistake in these daylong tournaments. The declarers draw trump first, then look around for what to do next. They seem to be the victims of indoctrination.

I see I was wrong about the heart ace. Oh, well. It was only a inference, not a sure thing. But it's just as well it didn't matter. If I had needed to place the heart ace, I would have gotten it wrong.

Incidentally, look at that opening lead! With two unbid suits, West chose to lead from Q107 rather than from J1032. This is why I'm hesitant to draw inferences from the robots' opening leads. That choice makes no sense to me.