Free Weekly Instant Tournament - March 15 - Board 4

Board 4
Opponents vulnerable

♠ K 4  ♥ K Q 8  ♦ K 8 4  ♣ J 9 8 6 3

RHO opens two diamonds, weak, in third seat. I pass, LHO raises to three diamonds. Partner, despite being a passed hand, chimes in with three spades, and RHO passes.

Personally, I would never bid this way. If I had a suit I'm willing to introduce at the three-level, I would do something on the first round of the auction. Obviously partner doesn't agree with this approach. So what does he have? Why is he willing to bid three spades now when he wasn't willing to bid on the first round?

I suspect he has a two-spade opening, or possibly a three spade opening, but was deterred by a four-card heart suit. If so, my hand is golden. I have three cover cards for him. (The king of diamonds is probably opposite his singleton, so I'll ignore that card.) Still, if three cover cards were enough for game, partner would have a six-loser hand. A six-loser hand with ten cards in the majors is an opening bid. Another concern is that his fourth heart may be an unexpected loser, since he won't be able to ruff it in dummy. Despite the fact this is quite a good hand on the auction, it doesn't appear to be enough to raise.

I pass, as does LHO. RHO leads the heart six.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
		Pass	Pass
2 ♦	Pass	3 ♦	3 ♠
(All pass)

I called it! A weak two-spade bid with four hearts and seven losers. So my three cover cards are just enough to make three. Fortunately, partner has the heart jack, so the fourth heart isn't a problem. Although a heart ruff by an opponent might be. This lead looks suspiciously like a singleton. If so, is there anything I can do about it?

I could try winning the heart in dummy and leading a low spade from the table. But what if East hops with the ace, leads another heart, and West follows? Then there was no heart ruff after all. But now spades are blocked. I can't get to my hand to draw the last trump. So if West has it, I've gone down in a cold contract.

In fact, if West has three spades, the ploy can't work anyway. Even if East ducks the spade ace, he can still give his partner a ruff on the next round. So the ploy works only when West is specifically 2-1-6-4 and East choses to duck the spade ace. And I go down in a cold contract whenever West is three-two in the majors and East hops. The swindle is clearly a bad bet.

I win with the heart king; East plays the deuce. I lead the spade king--eight--deuce--ace. Oh. Somehow I didn't think of the pre-empter's holding the spade ace. The swindle is worse than I thought. It works only if West is 2-1-6-4 and East holds the spade ace and chooses to duck it.

West continues with the heart four. I have three unavoidable losers left. Making three.

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

Everyone played three or four spades and almost everyone took nine tricks. Plus 140 was worth 61%.

One declarer tried a ploy I didn't think of. He won the first heart in his hand with the ace and played a spade toward dummy. If East holds five hearts, this leaves open the possibility from his perspective that the opening lead is from jack-nine-six and declarer holds ace doubleton. Unfortunately, declarer's imaginative play was punished. West ducked the first spade, won the second, and played another heart. Declarer had no way to get off dummy to draw the last trump, so he went down one.

This might have worked if East had the spade ace. But even then it seems unlikely. If declarer has ace doubleton of hearts, why wouldn't he cash his hearts and pitch his stiff diamond before driving the spade ace? Still, I like the idea of trying to convince East the lead isn't a singleton.

Perhaps there's a better way to accomplish that: Play the heart king from dummy and overtake with the ace. You can always hook against the ten later, and this sequence might make it appear to East that you have ace-jack third and are retaining an additional hand entry.

Again, it seems unlikely this will work. It's not as if East has anything better to do than to try to give his partner a heart ruff. But it can't hurt to try. Unlike the other two ploys, there is no risk if the six is an honest card. If West unexpectedly has the ten, you will find out in time, since he will play the seven on the second round. So why not? I wish I'd thought of it.