Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 10 - Board 5

Board 5
Our side vulnerable

♠ K Q J 9  ♥ 9 7 6 3  ♦ A K J 5  ♣ A

Two passes to me. I open with one diamond. Partner bids one spade, and RHO bids one notrump, showing at least five-five in the unbid suits.

With five losers, I have enough to drive to game. Some avoid splintering with a singleton ace, but that's less important when the splinter is in an opponent's suit. In that case, the ace is less likely to be useful to partner, and your shortness may be the key to getting to slam. So I bid four clubs.

LHO doubles, and partner bids four spades. I have nothing more to say. Everyone passes, and West leads the king of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
			Pass
Pass	1 ♦	Pass	1 ♠
1 NT	4 ♣	Double	4 ♠
(All pass)

If you didn't play in this tournament, stop now and plan the play. See if you can do better than nine of the other twelve declarers.

Partner has more club wastage than I expected, given the double of four clubs. Even so my only certain loser is the spade ace. I could make six if trumps split. But, since West should have a singleton in one pointed suit or the other, it's quite possible they won't.

Let's assume for the moment that East has ace-ten fourth of spades. Can I hold him to his two trump tricks and make five? Say I ruff the opening lead, lead a club to the ace, ruff another heart, then cash the king and queen of clubs, disposing of dummy's hearts. When I lead a trump to the king, East will duck, and I'll find myself in this position:

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

Now I'm in trouble. East will win the next trump and tap dummy with a heart, and I've lost control. I'll score dummy's trump and, assuming diamonds are two-two, two diamond tricks. But East will ruff the third diamond and cash a heart, holding me to four.

To maintain control, I must have a trump left in my hand when East takes his spade ace. So ruffing the second heart is a mistake. Let's try at a different line. 

Suppose I ruff the opening lead and lead a spade to the king. East ducks. Now I unblock the club ace. We've reached this position:

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

If I lead a second spade, what can East do? If he wins and leads a third trump to stop the ruff, I take the rest. I don't actually need the second ruff. I have enough pitches to take care of dummy's three hearts.

If East wins and leads, say a diamond, I win in dummy, ruff a heart, and pitch dummy's remaining hearts on the king and queen of clubs. Now I can just lead diamonds until East ruffs in with his natural trump trick. Making five.

What if East ducks the second round of spades? Now I can abandon trumps. I ruff a heart and cash winners. East can score his two trump tricks whenever he wants, but that's all he gets. Again, making five.

And what if trumps were three-two all along? If the defense wins the second spade, I have the rest whatever they return. And if they duck, I can run winners until they ruff in with the spade ace. Either way, I make six.

So, while ruffing a second heart may feel natural, it's a mistake. It gains nothing if trumps break and loses a trick if they don't break.

I ruff the opening lead in my hand and lead a spade--six--king--eight. Now the club ace--three--deuce--four. We've reached the position above. I lead the spade queen. East takes the ace, and West discards the five of hearts. East chooses to exit with the queen of hearts. I ruff in my hand, cash two clubs, and claim eleven tricks.

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

I like this deal because it involves no esoteric technique. There are no squeezes or throw-ins. All you have to do is think ahead a little bit and consider what might happen if you take your tricks in the wrong order. Still, that's apparently harder than it looks. Quite a few ruffed a second heart too early and held themselves to four. So plus 650 is worth 89%.