Event 3 - Match 9 - Board 1

Board 1
Neither vulnerable

♠ 9 ♥ A 10 9 7 ♦ J 9 5 4 3 ♣ A 6 4

Our opponents for the final match are playing Bridge World Standard.

Two passes to me. I pass, and LHO opens one notrump (15-17). RHO bids Stayman, LHO bids two spades, RHO raises to three, and LHO goes on to game--pass--pass to me.

When the opponents reach game after a limit bid and an invitation, you should consider doubling if it appears they are going to run into any bad luck. The game will usually be marginal, and a little bad luck will probably defeat it. If you're lucky, you may beat it two, which is where the vig in doubling comes from. If your upside were a mere two imps, it would not be worth the risk.

On this deal, I know spades are breaking almost as badly as they can, and whatever spade honors we have are behind the stronger hand. Another plus for our side is that partner has roughly as many high cards as I do. When the high cards are evenly split, the defense has maximum flexibility. They have the communications to establish their winners and cash them. And they are less apt to be subjected to squeezes or endplays. Add the diamond king to this hand, and it would be a less attractive double.

The biggest danger in doubling is that someone will show up with a fifth spade. Then the bad spade split isn't so bad. In fact, my hand may well be good news for declarer. Our aces are in front of the notrump bidder instead of behind him where they belong. I'd be happier doubling if one of my aces were a queen-jack.

Nonetheless, I'm doubling. What sways me is I don't think Jack will expect me to hold a hand like this. If he thinks I have a spade stack, he may adopt a creative line of play and go down in a cold contract. If double causes him to go down, it is a big winner.

Of course, I would not consider doubling if RHO had raised to four spades instead of to three. You can afford doubles like this only when you know the opponents can't have extras. Otherwise, bad luck may simply mean they make fewer overtricks than one would normally expect

I double, everyone passes, and partner leads the queen of clubs.

	NORTH Marcin ♠ Q J 10 7 ♥ 5 4 ♦ K Q 7 6 ♣ 10 8 5
		EAST Phillip ♠ 9 ♥ A 10 9 7 ♦ J 9 5 4 3 ♣ A 6 4

West	North	East	South
Jack	Marcin	Phillip	Daniel
Pass	Pass	Pass	1 NT
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	2 ♠
Pass	3 ♠	Pass	4 ♠
Pass	Pass	Double	(All pass)

Partner might have led a singleton diamond, so probably both he and declarer have doubletons. Declarer can't have four hearts, so he is either 4-3-2-4 or 5-3-2-3. Partner is unlikely to have led a club from queen-jack third. So my guess is declarer is 5-3-2-3. So much for the bad trump break. The good news is that, with five spades, declarer would have accepted even with a minimum in high cards, so partner could have up to five high-card points in addition to his queen-jack of clubs.

We have two aces and a club trick, so we need only one more trick. A spade honor or the diamond ace in partner's hand will do nicely. The heart king will not do, since declarer can draw trumps and pitch a club away, holding us to one club and two heart tricks.

I don't see any gain in taking the club ace. If I duck, declarer will play three rounds of diamonds, pitching a club. Partner can ruff and play a club to my ace for another diamond play. If I win the ace and return a club, partner would have to play a heart to my ace after ruffing. Why expend two entries for a task when one entry will do? I encourage with the club six.

Declarer wins with the king and cashes the diamond ace. Good. He would be drawing trumps if he had the ace and king of spades. So partner must have one of those cards, which means we're beating this at least one. Partner plays the deuce; I play the three. Declarer plays a diamond to the king and cashes the queen of diamonds, pitching the club deuce as partner ruffs with the deuce of spades. I follow up the line in diamonds, confirming my club ace, as if partner couldn't work that out himself.

Partner plays the seven of clubs to my ace. Declarer follows with the three. Can playing a diamond accomplish anything? What if partner has king-eight of spades left? If declarer ruffs low, partner overruffs with the eight, plays a heart to my ace, and gets a trump promotion for down two. So ducking the club ace paid off. We couldn't do this if I had wasted my club entry.

Declarer can prevent the second undertrick by ruffing with the ace. But it doesn't hurt to put him to the test. I lead the jack of diamonds. Declarer ruffs with the spade five. Partner, unfortunately, pitches the club nine. Declarer cashes the spade ace; partner follows with the four. Declarer made no attempt to get to dummy for a spade finesse, so he probably can't. With king-queen of hearts, he could have driven the heart ace and ruffed a heart to dummy, so he must have king-jack of hearts, which gives him 15 high-card points.

Declarer exits with a spade to partner's king. We may still beat this two if declarer misguesses hearts. But I need to make sure partner plays a club. Jack doesn't understand the concept of putting declarer to a guess, so he might see no reason not to lead a heart. To ensure he doesn't do that, I need to trick partner into trying to cash his jack of clubs. I need to hold onto my club, leaving open the possibility that declarer has it. Accordingly, I pitch the nine of diamonds. Partner plays the jack of clubs, and declarer ruffs.

Declarer plays a spade to dummy and plays a heart. I play low, and declarer goes up with the king. Down one.

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

We were pretty close to collecting 300 on this deal, so it was right to double. Declarer probably guessed right in hearts because he thought I wouldn't have doubled without the heart ace. Little does he know.

As declarer played, we would have collected 300 if partner had held my nine of spades. Why did declarer ruff low? I can think of two layouts where ruffing low saves a trick: (1) I have king-nine-four of spades and a small doubleton heart. If declarer ruffs with the ace, I score my spade king, two hearts, and the spade nine on a trump promotion. (2) I have nine-four of spades and a doubleton club. If declarer ruffs with the ace, I score a club ruff with the spade nine when partner gets in with the spade king. But neither of these layouts is plausible for a variety of reasons. If the bridge gods had any sense of justice, they would have given partner my spade nine to punish declarer for this play.

Then again, maybe I shouldn't argue with the bridge gods. As Edgar once said to me, "Actually, it's fortunate we aren't punished for all our mistakes. If we were--well, I won't presume to speak for you, but I would have given up the game long ago."

Our teammates went down one undoubled in the same contract, so we pick up two imps.

Table 1: +100
Table 2: -50

Result on Board 1: +2 imps
Total: +2 imps

Event 3 - Match 8 - Board 8

Board 8
Neither vulnerable

♠ A 8 2 ♥ K Q 8 4 ♦ Q 9 7 3 ♣ A 5

LHO opens one diamond, partner passes, and RHO bids one spade. I do play one notrump in sandwich position as natural, but I bid it only with a source of tricks, not with a flat hand. I pass, LHO bids one notrump, and there are two passes to me. This looks like a good spot. Rather than contract for seven tricks in notrump on offense, I'll contract for the same number on defense.

I pass, and partner leads the ten of clubs, showing zero or two higher honors.

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

West	North	East	South
Jack	Christian	Phillip	Floyd
			1 ♦
Pass	1 ♠	Pass	1 NT
(All pass)

Partner has the king and jack of clubs, leaving him with at most a queen or two jacks in addition. South covers the club ten with the queen, I take the ace, and declarer follows with the seven.

With three small clubs, declarer would duck to block the suit. So declarer must be 2-3-4-4 or 3-2-4-4 with seven-six fourth of clubs. We have three club tricks, one spade, and two hearts (if we can manage them). We need one more trick somewhere.

I'm pretty sure the best defense is for me to lead a club to partner and get a heart shift. But how will partner know to do that? He should be able to draw the same inference I did that declarer has four clubs. But how does he know a heart shift won't just pickle my queen? Maybe it will help if I return a diamond--a high one to suggest I want a shift. Then, when declarer plays clubs himself, perhaps partner will work out to play a heart.

It might cost to break diamonds. Declarer might, for example, have ace-king-jack-ten and be unable to take two finesses unless I lead the suit for him. But I'm probably going to have to lead diamonds sooner or later anyway. So why not now?

I switch to the seven of diamonds. Declarer takes the ace; partner plays the four. Declarer has marked himself with the ace and king (winning with the king would have been a better idea), thereby increasing the chance from partner's point of view that I have both heart honors. Maybe partner will get this right.

Declarer leads the three of clubs to partner's jack. If it wasn't clear to partner at trick one that declarer had four clubs, declarer's attacking the suit himself should certainly make it clear now. Come on, partner. Heart shift! No such luck. Partner cashes the club king. As a general rule, I should pitch the major I don't want led in this position. But I'm not sure I can afford a spade. I don't want declarer to be able to lead a spade toward his hand once, then duck out my ace. So I pitch the eight of hearts. That can hardly be my lowest heart, so perhaps partner will appreciate my problem.

Partner is having a hard time getting the message to play hearts. He shifts to the seven of spades. Declarer plays the ten from dummy. I play the ace, and declarer plays the three. Partner's seven was the lowest outstanding spot, so he must have queen-nine-seven or jack-nine-seven, giving declarer a 3-2-4-4 pattern with king-queen-three or king-jack-three of spades. Playing the ten from dummy doesn't make a lot of sense with the latter holding, so I'm betting on king-queen-three.

If declarer takes three spade tricks, he'll make this: three spades, one heart, two diamonds, and one club. So I must get the ace of hearts off the table while the spade are blocked. Of course, if I lead the heart king, declarer can just duck it. But he doesn't know spades are three-three, so he might find something else to play for. And there is nothing to lose by trying. If declarer does duck, at least I have one heart trick in the bag.

I lead the king of hearts--six--deuce--ace. Well, that's some progress. Dummy is now dead.

Declarer plays the four of spades to his queen. I play the deuce; partner plays the nine. Declarer would probably have taken the diamond finesse if he had the jack, so we must be down to this position:

	NORTH Christian ♠ 6 5 ♥ J 10 ♦ 6 5 ♣ --
WEST Jack ♠ J ♥ x x x ♦ J ♣ 2		EAST Phillip ♠ 8 ♥ Q 4 ♦ Q 9 3 ♣
	SOUTH Floyd ♠ K ♥ x ♦ K 10 8 ♣ 6

Declarer has taken three tricks so far. He can cash three more and play a heart to the jack. I will have to give him one red-suit ten or the other for his seventh trick.

Declarer cashes the club six, pitching a diamond from dummy. I pitch a heart. Declarer then cashes the diamond king. Partner follows with the ten rather than the jack as I expected. Yes, of course. That was foolish of me. I should have realized declarer has no reason to take the diamond finesse. If I have the queen, I'm endplayed anyway, so he might as well try to drop the queen in partner's hand. Nice play, Floyd.

I expect declarer to cash the spade king and play a heart to endplay me. But he leads a low diamond out of his hand instead. I cash my three red-suit winners and declarer takes the spade king at the end. Down one.

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

Declarer misread the ending. He thought I had four spades and three diamonds. Perhaps my seven of diamonds confused him. That's serendipitous, since I didn't mean it as a falsecard. It was an honest attitude card, intended to suggest a heart shift. Of course, Jack doesn't signal that way. His attitude cards pertain to the suit led, not to the hand as a whole. So he would never lead high himself when holding the diamond queen. Declarer might also have been misled by my pass over one spade. In the post mortem, Jack expressed the opinion that I should have bid one notrump. I'm a big believer in playing one notrump in the sandwich position as natural. But if partner started bidding it on hands like this, I would change my mind.

Could we beat this legitimately if partner shifts to a heart after cashing his club king? Declarer would duck, and I would win with the king. (No need to win with the queen, since partner is now out of the picture.) I would play another diamond. Declarer would finesse the jack, reaching this position:

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

When declarer cashes his long club, I'm squeezed. If I pitch a spade, he plays king and a diamond. I would now either have to cash the spade ace, giving declarer two spade tricks, or lead a low spade, setting myself up to be endplayed. To have any chance to beat it, I must hold all my spades and stiff the heart queen, hoping declarer doesn't read the position.

To beat this by force, partner must play a heart before cashing the club king. Declarer can't come to seven tricks without setting up his long club, so partner will eventually gain the lead to play a second heart. This would be difficult even for an expert partner. It is well beyond Jack's ability, since he seems unable to draw the inference that his clubs aren't running.

The board is a push, although we deserve some extra credit, because our opponents at the other table beat two notrump a trick. We win the match by 18 imps and collect 21 out of 30 victory points. We retain our lead, but we are only ten points ahead of second place with one match to go.

Table 1: +50
Table 2: -50

Score on Board 8: 0 imps
Result on Match 8: +19 imps (21 VP)

Current Total: 146 VP (out of 240)

Event 3 - Match 8 - Board 7

Board 7
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A Q 10 ♥ A 9 ♦ Q 9 8 4 ♣ K 10 6 4

I open one diamond in first seat. Partner responds one heart, and I bid one notrump (15-17). Partner bids two clubs (checkback Stayman), and RHO doubles. I redouble. Jack and I haven't discussed this redouble. But I think king-ten fourth is the worst holding I could have. I need the ace or king, so the defense can't play three rounds of trumps, and I need a second trump trick.

Partner bids three clubs. RHO passes, and I bid three notrump. LHO dutifully leads the seven of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
Floyd	Jack	Christian	Phillip
			1 ♦
Pass	1 ♥	Pass	1 NT
Pass	2 ♣1	Double	Redouble
Pass	3 ♣	Pass	3 NT
(All pass)
1Checkback Stayman

I might have taken a shot at two clubs redoubled with partner's hand. If I didn't know Jack better, I would think he was playing it safe because we just bid and made a slam off two cashing tricks. That's not a strategy I approve of, by the way. If you think it's wrong to pass the redouble, that's one thing. But if you think it's right, I believe you should do it regardless of the state of the match. I've never understood why being up in a match tempts people to take actions they believe are anti-percentage.

I have eight easy tricks: two spades, a heart, three diamonds, and two clubs. And I have lots of possibilities for a ninth. I play low from dummy, and East plays the jack. I see no reason to win this trick, so I encourage with the six. East cashes the club ace. I play the four, and West plays the spade deuce. Perhaps this means the spade king is onside.

No, it's not. East shifts to the eight of spades. He doesn't know I have the ten, so he would not lead away from the king in this position, especially after his partner's deuce. I might as well retain some flexibility by playing the queen. West can't possibly duck this trick. I could be 2-2-5-4 for all he knows.

West takes the king and continues with the four of spades. East plays the five. Where's the three? It's possible East is playing low (present count) from three and West's four is high from four-three doubleton:

(A)  ♠ K 4 3 2

♠ 8 7 6 5

It's also possible East is playing high from a doubleton and West is leading low from three:

(B)  ♠ K 7 6 4 2

♠ 8 5 3

I have to keep both possibilities in mind.

If diamonds are three-three, I've made this. So I might as well assume they aren't. In that case, West is probably the one with four diamonds. If West has four spades, then he is 4-4-4-1, and I'm cold. I can win this trick in dummy, take a club finesse, then play a low heart to dummy's queen. If it loses to the king, West is caught in a red suit squeeze. If West has five spades, then he is 5-3-4-1. In that case, I will need some luck in the heart suit. I need to find West with the heart king (so I can score the queen) or with jack-ten-third (so he will be squeezed).

I win in dummy with the spade jack, then lead a club to my ten. West pitches the three of hearts. He is surely 5-3-4-1 now. He would not pitch from four hearts, allowing me to establish the suit.

I play then nine of hearts; West plays the four. I play the queen. East wins with the king and plays the seven of spades to my ace. West follows with the three, and I pitch the heart deuce from dummy. I am down to this position:

	NORTH Jack ♠ -- ♥ 8 7 6 ♦ A K 6 ♣ --
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ -- ♥ A ♦ Q 9 8 4 ♣ K

Once I deduced spades were five-three, I expected East to show up with the spade three. But West had it, suggesting layout (A) above. Is that possible? Could West be 4-4-4-1?

No. There is no chance that West, with a perfectly safe spade pitch available, would have pitched a heart from jack fourth or ten fourth, allowing me to run the suit if I guessed to duck out his partner's king. The spade suit must lie as follows:

(C) ♠ K 6 4 3 2

♠ 8 7 5

That means West made a strange lead of the four of spades from six-four-three at trick three. But it is more likely that West carded strangely than that he risked handing me the contract for no reason. West must be 5-3-4-1.

There is no squeeze, so I need to take four diamond tricks. If I had worked out West's shape earlier, I could have played for this lie of the diamond suit.

	NORTH Jack ♦ A K 6
WEST Floyd ♦ J 10 x x		EAST Christian ♦ 7 x
	SOUTH Phillip ♦ Q 9 8 4

I lead the eight. If West covers, I win in dummy, return to my hand, and lead the nine, pinning East's seven and establishing dummy's six. Unfortunately, I don't have the communication to do that any more. My only chance at four diamond tricks is to find East with jack-ten doubleton.

It costs nothing to lead the eight of diamonds anyway. If West plays low, I may decide to play him to have made a mistake and to let it ride. It's unlikely I would do that against a computer, but I might do it in a real game if I sensed a sufficient degree of anxiety on my right once West's low diamond hit the table.

On the eight of diamonds, West plays the seven. I can't believe he would fail to cover with jack-ten-seven fourth, so any notion I had of letting this ride has vanished. I go up with the ace; East plays the deuce. I return to my hand with the heart ace and cash the club queen. knowing full well there is no squeeze. There isn't. Down one.

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

Was I making two clubs redoubled? That's unclear. Suppose East starts with ace, queen of clubs. I win, play a diamond to my king and float the jack of spades. West wins and plays another diamond. I win with the ace and cash two spades, pitching a diamond from my hand, to reach this position:

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

Counting the heart ace and club ten, I have seven tricks. I need one more. In this layout, I can ruff dummy's nine of diamonds in my hand. East must overruff (else that's my eighth trick). If he leads a heart, I score the heart queen. If he exits in trumps, I score the diamond queen. (Note a heart shift by West when he is in with the spade king does not help.)

This line will not work, however, if West has the heart king, since he can gain the lead to give East a second diamond ruff. In that case, in the diagrammed position, I must play ace and a heart. West wins and must play a diamond or a spade. I ruff in my hand, East overruffs, and I pitch the nine of diamonds. Again, East must either give me the heart queen or draw trumps, allowing me to cash the diamond queen.

A different opening lead might give me more problems. But sooner or later, I reach the same position. In all variations, my success comes down to guessing who has the heart king.

Unfortunately, our teammates did not beat three notrump. Should they have? After a strong notrump opening and a Jacoby auction, West will probably lead a spade, which declarer will win in dummy. If declarer allows East to win the first heart trick, a spade continuation will beat it. (The defense establishes spades or shifts to a club depending on which hand has the remaining heart entry.) But if declarer leads a heart to the nine at trick two, there is nothing the defense can do.

This deals illustrates why I think the strategy of "playing it safe" when you are up in the match is wrong. Of course you would like to duplicate the result at the other table if that were possible. But it's not. You don't know what's going on at the other table. So why not just take your percentage action? Presumably, that's how you got in the lead in the first place.

I don't know if I would have made two clubs redoubled or not. But I do 16 imps better if I make it, and I lose only 2 imps more if I go down. I like those odds.


Table 1: -100
Table 2: -600

Result on Board 7: -12 imps
Total: +19 imps

Event 3 - Match 8 - Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

♠ 10 9 2 ♥ Q 5 4 3 ♦ J 7 4 ♣ K 8 2

RHO opens one diamond. I pass, and LHO passes. Partner reopens with a double. I bid one heart, and partner bids one notrump, presumably showing a strong notrump. I pass, and RHO leads the deuce of diamonds (fourth best).

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

West	North	East	South
Christian	Phillip	Floyd	Jack
1 ♦	Pass	Pass	Double
Pass	1 ♥	Pass	1 NT
(All pass)

Since responder won't have much to do on this deal, this would be a good time for West to falsecard on opening lead. So I wouldn't pay too much attention to the deuce against a good defender. However, I am pretty confident that Jack has four diamonds.

I play low from dummy, East plays the eight, and I win with the ten. I can't be sure where the diamond honors are. East might play the eight from queen-eight third to avoid giving me a second diamond trick if I have king-ten instead of ace-ten.

I have two diamonds, three clubs, and one heart. All I need to do is to drive the heart king to come to seven tricks. I lead the jack of hearts. West takes the king, and East follows with the seven.

West leads the king of diamonds, settling the question of where the diamond honors are. (I suppose West might lead the king without the queen in an attempt to drill an entry into his partner's hand. But how would he even know his partner has the queen?) West has shown up with eight high-card points. If West is balanced, as seems likely, he has four to six additional high-card points, leaving East with three to five.

I play low from dummy, and East follows with the five. I see no gain in winning this trick. The opponents can't cash enough tricks in spades to beat me. So I duck.

West shifts to the jack of clubs. If West wanted to defend passively, he could just play another diamond. He must be looking for a source of tricks. He is hoping to find his partner with ace-fifth of clubs and plans to take one heart, one diamond, one spade, and four clubs. There was no point in switching to a club on the previous round, since he needed one diamond to come to seven tricks.

What can I conclude about West's hand? For one thing, he is missing a spade honor. I know that because he thinks I have it. His partner could not have the club ace unless I had at least four high-card points in spades. How many clubs does West have? The shift is more attractive from jack-ten third than from a doubleton. If he has jack doubleton and his partner has ace-ten-nine fifth, I could always go up with dummy's king to block the suit. But maybe my making a mistake is the only chance West sees. So I don't think I can assume he has three clubs.

I unblock dummy's eight (leaving me the option of playing West for jack-ten or jack-nine doubleton), East plays the four, and I win with the queen.

I have seven tricks. Is there any way to take an overtrick other than bringing home the club suit? There is no danger in playing spades. The defense can take at most three spade tricks. So I might as well try it and see what happens. But I need to unblock the heart ace first before they tangle up my entries with another club play. I cash the heart ace--deuce--four--nine. It appears that either East is giving present count with nine-eight-seven or he is following up the line with ten-nine-seven.

I play the three of spades--eight--ten--jack. East returns the six of spades. Why a spade rather than a diamond? I guess he is desperately hoping that I made a weird play with queen third of spades and that the suit is running. In any event, he must have begun with four spades. He would not block the suit by leading low from honor doubleton. I play the four, and West wins with the king. If my assumptions are correct, West is 2-4-4-3 and East is 4-3-3-3.

East plays the eight of hearts. I take dummy's queen, and East follows with the ten. This is the presumed position, with me still to discard on the heart queen.

	NORTH Phillip ♠ 9 ♥ 5 ♦ J ♣ K 2
WEST Christian ♠ -- ♥ 6 ♦ Q x ♣ 10 x		EAST Floyd ♠ A 7 ♥ -- ♦ x ♣ x x
	SOUTH Jack ♠ Q 5 ♥ -- ♦ A ♣ A 7 5

I have two ways to make eight tricks. I can (A) pitch a spade and run clubs, or I can (B) pitch a club and drive the spade ace. If my construction is correct, it doesn't matter what I do. So I must assume my construction is wrong. Specifically, I must assume West has one more diamond or one more spade than I think he does. It doesn't matter which.

That makes West either four-two or three-three in hearts and clubs. In the former case, clubs aren't breaking and I must pitch a club and drive the spade ace. In the latter case, East has the good heart and I must pitch a spade and run clubs. Against these opponents, the choice is clear. There is no chance I am wrong about the heart split. A human opponent might try to mislead me about who has the long heart. But Jack would never play seven-nine-ten of hearts and hold onto the six. West must have the heart six, so I pitch a club and drive the spade ace. Making two.

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

West was four-three in hearts and clubs as expected, so either play would have worked. The result at the other table is identical.

Table 1: + 120
Table 2: -120

Result on Board 6: 0 imps
Total: +31 imps

Event 3 - Match 8 - Board 5

Board 5
Our side vulnerable

♠ A K J 10 2 ♥ 6 4 ♦ Q ♣ A Q J 10 9

Partner opens one diamond, I respond one spade, and partner bids three diamonds.

Since we play Acol two-bids, this can be about half a trick lighter than a standard three diamonds. Still, it's highly unlikely we are off two fast heart tricks. It's probably less than 10%, so I'm not going to worry about it. I'm more worried that we belong in a grand.

My first thought is to bid Blackwood and bid seven notrump if partner shows three key cards. All we need is to run two of our three suits. Diamonds should run if partner has the jack or seven of them and might run even if he doesn't. I would estimate the chance that diamonds run at about 75%. That may seem low. Indeed, partner will try to avoid three diamonds with a textureless suit like ace-king empty sixth. But sometimes he has no choice. The fact the we play weak notrumps helps somewhat. Since our one notrump rebid is strong, partner might bid it with, say, a 1-3-6-3 pattern and a sub-par diamond suit. But if he has a club singleton instead of a spade singleton and too many high cards for a minimum rebid, what else can he do but bid three diamonds?

If diamonds run, then I need partner to have one of the missing black-suit honors. The chance of that happening is pretty good, too. But it's not certain. Partner might have ace-king or ace-queen of hearts and no black honor.

I would be willing to bid a grand opposite three key cards if I needed just for diamonds to come home or just for partner to have a black-suit honor. But I need both of those things. And gambling on a parlay is usually not a good idea. I could bid Blackwood, then, if partner shows three keycards, follow with five notrump to find out if partner has the club king. But Jack doesn't show specific kings over five notrump, so that won't work.

I can't bid a grand with any confidence, so I'll turn my attention to finding the right small slam. It's not hard to envision hands where we belong in six notrump rather than six diamonds. Imagine, for example, we have all the high cards except the heart ace and the diamond king. It's harder to construct hands where six diamonds is better. I don't particularly want to play six notrump from my side, however. If I bid three spades, perhaps partner will bid three notrump. Then I can raise it to six. Unfortunately, this won't work if partner has three spades or queen doubleton. In either case, he will raise spades.

What if I bid three hearts? Partner is even less apt to bid three notrump now, since three hearts suggests club weakness. Over three spades, partner will have no qualms about bidding three notrump without a club stopper, since my failure to bid three hearts suggests I'm not worried about clubs.

I bid three spades, and partner bids four spades. At least I can rule out a grand now. Partner would cue-bid with the spade queen and ace, ace-king in the red suits. So where do I stand? Six diamonds still looks better than six spades. Even if doesn't matter which side we play it from, a heart lead could easily kill the only dummy entry. The clearest way to suggest playing in diamonds is to jump to six diamonds now. Since I bothered to rebid spades, partner will know I have doubts that diamonds is the right strain.

I bid six diamonds, everyone passes, and RHO leads the deuce of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
Christian	Phillip	Floyd	Jack
			1 ♦
Pass	1 ♠	Pass	3 ♦
Pass	3 ♠	Pass	4 ♠
Pass	6 ♦	(All pass)

Making seven. So it was important to play this from the right side, but we couldn't know what the right side was without looking at the opponents' hands.

I sympathize with the opening lead. If West's objective was to establish a trick and hope his partner has a spade or diamond entry with which to cash it, then the club was correct. A second round club trick is more likely to hold up than a second-round heart trick.

Was I wrong in my assessment that partner was 90% to have a heart control? Maybe 90% was high. But I still think the chance of being off two heart tricks was too slim to worry about, especially since I had other problems to solve. Besides, as we see, sometimes you make slam even if you are off two cashing tricks provided you don't pinpoint the lead. In addition, I think partner's three diamond bid was a bit thin. I won't go so far as to say that he overbid, but I don't think I would choose it myself.

A few weeks ago, I posted my hand as a bidding problem, giving the auction up to three diamonds. By far the most popular action over three diamonds was four clubs. I don't see how that bid solves any of the problems this hand presents. The second most popular choice was four diamonds. I"m not sure what that bid accomplishes either. Three hearts, three spades, and four notrump are the only bids that make any sense to me and the only bids I even considered. Yet, combined, they received only 14% of the vote. I think most of the respondents were thinking about the wrong things. They were asking "How can I describe my hand?" rather than "How can I find out what I need to know?" Which question is appropriate depends on the hand. But this hand surely falls into the latter category.

One person suggested an initial response of two clubs rather than one spade. I did briefly consider that. I know there is school of thought that you should respond two clubs with equal length in the black suits when your hand is in the slam range. It's easier to get a force established after a two-over-one, and the auction frequently times out better. I agree with that approach when you are four-four in the black suits, but I'm not so sure about it when you are five-five. In my experience, the auction doesn't always go as planned, and sometimes it becomes awkward to show the fifth spade.

Still, I thought it was worth a try, so I rebid the hand to see what would happen after a two club response. Partner still bids three diamonds. (Now I fully agree with his choice. The king of clubs is a bigger card on this auction.) Already we are better placed. Three diamonds promises better diamonds after a two-over-one than after a one-over-one, since opener doesn't need to jump just to show extra high cards. So my stiff queen should now be adequate to solidify his suit. Over three diamonds, I bid three spades, and partner bids four spades. Partner wouldn't suggest a four-three spade fit unless he didn't have a heart stopper, so I can practically call his hand. I bid five spades, just in case partner has a singleton heart. Partner passes, and we are plus 650. How about that? Here I was worried about losing the fifth spade. Ironically, concealing the fifth spade and discovering that partner was willing to play a four-three spade fit was the key to the auction.

Our opponents also reached six diamonds, but they were down one. Whether they had a more descriptive auction or whether my teammate guessed better on opening lead I can't say.

Table 1: + 1390
Table 2: +100

Result on Board 5: +16 imps
Total: +31 imps

Event 3 - Match 8 - Board 4

Board 4
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 8 ♥ Q J ♦ Q J 6 ♣ Q 10 9 7 6 5 4

One heart by partner; double on my right. I bid two clubs, which Jack plays as non-forcing.

Partner bids three diamonds, natural and game-forcing. I have a huge hand on this auction: four honors in partner's suits and a singleton in the unbid suit. I could show slam interest by bidding four hearts. Even if you play fast arrival after a fit has been found, fast arrival makes no sense in auctions like this. A preference to three hearts can't promise slam interest, because you need it as a neutral move, giving partner a chance to rebid diamonds, to support clubs, or to bid three notrump. So, if four hearts is weak, you have no way to show slam interest in hearts below game.

Does a jump preference do this hand justice? If not, I can make a more aggressive slam try by bidding three hearts, then bidding on if partner signs off. Given the opponents' strange silence, the singleton spade is going to be hard for partner to envision. So perhaps I should bid three hearts and follow with four spades over partner's next bid.

The problem is, I'm not used to non-forcing two-over-ones. So I'm not sure what partner needs to bid three diamonds. Does it show the same hand as a jump shift after a one-level response? If so, I'm certainly worth a bid past game. I might even be worth a slam drive. I can make six diamonds opposite as little as

♠ x x ♥ A K 10 x x x ♦ A K 10 x x ♣ --,

which doesn't even qualify as a jump shift. On the other hand, perhaps three diamonds simply shows enough to force to game opposite a light two-over-one. In that case, as the limited hand, I'm not even allowed to bid past game on my own initiative. That would be a violation of captaincy. The answer depends on whether two diamonds by opener would be forcing or not. I think it should be, which would make three diamonds a slam try. But who knows what partner thinks?

I settle for four hearts, although I'm a little nervous about it. Everyone passes, and RHO leads the ace of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
Christian	Phillip	Floyd	Jack
		Pass	1 ♥
Double	2 ♣1	Pass	3 ♦
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)
1Non-forcing

This doesn't look like a jump shift to me. So I gather partner thought two diamonds would not be forcing. Even so, two diamonds looks like enough. How unhappy would partner be if I passed it? If I had four diamonds, I would raise. If I didn't, I would show a preference to hearts with a doubleton. The only time I would pass two diamonds would be with a singleton heart, three diamonds, and a hand where neither two notrump nor three clubs appealed. If I have that hand, how high do you want to be?

The fact that partner doesn't even have his bid and we are still in no serious danger at the five level suggests I was too conservative. Three hearts, followed by four spades, was probably the right auction.

RHO plays the spade deuce, and I play the four. West shifts to the seven of diamonds. To eschew the obvious heart shift, West must have the heart king, doubleton or singleton. I play low from dummy, East plays the five, and I win with the king. I lead the seven of spades. West carefully covers with the nine, and I ruff in dummy as East follows with the three. I lead the queen of hearts; East plays the three.

It gains to finesse only if East has a doubleton king of hearts. I doubt that's the case, both from the auction and from West's failure to shift to a heart, so I go up with ace. The king doesn't drop, and no one can ruff a diamond. Making five.

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

Of all the ways to handle the West hand, making a take-out double and never bidding spades would not have occurred to me. I assume he intended to bid spades when he doubled. My partner's jump shift must have frightened him. (I don't blame him. It frightens me as well.)

Our teammates play four spades, down one. So we pick up 11 imps.

Table 1: +650
Table 2: -100

Score on Board 4: 11 imps
Total: +15 imps

Event 3 - Match 8 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ J 9 8 7 2 ♥ K 6 4 2 ♦ A K J ♣ 6

I open one spade, partner bids two notrump, showing a strong spade raise, and I bid three clubs, showing shortness in clubs. Partner bids Blackwood, I show my one keycard, and partner bids six spades.

West leads the club deuce. In theory, this is fourth best. Against human defenders, I wouldn't necessarily expect the deuce to be an honest count card, especially since I'm known to have a singleton. I would, however, expect West to have the king or queen. With neither card, he would presumably lead high to solve a potential trick-one problem for his partner.

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

West	North	East	South
Floyd	Jack	Christian	Phillip
			1 ♠
Pass	2 NT1	Pass	3 ♣2
Pass	4 NT3	Pass	5 ♦4
Pass	6 ♠	(All pass)
1At least fourcard support, gameforcing
2Singleton or void
3Ace asking for spades
41 or 4 aces

That was quite an aggressive Blackwood call. I have a control-rich minimum and slam is still only a little better than a finesse. Take away the diamond jack or change the heart king to the queen, and slam would have almost no play.

I play low from dummy; East takes his ace and returns the club seven. I ruff with the spade nine, and West drops the club nine. It looks as if West has king-jack-nine-deuce and East has returned second highest from ace-ten-seven-five-three.

It is a little strange that East returned a club. A diamond looks more natural, regardless of whether East has the queen or not. Perhaps East simply doesn't trust me not to have psyched my three club bid. I'm flattered. I've seen people psyche splinters. But I don't think I've ever seen anyone psyche a rebid over Jacoby two notrump.

My primary chance to make this is the diamond finesse. I might also find a singleton heart honor somewhere, or queen-jack doubleton of hearts, or a red-suit squeeze. In any event, there is no reason not to start trumps. I lead the seven of spades--three--ace--club three.

The three-zero trump break doesn't present any major problems, but it does reduce some of my flexibility. If I ruff the club queen and draw trumps, for example, I must start hearts by cashing the king first. Otherwise I destroy my squeeze

I play the club queen--five--spade eight--club jack. I haven't seen anything to counter my assumption about the club split. I'm going to assume I'm right and that East started with ace-ten fifth.

I play a spade to dummy; East drops the diamond deuce. He wouldn't pitch a diamond from four, since that would allow me to establish a diamond trick via a ruff if I had ace-king fourth. He probably has three diamonds or five. For the time being, I'll assume he is either 0-5-3-5 or 0-3-5-5. Although I'm not sure why he would pitch anything other than a club from either hand.

On the third spade, East pitches the five of hearts. A heart pitch is dangerous from honor third. For all East knows, I have king fifth. And it is potentially revealing from three small, since I might have a guess for the queen. So it appears East is 0-5-3-5. His reluctance to pitch clubs is still puzzling.

I play a fourth spade. East finally pitches his club ten. I pitch the heart deuce; West, the diamond three. Now West gets into the act clutching his worthless clubs. West would be more hesitant to make a gratuitous diamond pitch from three than from five, so it appears West is 3-1-5-4 and East is 0-5-3-5. If so, this is the position I have reached:

(A)

	NORTH Jack ♠ 4 ♥ A 10 9 ♦ 7 4 ♣ --
WEST Floyd ♠ -- ♥ ? ♦ Q x x x ♣ K		EAST Christian ♠ -- ♥ Q ? x x ♦ x x ♣ --
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ -- ♥ K 6 4 ♦ A K J ♣ --

But wouldn't West have led his singleton heart with that hand? It seems strange that he would pitch a diamond from three. But perhaps he did. If so, then this is the position:

(B)

	NORTH Jack ♠ 4 ♥ A 10 9 ♦ 7 4 ♣ --
WEST Floyd ♠ -- ♥ Q J x ♦ ? x ♣ K		EAST Christian ♠ -- ♥ x x ♦ ? x x x ♣ --
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ -- ♥ K 6 4 ♦ A K J ♣ --

There is no red-suit squeeze in either position, since West, after his diamond pitch, can no longer guard both red suits. So there is no reason to worry about preserving my squeeze entries. I can afford to cash the heart ace first. If West plays an honor, then I can worry about what to do. (West, of course, should play an honor from (B) just to give me an option.)

I might as well cash the diamond ace before tackling hearts to gather more information. I play the four of diamonds--nine--ace--eight. The six and five are still out. Perhaps both defenders gave present count. I play the six of hearts--three--ace--eight. Since West did not play a heart honor, I must hope for (B) and guess the diamond queen. It's possible that West saw the squeeze coming and pitched a diamond early. But that's would require a parlay: He needs both heart honors, he needs the diamond queen (which the odds are 5 to 3 against all by itself), and he needs to have made a thoughtful play. It is surely more likely that East has the diamond queen.

I play a diamond from dummy, East follows with the six. I still haven't seen the five, and I suspect West has it. I play the jack. West follows with the five. Making six.

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

As I said earlier, partner's Blackwood call was too aggressive. For slam to be cold, opener needs four controls plus a queen. Four controls all by itself is better than average for a minimum opening bid. With four controls plus a filler, opener would surely cooperate with a slam try even with bad trumps. So I would bid three hearts over three clubs with responder's hand. With something like

(A)

♠ J x x x x ♥ Q x x ♦ A K J x ♣ x

or

(B)

♠ J x x x x ♥ K x x ♦ A K x x ♣ x

opener will bid three spades, and I will give up. With

(C)

♠ J x x x x ♥ K Q x ♦ A K x x ♣ x

he will cooperate with four diamonds, and I will drive to slam. (I've changed opener's four-card suit to diamonds because that's his likeliest pattern opposite responder's 5-3-2-3. So that's what I would be envisioning as responder.)

What will partner do with the actual hand? Will he bid three spades or four diamonds? The truth is, I don't really care. Your objective in slam bidding is to reach slams that are cold and to avoid slams that are hopeless. If you can come anywhere near accomplishing that goal, then it won't matter much what you do on deals where slam is a near tossup. If you occasionally bid a 45% slam or miss a 55% slam, the effect on your score in the long run is negligible. Since I have a plan to avoid slam opposite (A) and (B) and to reach slam opposite (C), I'm happy. I'll let the chips fall where they may on hands in between those extremes.

Of course, the effect on your score in the short run is another matter. Since slam happens to make, I'm glad we bid it and disappointed to discover that our opponents bid it as well.

Table 1: +980
Table 2: -980

Score on Board 3: 0 imps
Total: +4 imps