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Hand played on |
20th September 2007 |
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Board number 13 |
Red Section |
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Dealer |
North |
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Vulnerability |
Both |
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Submitted by |
Alaric Cundy |
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North ♠ K63 ♥ KT9542 ♦ QJ8 ♣ A |
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West ♠ A42 ♥ A3 ♦ K73 ♣KQT96 |
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East ♠ 985 ♥ 8 ♦ AT942 ♣ 8742 |
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North |
Bidding:
East |
South |
West |
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South ♠ QJT7 ♥ QJ76 ♦ 65 ♣J53 |
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1♥ 3♥
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No End |
2♥
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3♣
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We played this board as the first of the night, and at a quick glance, this hand looks rather mundane and uninteresting, but there is more to it than meets the eye!
North's opening and South's response are likely to have been repeated at every table, but West faces choices. Many players would have chosen a take-out double, but as it happens the introduction of the club suit potentially helped East / West. In the modern style, North would have doubled the 3♣ bid had he had 'extra values', so the 3♥ bid was simply 'competitive' and it was easy for South to judge that a pass was appropriate.
East chose to lead a spade rather than partner's suit, and West switched to the King of clubs at trick 2. From thereon the play almost took care of itself, with Declarer conceding one spade, one trump, and two diamonds, for a score of +140. Only if West makes the mistake of trying to cash the queen of clubs after gaining the lead with the Ace of trumps would the result be different - now Declarer can discard one diamond on the jack of clubs and one on the long spade to keep the losers in diamonds to just one trick.
As the board left us it looked likely that it would be played in 3♥ or 4♥ throughout the room, usually making nine tricks, but with the odd ten amongst them, so our 3♥ 'on the nail' had an air of 'about average' about it. At the end of the evening, it WAS 'about average' - but you never know what happens elsewhere, and the route to 'about average' was strewn with interest!
Though +140 to North / South was a common result, at several tables, East / West added interest to this board by competing in clubs. If 4♣ is bid over 3♥ then the pressure falls onto North / South. At one table North / South finished in a fated 4♥ contract - giving East / West +100 and maximum match points. East / West can make 9 tricks in clubs if they guess the trump suit well, and a score of -100 would be excellent, but the thing they need to do is to avoid the 'dreaded -200', which they will concede if either they lose a second trump, or if they get doubled. It would take a courageous North to find a double of 4♣, even at match-pointed pairs. Ironically, if North does find a 'pairs' double' of 4♣, then it could pay off handsomely, as Declarer is less likely to get the trumps right, and now North / South could collect +500 on this part-score board.
You never know what will happen at tables after yours...