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Hand played on |
27th 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 ♠ T8763 ♥ A ♦ 8653 ♣ J76 |
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West ♠ J542 ♥ 9765 ♦ Q2 ♣ 953 |
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East ♠ A ♥ KJ83 ♦ KJT9 ♣ T842 |
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North |
Bidding:
East |
South |
West |
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South ♠ KQ9 ♥ QT42 ♦ A74 ♣ AKQ |
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No 1♠ 3♣ |
1♦ No No |
x 2NT 4♠ |
No No End |
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I held the South hand here, and I'm not very proud of my own bidding. Our style is to play that a direct overcall of 1NT shows 15-18 HCPs, so 1NT after an initial double would show 19-20, and 2NT after an initial double should show 21-22. I liked the look of my spade support and decided to 'add one for the road', describing this 20-HCP point hand as a 21-point affair. Partner's 3♣ bid asked about the length of my spades, and having already added one for luck I should have just bid 3♠. However, we are likely to have subsided in 4♠ anyway even if my bidding had been more accurate.
Our prospects in 4♠ were not good, and they deteriorated further when East found the excellent opening lead of the Jack of diamonds. On the bidding, it is very likely that Dummy will hold the Ace and queen of diamonds, and this lead would create pressure on Declarer at trick one. As a bonus, partner turned up with the queen...
The opening lead was taken in Dummy, and a heart was played to the Ace and then a trump towards Dummy. Now East can cash two top diamonds, crashing partner's queen, but allowing West to discard a club. East then led a fourth diamond, which was ruffed in Dummy, and on which West threw another club. Now there is no way that Declarer can avoid two more trump losers. In practice Declarer cashed the remaining top trump and played the top clubs. West ruffed in cheaply and also made the Jack of spades, for a shared top score of +200 for East / West. It matters not at this stage if Declarer attempts to draw trumps instead: after cashing Dummy's second top trump, Declarer could cross to hand courtesy of a heart ruff and then play a third trump. This trick will be won by West, who exits with a heart. If Declarer discards a club East will win with the King, and if Declarer ruffs that would be with his last trump, and the outcome would be even worse.
So how could things be different? Well, obviously, North / South might have kept out of 4♠, as some pairs did. As the cards lie, in 4♠ Declarer does best to cash the three top clubs at tricks 2 to 4 - though obviously that comment is easier to make having seen all four hands! Then he would escape for a slightly less bad result of one off. And if the defence is not sharp, Declarer can be presented with chances in 4♠. Say that East starts with a small club, and Declarer cashes the three top clubs before crossing to hand with the heart to play a spade to table. East wins and faces a bit of a problem, and if he selects the King of hearts, Declarer will feel a bit more optimistic. He ruffs in hand, cashes two top trumps, on which East must discard a club and a diamond. Declarer then cashes the Ace of diamonds, and bravely exits Dummy a small diamond. At this point, if either West is allowed to win the trick, or if East had been careless with the discards on the two spades, Dummy will win both the queen and ten of hearts, to wrap up ten winners in total... Two Declarers experienced such joy...