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Hand played on |
October 26th 2008 [Fletcher Trophy] |
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Board number |
Board 43 |
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Dealer |
South |
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Vulnerability |
Love all |
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Submitted by |
Alaric Cundy |
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North ♠5432 ♥83 ♦KJ7 ♣KQ83 |
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West ♠AKQ8 ♥AKT965 ♦6 ♣95 |
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East ♠7 ♥QJ4 ♦AQT985 ♣A76 |
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North |
Bidding:
East |
South |
West |
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♠JT96 ♥72 ♦432 ♣JT42 |
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No No No No End |
2♦ 3♦ 4♣ 5♠
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No No No No No |
1♥ 2NT 3♥ 4NT 6♥ |
This board proved to be the worst one of the competition for the Mountnessing team. At the time we shook our heads, cursing our rotten luck.
Firstly, a look at our bidding. On our style, the 2♦ response promises at least five cards in the suit, and the 2NT rebid after a '2 over 1' change of suit is Game Forcing, and not necessarily balanced. The 3♦ bid is still forcing, and shows a sixth diamond, and 3♥ promises a fifth heart. 4♣ agreed hearts and showed first round control in clubs; 4NT was Roman Key Card Blackwood, and 5♠ promised 2 of the 5 'Aces' [The King of hearts counting as an 'Ace'] plus the queen of hearts.
The play for twelve tricks here is trivial: there are six top hearts, three top spades, and with two minor suit Aces that makes 11. All Declarer needs to do is to trump a spade in Dummy for the twelfth trick.
The other Mountnessing East / West pair reached the same contract, but both the opposing pairs bid on to the grand slam.
At the other three tables the play of the hand followed a different route. The King of Clubs lead was won in Dummy, and then Declarer relied on ruffing out the Diamond suit. Given the 3-3 break in diamonds and the 2-2 break in trumps, there are just enough entries to the Dummy to set up and then enjoy the long diamonds, so 13 tricks roll in.
In the inquest we were questioning whether the grand slam should have been bid, but also we were cursing our bad luck that such a 'fluky' contract had made against us - twice for good measure!
So the first question is whether the grand slam should be bid. From the East perspective, it looks very likely that the grand slam depends on whether or not partner has the King of diamonds; from the West perspective, the knowledge of the six-card diamond suit opposite does not look like an asset opposite the singleton. East would have bid 3♦ rather than 2♦ first time round with extra values, if the suit had been 'solid'. I'm still not convinced that bidding the grand slam is anything more than a 'punt' - but I suppose that you cannot argue with results!
However, given that the grand slam had been reached, it is not such a fluky contract as it seems at first sight, as there is an alternative, superior, line of play. Win the club lead, and then play three round of spades, discarding Dummy's small clubs. Ruff the residual club high in Dummy, cross to hand with a trump, then ruff the residual spade high in Dummy. Play Ace of diamonds, then ruff a diamond, and Declarer's hand by now contains only top trumps. This play makes on any 5-3 or 4-4 spade break, though four trumps in the North hand coupled with a long diamond suit in the South hand might also doom the contract. That still adds up to a high chance of success, so maybe the grand slam is not so 'fluky' after all? Nevertheless, 14 imps out on a single board is hard to take!
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