Jeff Lehman

Even the good decisions went bad …

I thought I did well on this hand … until I saw the matchpoints.

West

A3

T2

J742

Q9532

East

K76

AKJ3

A98

T86

My 15-17 1NT opening as East concluded the bidding.

South led the 4 to North’s Q.  With the spades being attacked, I conceded the club suit as DOA and ducked the first trick.  The 9 was continued by North (a recent winner of a NABC+ event) and I won perforce in dummy, as South followed suit with the 2.  I played a diamond to my nine, hoping to force a quack and establish an extra diamond trick.  The T won this trick and spades were continued, North following with the 8.  I led a diamond to my ace, seeing the Q from North.  Next I cashed the A and led a small heart to the T in dummy, losing to North’s Q.  North exited with a heart.  When I cashed my third round heart winner, South showed out.  I hooked the 9, losing to North’s king.  North cashed a long heart and another club but then had to lead a club to dummy’s queen at Trick 13.  I had won one club, two spades, three hearts, and one diamond for +90.  This result seemed pretty good to me, but scored only 2.5 out of 16 mps.  My best guess was that too many defenders failed to hold off on a first, early round of clubs and declarer was able to set up clubs?  Or maybe the T led from dummy was not covered?  Not sure, as whole hand was this:

Dealer: N

Vul: NS

North

Q98

Q8765

Q3

AK7

West

A3

T2

J742

Q9532

East

K76

AKJ3

A98

T86

South

JT542

94

KT65

J4

You hold JT65 J64 A43 AQ9 and open 1 in first chair.  LHO overcalls 1 and partner makes a negative double.  When RHO chooses to advance 1, what call do you make?  Is 1 automatic?
The 1 advance portended a hand that was not fitting well — the opponents are currently in a six card fit, and, in spite of our known 4-4 spade fit, partner is likely to have compromised heart cards, sitting under the length and strength of the opponents.  I chose to pass over 1.  Alas, the auction continued:
West North East South
1 1
Dbl 1 P 2
3 P 3 P
4 Dbl All pass
I was right to guess that the hand did not lie well for our side.  But my auction choice of not bidding 1 but then later preferencing to 3 confused partner (should it have?) and he chose to raise to 4 on K932 QT83 KJT5.  North’s “offside” double was well-considered on a hand of 1=5=3=4 distribution as he diagnosed the four card spade holding in his partner’s hand.  I think I misplayed the hand by a trick, but even down only two doubled tricks (-300 instead of the actual -500) would likely not have produced many mps as opponents are limited to just nine tricks in their 6-3 diamond fit.

2 Comments

Ted BartunekJuly 1st, 2011 at 7:25 pm

What happens if you don’t cash the H A before leading to the C 9? Won’t North at some point have to lead into the H 10, or put you on the board with an established club suit? (I’m just starting to get the rust off my game, so I may well be missing something.)

Jeff LehmanJuly 1st, 2011 at 10:09 pm

That’s some rust, Ted! As far as I can tell your analysis is correct; if I do not cash the HA prematurely, I will gain at least one more heart trick, scoring up an overtrick.

Thanks for the comment. Keep ’em coming.

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