Telling actions

A hand with a telling play and a hand with a telling auction each led to tops at yesterday’s club game.

The first hand featured a couple of unblocking plays.

Dealer: 12-W Vul: NS	North ♠ K ♥ K9874 ♦ AKT963 ♣ T
West ♠ JT97 ♥ A ♦ J75 ♣ 98753		East ♠ AQ62 ♥ QJ652 ♦ — ♣ AQJ2
	South ♠ 8543 ♥ T3 ♦ Q842 ♣ K64

North led the ♦A and I ruffed in dummy.

Further diamond plays could make the hand unwieldy to play and so I decided to work right away on establishing my side suit of clubs.  Not wanting to relinquish my control of the heart suit, I began clubs by playing the ♣A and then the ♣Q.  The good news was that the ♣K was offside; the bad news was that the suit did not split 2-2.

Upon winning the ♣K, South chose to return a club for his partner to ruff.  That the ruff was with the ♠K was telling.  I unblocked the ♣J from dummy.

North returned a second diamond and I ruffed with the ♠A.  With clubs now established, I was no longer reluctant to play to my ♥A.  I ruffed a third diamond voluntarily, with the ♠Q.  Having unblocked the spade suit, I could return to my hand by playing dummy’s ♠6 to my ♠7, finessing against South’s ♠8.  I drew trumps and claimed eleven tricks with good clubs.

That we were the only pair to bid slam on the second board was the product of some good luck, good judgment, and perhaps one too many calls from an exuberant opponent.

Dealer: 24-W Vul: None	North ♠ QT5 ♥ T8642 ♦ JT3 ♣ K32
West ♠ 982 ♥ AJ93 ♦ Q98 ♣ AJT		East ♠ 6 ♥ KQ75 ♦ AK7652 ♣ Q8
	South ♠ AKJ743 ♥ 4 ♦ 4 ♣ 97654

The meaning of partner’s 3♠ call was undiscussed.  When South gratuitously chose to double the cue bid, the auction became easier for me as I now had the option of passing to partner, so as to learn what were his intentions.  Partner, whose intentions were to play in hearts, appreciated the auction signals suggesting that I had few wasted values in spades: not only had South bid spades and then doubled his cue bid, but also I had not bid 3NT over the double.  Accordingly, partner, Len Aberbach, now chose to bid an aggressive 4NT.  I now knew that partner’s spade cue bid was based upon a heart fit and we were soon in 6♥.  A spade was led to the ace and a club returned.  I rose with the ♣A.  Given that I was dealt the ♥J and that South had a void in neither red suit, a spade ruff and the running of both red suits produced twelve tricks.