Is down one good bridge?
Board 6 was the last board of a two-session regional pairs event (Friday, April 26, Hyannis, MA) for partner and me. I would disclose our weak notrump system auction to 3NT, were it not for fear that potential teammates might read this.
With hand locations reversed for convenience, I was declarer at a nonvulnerable 3NT contract:
The opening lead was the ♥T. I looked at the opponents’ convention card to see if they were playing one of my favorite conventions of leading different cards from interior sequences that contain a higher honor than from interior sequences that do not contain a higher honor – favorite convention, that is, for the opponents to play. Alas, these opponents provided no such clue to help my declarer choices. I ducked in dummy – a finesse can always be taken later – and won in hand with the ♥K. I played a club to the queen, losing to RHO’s king. RHO switched to a spade, to my jack, the queen, and dummy’s ace. I played another club from dummy, small from RHO, eight from my hand, surprisingly winning the trick as LHO followed suit small. I continued with a diamond to dummy’s king and a spade to my ten, each winning.
I advanced another diamond and LHO rose with the ace and switched back to spades. RHO won both the ♠K, all following, and the thirteener spade as I pitched hearts from each hand. A diamond was returned to dummy’s queen.
I returned to my hand with ♣A, as LHO showed out. I had reached a two-card end position, having taken seven tricks and lost four tricks:
I know that RHO owns the ♣J. The other outstanding cards are the ♥Q9, and ♦J.
I led my heart and LHO played the nine.
Who owns the ♥Q? If LHO owns the ♥Q, a finesse of the ♥J will land the contract. But if RHO owns the ♥Q, playing the ♥A will fell the ♥Q and the ♥J will win the last trick. If there is a clue from the play to date, the clue escapes me.
So … let’s see what happens if I guess wrong – something with which I have great experience. If I play for the drop of the ♥Q and am wrong I will be defeated by one trick. If I play for the finesse against the ♥Q and am wrong I will be defeated by two tricks because RHO will next cash the ♣J.
That’s the tie-breaker; down one is better than down two. I play the ♥A.
Is down one good bridge?
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Bridge-related
The auction might help. Was there something in the auction that would have made West shy away from leading from AJ87 of diamonds and lead from 10972 of hearts instead? It’s slim as many would lead a heart anyway (again, the auction might affect that).
1C-1D/1N-2N/3N?
oops, S declared. 1C-1D/1H-2N/3N?
this could probably go on for quite some time absent knowledge of agreements….
I expect it probably went 1D-1N-3N or something very similar. NS were playing weak NTs
Some are asking about the auction.
The auction began 1C (playing weak notrumps)-1NT. I find it useful, when playing weak notrumps, to have an agreement that standard auctions that show 18-19 HCP will, for us, instead show the wider range of 17-19. That means that with 17-19, opener should rebid 2NT and with 15-16, opener should not try for game. I suppose that if responder has a maximum and the hands fit well or the cards are nicely placed, this approach might miss an occasional game. But, by and large, that agreement works well in my partnerships.
Partner, who plays weak notrumps only with me, might have forgotten this agreement because he raised to 2NT on a hand with 15 HCP, flat distribution, and horrible spot cards. (KnR values his hand as 14.80.) At any rate, after he raised to 2NT, I went on to 3NT … a decision that seems not clear, but is at least reasonable.
“That’s the tie-breaker; down one is better than down two.”
Because you’re in a contract that the field won’t be in, it might be right to discount this tie-breaker.