Was this an unlucky guess?
After some questionable bidding decisions by me and possibly by partner (what do you think?) we end in 5♠X on these cards and auction, at a club Swiss:
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North is a pro with 13000 mps (yes, this is the same round as my previous blog) and South is a client, who is a very reasonable player. North begins with the ♦A (from AK per their convention card) and South plays the ♦3 (right side up). North continues with ♥A and, this time, South plays the ♥9. A second heart is continued, ruffed small in dummy as South plays the ♥4.
♣A and a club ruff follow. Then the ♦Q covered by the king and ruffed in dummy. On a third round of clubs from dummy, RHO discards ♦6 and I ruff in hand. I cash the ♦J, North playing the ♦4 and South following suit with ♦9. (The unseen diamonds are the 87.)
The five-card end position now, with the lead in West, is:
I ruffed a heart, both opponents following, and played a fourth round of clubs from dummy, RHO discarding a heart.
I know that clubs are 4-2 and can infer from the auction that hearts are 3-5. The ♠A now will land the contract if either opponent was dealt the stiff ♠K. (K/xx, Axx, AKxxx/AKxx, KQxx and xx/K, KQxxx, xxxx/xxxxx, xx). OTOH, a heart ruff and the ♠Q will land the contract if North was dealt the stiff ♠T (T, Axx, AKxxx, KQxx and K7, KQxxx, xxxx). (In the latter case, the ♠Q will fell the ♠T and a finesse position of A8 over K7 cannot be overcome for the defense.)
I went wrong, playing the ♠A in the shown position, when spades were T with North and K7 with South. 5♥ will go down two tricks: two black aces and a either a club ruff or a natural trump trick, plus a slow diamond trick, if we do not collapse our combined three diamond honors.
Did I have any (overlooked) clues to have chosen more successfully?
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Bridge-related
1. Depends on your system but if your partner is ready for it, seems fine to me.
3. No and no. Doubling may give the opponents a roadmap (what if the red kings were swapped?) and you don’t have the extras to justify 5S.
4. Since you didn’t double initially, partner has to know you are weak/distributional. Who wants to defend when you’re 6-5?
The opponents bid aggressively and a stiff K in the opponent’s suit doesn’t lend it self to aggressiveness. I prefer to play for the stiff K only when I can’t come up with any other alternative.