Greed Punished

Board 10 at today’s club matchpoint duplicate seemed pretty ordinary … for awhile.

West, a novice, is a student of East.

After two passes, West opened 1♦.  My overcall of 1NT ended the bidding.

 

 

I won the heart opening lead cheaply with the ♥T in hand.  (Remember North is declarer.)  Naturally, I attacked clubs, playing high clubs from my hand.  East showed out on the second round, pitching one of each red suit until West won the club ace on the third round.  West quickly cashed the ♦A and played back a second diamond.

By winning this trick with my queen and forcing out the ♥A, I have ten tricks assured (2+2+2+4).  Before embarking on that line, however, I took stock.  East had not opened a weak 2♥ and so rated to have only five hearts, apparently to the AJ.  East had shown up with a singleton club.  East had failed to lead her partner’s suit of diamonds, which implied a lack of either or both of length and strength in diamonds.  This seems to mark East with 4=5=3=1 or 5=5=2=1 distribution.

If the ♦T is onside and I win a finesse of the ♦9, East is ripe to be squeezed in the major suits.  After four rounds of diamonds (losing one), three rounds of clubs (losing one), and one round of hearts, everyone is down to five cards.

I envisaged this ending:

 

East can discard a spade on the first club winner, but then has no good discard (while I can discard my ♥Q) on the second club winner, making eleven tricks for me on a hand where I am off three aces.

Back to the position at Trick 6: even if the ♦9 should lose to the ♦T, I can recover to make ten tricks on the same squeeze, unless  East immediately cashes the ♥A.

So … I took the diamond finesse and lost to the ♦T.  After some thought, East cashed the ♥A and held me to nine tricks.

All props to East, Jori Grossack, mother of US junior internationalists Adam and Zach Grossack (who are also NABC+ Fast Pairs champions).  Her sons should be proud.  I?  I am just greedy.  And punished.