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?
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.