Could have done better …

Here’s a hand from the local club game where both the declarer and defenders could have performed better.

Let’s first look at the hand from declarer’s perspective.  Playing 12-14 notrumps, East opened the auction with 1♣ and rebid 1NT (15-17, denying four hearts but not denying four spades) over his partner’s 1♥ response.  West conservatively passed and that ended the bidding.

West ♠ T4 ♥ K9753 ♦ KQ2 ♣ T84

East ♠ A32 ♥ A42 ♦ AJ97 ♣ A97

The opening lead by South was the ♣K: 4, 6, 7.  ♣Q was continued: 8, 2, 9.  Next came the ♣5: T, 3, A.

In with the third round of clubs, declarer East attacked hearts by playing a small heart to West’s ♥9, losing to North’s ♥T.

I think that play can be improved, because the club plays suggest that the thirteener club is held by North and not South.  If South led ♣K from ♣KQxx and saw her partner signal encouragement, she would likely switch to a small club at Trick 2, playing her partner for Axx or Jxx, rather than have continued with ♣Q.  Accordingly, I think better declarer play, upon winning the third round of clubs, would be to lead to West’s diamonds and play a small heart from West toward hand.  Should North (err to) play the ♥6, the heart can be ducked to South.  Should North play a higher heart, nothing is yet lost: you can still play for South to have a three-card heart holding and play two high rounds of hearts followed by a third round, to be, hopefully, won by South.  At the table, where North was allowed to win the first round of hearts, North cashed the long club for the fourth trick of the defense, and, after checking for the 3-2 heart split, declarer claimed nine tricks for +150.

South did have the three-card heart holding — meaning the suggested improvement in declarer’s play would have produced one more trick for declarer by eliminating the loss of the thirteener club –, having been dealt:

The improvement in South’s play is not easy to spot, and I can’t think of how to diagnose the improvement at the table, looking solely at dummy and hearing the subject auction.  But if South finds a switch to a spade at Trick 3, instead of continuing a third club, declarer is restricted to only eight tricks!  If the defense attacks two rounds of one black suit and then switches to the other black suit, the defense will win four black suit tricks and a heart.  Well, that is not exactly true; there is, in fact, another improvement available to declarer’s play, should he think the defense is capable of the fine play of switching to spades after two rounds of clubs.  Declarer, noting that the defense has not begun a Trick 1 attack on his side’s weakest suit of spades, could win the ♣A at Trick 1, thus ensuring nine tricks should hearts (and clubs) split.  Here is the whole hand:

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ QJ765 ♥ JT ♦ 84 ♣ J632
West ♠ T4 ♥ K9753 ♦ KQ2 ♣ T84		East ♠ A32 ♥ A42 ♦ AJ97 ♣ A97
	South ♠ K98 ♥ Q86 ♦ T653 ♣ KQ5

The only sure-fire defense to hold declarer to eight tricks is the wildly unlikely opening lead by South of a spade, followed by a second spade and then a switch to clubs.

Yes, you may have already noticed that declarer is cold for 4♥ … and many in the field were in that contract.