Even the good decisions went bad …
I thought I did well on this hand … until I saw the matchpoints.
West
♠ A3 ♥ T2 ♦ J742 ♣ Q9532 |
East
♠ K76 ♥ AKJ3 ♦ A98 ♣ T86 |
My 15-17 1NT opening as East concluded the bidding.
South led the ♠4 to North’s Q. With the spades being attacked, I conceded the club suit as DOA and ducked the first trick. The ♠9 was continued by North (a recent winner of a NABC+ event) and I won perforce in dummy, as South followed suit with the ♠2. I played a diamond to my nine, hoping to force a quack and establish an extra diamond trick. The ♦T won this trick and spades were continued, North following with the ♠8. I led a diamond to my ace, seeing the ♦Q from North. Next I cashed the ♥A and led a small heart to the T in dummy, losing to North’s Q. North exited with a heart. When I cashed my third round heart winner, South showed out. I hooked the ♣9, losing to North’s king. North cashed a long heart and another club but then had to lead a club to dummy’s queen at Trick 13. I had won one club, two spades, three hearts, and one diamond for +90. This result seemed pretty good to me, but scored only 2.5 out of 16 mps. My best guess was that too many defenders failed to hold off on a first, early round of clubs and declarer was able to set up clubs? Or maybe the ♥T led from dummy was not covered? Not sure, as whole hand was this:
Dealer: N
Vul: NS |
North
♠ Q98 ♥ Q8765 ♦ Q3 ♣ AK7 |
|
West
♠ A3 ♥ T2 ♦ J742 ♣ Q9532 |
East
♠ K76 ♥ AKJ3 ♦ A98 ♣ T86 |
|
South
♠ JT542 ♥ 94 ♦ KT65 ♣ J4 |
West | North | East | South |
— | — | 1♣ | 1♦ |
Dbl | 1♥ | P | 2♦ |
3♣ | P | 3♠ | P |
4♠ | Dbl | All pass |
What happens if you don’t cash the H A before leading to the C 9? Won’t North at some point have to lead into the H 10, or put you on the board with an established club suit? (I’m just starting to get the rust off my game, so I may well be missing something.)
That’s some rust, Ted! As far as I can tell your analysis is correct; if I do not cash the HA prematurely, I will gain at least one more heart trick, scoring up an overtrick.
Thanks for the comment. Keep ’em coming.