Lots of Problems

At halftime in a sectional swiss, we have 68 out of 80 VPs. That's a pretty good score, and the team is pretty happy as we go to dinner. Most of the conversation revolves around the hand on which we won 19 IMPs. That's a lot. I held the big hand at our table:

QJ94

AQ7532 In second seat at unfavorable vulnerability, I opened 1

and heard a 4

overcall on my left. Partner made a negative double (which just shows a decent hand). RHO passed and I had a problem. If I knew which minor suit to play, I'd probably bid it, but I don't. I refuse to bid 4NT, showing roughly this shape, as if partner bids 5

, he won't make it after losing the first two spade tricks. So my choices are 5

and pass. I think it's right to take the money, so I pass. That leaves me with a defensive problem.

	4 98754 A10862 K6
		K9 Q QJ94 AQ7532

West	North	Me	South
—	Pass	1	4
Dbl	All Pass

Partner leads a high club spot, dummy plays low, and I win the

Q. We have a rule that if I win a trick cheaply and then switch, I'm not switching to a singleton. I'm not sure this applies here, but I cash a second club and shift to a heart. Declarer covers and partner wins. He continues with the

10, which I ruff. Obviously, partner wants a club overruff, despite the heart returned, so I do that. Partner ruffs higher than dummy, but declarer is down to all trump and claims shortly. We get +300.

Upon reflection, I erred. From the lead, declarer is marked with three clubs. If he has eight spades, then he has only two red cards. If they are both hearts, I need to shift to a heart at trick two, then (when declarer ducks this), give partner the club overruff to cash the second heart trick. That would have produced +500, as I'll get my trump trick later, because declarer has no entry to dummy. If declarer is 1-1 in the red suits, it's imperative that I don't ruin our club ruff. I played too fast. Fortunately, it wasn't costly.

At the other table, the bidding and play was more enthusiastic.

	4 98754 A10862 K6
86 AJ1063 K753 86		K9 Q QJ94 AQ7532
	AQJ109532 K2 — J109

Dummy	North	Declarer	South
—	Pass	1	4
Dbl	Pass	4NT	Pass
5	Dbl	Pass	Pass
5	Dbl	5NT	Dbl
All Pass

The opening lead was the

J. Declarer won the

Q and played a diamond honor. North won and shifted to a spade, of course. Unfortunately, South pitched a spade on the diamond, so the defense came to only 8 tricks, +1700. North complained to his partner about discarding the seventh undertrick, but it was only one IMP. My defensive error at the other table didn't even cost that, but if my teammates had managed two grand, we could have had 21 IMPs. I can live with 19.

Declarer didn't give himself the best play. Ducking the first trick would have saved a lot of tricks. (But if diamonds were 1-4, it would have cost 2300.) Ducking in tempo would have probably seen a second club come through. Declarer now has five clubs and a heart trick. When he advances the Q, West is stuck. If he holds his K, he gets endplayed with it; if he covers, he blows two tricks. All in all, declarer will come to seven tricks. Sticks and wheels isn't good, but it's not as bad as 1700 or 2000. (It would even have saved three IMPs.)

Did you spot the defensive error? East needs to cover the club at trick one so this cannot happen. Declarer's best shot is to play three rounds of clubs. West can exit with the K. Dummy gets three heart tricks and declarer gets two club tricks, so we are back to 1700. If West exits with the low heart instead, declarer gets five clubs and a heart for "only" 1400. If West exits with a spade, there's no carnage anymore. Declarer will end up with ten tricks. He wins and knocks out the A. He can either use the A to finesse the diamond or he can run the Q, exit with a spade, and make the A in the end.

Declarer can do still better! He wins the club at trick one and immediately plays a heart. If West doesn't unblock, declarer wins the A. If he does, declarer cashes two hearts, pitching a diamond. In either case, he then cashes the other high club and exits with a club. West can take one spade and one heart and one club, but has to lead spades. Then all declarer loses after this is a diamond. That's nine tricks and "only" -500. It's interesting that the hand revolves around forcing West to lead spades. If he had held the 2, he could have avoided the endplay, but he didn't. What an "upside-down" hand! Declarer has to attack first his third-best suit, then his second-best, carefully avoiding his best, in order to force the defense to lead their best.

Ought declarer have got this one right? It's hard to say, but the double of 5 and the lead of a club suggest that diamonds are 5-0. If so, it's likely that spades are 8-1, too. Those inferences are a little tenuous, but do suggest the winning (OK, less losing) plays. The risk is not large, either, so I think he ought to have done it. Not surprisingly, however, he was rattled after the auction.

Upon reflection, all three players made errors on the hand, costing 300-point undertricks. Given how poorly I defended, I'm glad I wasn't playing the hand.