Serves Him Right

Playing in a regional Swiss, our opponents are not normally slow, but this time, one is. My partner is second to speak and holds

Axxxx

J109x

AJx. He hears his RHO open 1

. We pass throughout, and LHO bids 2

, natural and game forcing. The auction continues 2

by opener, 2

by responder, and 3

by opener. Responder thinks for a second and bids 3NT, which they play as natural. Opener goes into the tank. A deep dark everlasting tank. Ten minutes goes by. Finally, he emerges with 4

, and all pass. Now it is partner's turn to go into the tank. Out loud. He says, "dummy has five clubs, three spades, probably two diamonds and king-third of hearts. Hmmm...what should I lead?" He thinks some more. What was he doing during the ten-minute tank? I know I was deciding what I'd lead against 3NT in case opener passed. It seemed obvious that he was considering either passing or bidding 4

. After another 30 seconds, partner emerges with the

Dummy hits with a not-particularly-suprising AKx KJ9x x K109xx. Partner thinks a little more and cashes his A. I don't have two trump tricks, so declarer claims ten tricks quickly.

With ten minutes to think about his lead, I think partner ought to have been figuring out what to lead against 4. If he had spent that time fruitfully, he would have realized that I have four trumps. Declarer is thinking about 3NT vs. 4 probably because he has a stiff heart. And partner already knew the K was in dummy. Hoping for my actual hand no longer seems that difficult; I had Qxxx Q10x xxx xxx. A small heart lead in tempo (if you have ten minutes to think about your lead, you ought to be able to make it in tempo!) almost certainly would have fooled declarer. If so, I can win the Q and continue the suit. Declarer can get home after this start, but it's difficult and he probably will not. Partner will have to duck the first round of clubs, but with a full count by then, that will be easy enough.

Too bad...that would have been a great defense, and would have served declarer right for tanking for ten minutes in a 45-minute match.