The opening lead is the
KJ753 A7542 1093 | ||
AK53 A42 K9 J862 |
LHO | Partner | RHO | Me | |||
Pass | Pass | Pass | 1NT | |||
Pass | Pass | |||||
Pass | ||||||
All Pass |
It looks as if LHO has six spades. He didn't lead a singleton club, so I doubt both red suits are breaking. He could have queen doubleton in hearts and three diamonds, giving him 6232, but other than that one case, I'm going to have to deal with a bad break or two. If hearts are 3-2 and diamonds 4-2, how about cashing two high trumps, ruffing a diamond, and giving up a diamond? That will work, but if trumps are 4-1, I'll need diamonds 3-3, and if they aren't, the hand will explode on me. If hearts are 3-2 and diamonds 4-2, I think I can make by ruffing with dummy's small trumps, since that means that clubs are probably 3-3, and I'll be able to ruff three times in dummy while RHO follows to two clubs and a spade. That'll give me six trump tricks and two ace-kings. A crossruff line looks as if it can handle bad breaks better than the straightforward line, so I embark on that approach. The first step surely must be to cut communication between the defenders and establish my own, so I exit with a small club.
Weirdness is perpetrated. LHO thinks for a bit and
plays the
Surprise! LHO shows out. So he's 6034. RHO didn't
double
The position is
KJ7 A7542 | ||
Q9x Jxx xx |
x Q1098 Qxx | |
53 42 K9 J8 |
I guess LHO was right not to double after all, but if he had, his partner probably would have found the killing club lead. He should reason that partner is not playing him for multiple tricks (he passed his first two times), so it's a good idea to let him know the location of the trick he has. I wouldn't have had much of a chance after that.
At the other table, the five trumps did double, but on a different auction, and his partner still didn't find a club lead (why not?). Despite that, declarer managed to go down a trick to let us win 11 IMPs.