Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A good showing at the club (championship)

Len and I were mostly on the same page last evening, resulting in a 1st E/W, 2nd overall at the NWDBC club championship game.  We didn't play or defend one doubled contract all evening.  We got to two good 6 contracts that earned a 14 and a 15 (15 top).  Our opponents bid 6NT twice, once making for about 32%, once going down 2 for a top.  We also missed a good heart slam on 25 hcp.

Still we had a few too many avoidable errors, and some which were perhaps just a little too hard to work out at the time.  For example,you hold ♠J64 762 AKJ ♣K952 after RHO has opened 1NT (14+:17) and has shown a five-card spade suit to reach 4♠.  You lead the A and dummy comes down with ♠QT53 JT4 Q83 ♣AT75.  This fetches 3-2-6.  Now what?  If you don't switch to a low club now, you're going to be -620 for a very poor score.  I woodenly continued with a diamond, setting up the queen for a club discard.

One instructive issue came up.  You hold ♠85 AK73 987 ♣5432.  LHO passes and partner opens 1♣ and you respond 1.  LHO now comes in with 1♠ and partner jumps to 2NT.  You decide to bid 3♣ (not clear whether this is forcing or not, given the competition) and partner bids 3.  What's your call?

The first issue is this: how many hearts does partner have?  We play support doubles so 2NT denied as many as three hearts.  Or did it?  I think it should, and I believe that's the way most experts play.  So 3 should show a good two-card holding, such as Qx.  In fact that is what it dummy had.  Thanks to some helpful defense, we bid and made 4 on the super-Moyesian fit for an 11.  As it turns out, 4NT and 5 were also making because both of the spade honors were in the overcaller's hand.

Here is the whole hand:


AKT92

962

63

KT9


85

AK73

987

5432


Q43

Q5

AKJ

AQJ87


J76

JT84

QT542

6

Deep Finesse says that we (E/W) can't make a heart contract at all.  But it turns out that's an error (not the first that I've found with Deep Finesse).  E/W can make 3.

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