This deal is from an Atlanta Regional. I always enjoy giving my readers a chance to go right when a major star went wrong. Sitting North, you hold:
10 8 7 2
8 5
7
A Q J 10 9 2
You are in fourth chair, both sides vulnerable in a knockout team match. LHO opens 1, partner overcalls 1
, and RHO bids 2. And you?
Opposite as little as AQJxx and out, you'd have play for game. Accordingly, I see no need to be delicate. I would drive to 4, especially vulnerable at IMPs. Some players have a 4 jump available as fit-showing. Also possible is a jump to 4 (the opponents' suit) to show a splinter raise. Maybe best is to simply take up a lot of room and bid a direct 4. Let's say you try that bid and everyone passes.
It's hard to make an error in turning the dummy, so let's hop across the table to play the hand.
10872
 85
 7
AQJ1092
|
| |
AKJ96
1096
9863
6
|
You are in game, but the opponents have 25 HCP; it is surprising nobody doubled. Since you are likely disoriented by the seat change, let's review the bidding. RHO opened 1, declarer overcalled 1, LHO bid 2 and dummy's 4 ended proceedings. West's lead of the K holds, and he shifts to the 2. East wins the A and then the Q. He thinks a while and then lays down the A which you ruff in dummy. You need the rest. How do you take 10 tricks?
The first hurdle is the trump suit. There is no obvious reason to play opener for queen-third in spades, so you should play the suit from the top. You play a spade to the ace and LHO drops the queen. That's one hurdle cleared. Now what?
You don't have enough trumps in dummy to ruff all of your red-suit losers, so you will need to develop the clubs (which you can play in several ways). It appears trumps are 3-1. At the table, the expert decided the opener rated to have the K. Declarer played a club to the ace, then ran the Q for a ruffing finesse. He was down one when West produced the K.
It appears from the auction and early play that the opening bidder started with 3 spades, 5 hearts and at least 2 diamonds. That means East has room for at most 3 clubs. So, better than a ruffing finesse is to play a club to the ace, then ruff a club high. Go back to dummy with a spade to the eight and ruff another club high. The suit splits 3-3 and you still have another trump entry in dummy to run the suit.
Vul:None
Dlr: East |
10872
85
7
AQJ1092
|
|
Q
J73
KQJ1054
K85
|
|
543
AKQ42
A2
743
|
| |
AKJ96
1096
9863
6
|
|
The key was at trick five. After the defense took the first three tricks (East cleverly concealing the K to deceive you about the location of the K), East tapped the dummy with a diamond. You played to the A and still had dummy's 10 and 8 as entries. By playing the A and ruffing two clubs you make 620 as opposed to minus 100 if you took a ruffing club finesse. You had to realize that East couldn't hold four clubs (along with 3 spades, 5 hearts and 2 diamonds). With East known to have 3 clubs at most, the ruffing finesse is pointless.
