Nine in a Row

Nine in a Row

This deal was played in the finals of the 2024 Senior USBF Team Trials:

 

Vul:E-W
Dlr: East
♠ AQ84
♥ A10
♦ AK
♣ AKJ96
 
♠ 109
♥ 742
♦ QJ7432
♣ 32
 ♠ 753
♥ KQ9865
♦ 85
♣ Q8
 ♠ KJ62
♥ J3
♦ 1096
♣ 10754
 

At one table, East (a sound preempter) passed as dealer. North opened 2♠ in fourth seat and there were nine bids in a sequence! What did they all mean? South responded 2♠ waiting. North bid 2♠ a relay to 2♠ followed by 2NT which showed a GF balanced hand. South bid 3♠, Puppet Staman and North's 3♠ showed a 4-card major. South bid 3♠ to show four spades and North bid 3♠ -- so it was: 2♠-2♠-2♠-2♠-2N-3♠-3♠-3♠-3♠. I think South should have done more than his actual 4♠ which ended the auction. West led a diamond and declarer drew trump and played the ace-king of clubs for all 13 tricks (an unsatisfying +510).

At the other table, after East dealt and opened with a weak two-bid, North drove his partner kicking and screaming into 6♠ (by South). You might think this would be an easy 1010, but after a heart lead, the contract depended on guessing the clubs. Declarer cashed a high club and drew trump ending in hand. He knew East had 9 cards in the majors, so he went with the odds and finessed in clubs (playing East for a small singleton). Down one.

In retrospect, declarer should have made the slam. After the ♠A, he should cash the high diamonds and play the ♠A and ♠K.  Now he trumps a diamond high in dummy and returns to the ♠Q. He has a complete count that East started with 3=6=2=2, so guesses the clubs and make all 13 tricks.