Bridge Match 1 - Board 10

Board 10 – Dealer East – All Vul

My hand: ♠ A ♥ A 9 3 ♦ J T 9 6 ♣ A T 9 3 2

East opens 1 club. I have to pass. West passes too, and partner gets in with 1 spade. East passes. I don't know what my bids even mean here. Does 2 clubs show clubs or a good hand? Am I strong enough to just bid 3NT? I assume 1NT would be 6-9, so 2NT would be 10-12. My 13 should be ok for 3NT then... But I'm not sure where we'd come to 9 tricks. I think I'll just start with 2 clubs and learn what it means after the hand. Partner alerts it so it must mean something... He then jumps to 3 spades as the opponents keep passing. Ok, fine, 3NT it is. Partner disagrees and pulls to 4 spades. I give in and pass. East leads the K of clubs.

	North ♠ Q T 8 6 5 3 ♥ J 5 4 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ J
		EAST ♣ K
	SOUTH ♠ A ♥ A 9 3 ♦ J T 9 6 ♣ A T 9 3 2

West	North	East	South
		1♣	Pass
Pass	1♠	Pass	2♣1
Pass	3♠	Pass	3NT
Pass	4♠	All Pass
1Constructive Raise

Wow. Partner bid spades THREE times on QT 6th. (I wonder if my club bid supported spades?) I'm going to lose 2 hearts, a diamond, and several spades. I can deal with the heart losers by setting up clubs (helped by the K lead and the stiff J on board), though this adds in a club loser. I could probably ruff out clubs instead, but I can't draw trump at the same time so I can't see how that would gain. K-A-4-J. I play back a club. T-5-4 of hearts-Q. East shifts to a heart. I pop the A. 2-A-8-5.

My hearts are now exposed, so I need to pitch on my high club now. I cash the A of spades first just in case West only had 2 clubs and 1 spade. A-7-3-2. Then I play the 9 of clubs. 9-6-J of hearts-7.

I don't want to tap myself so I lead a low diamond. 6-3-Q-2. There are 4 spades outstanding. The KJ94. Maybe I should have tapped myself to try to shorten my trumps?I don't think I had entries to ruff enough times, so that's probably silly. I can't see any way to avoid losing 2 spades if they split 3-3. Can I avoid losing 3 spades if they split 4-2?

Yes, but I have to guess what spade is now stiff. If it's the 4, I'm screwed. If it's the 9 I need to play the T or the Q. If it's the J I need to play anything but the T. If it's the K I need to play anything but the Q. So it seems like I should play one of the Q or T. I decide to play the Q. Q-K-3 of hearts-4.

East returns a club. West pitches the 7 of hearts. I ruff. I lead a spade. They both follow, and I lose the A of diamonds. Down 1.

	NORTH ♠ Q T 8 6 5 3 ♥ J 5 4 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ J
WEST ♠ J 7 4 ♥ K T 8 7 ♦ 5 4 3 ♣ 6 5 4		EAST ♠ K 9 2 ♥ Q 6 2 ♦ A 8 2 ♣ K Q 8 7
	SOUTH ♠ A ♥ A 9 3 ♦ J T 9 6 ♣ A T 9 3 2

Professor Jack has the following comment on my 2 club bid... "Jack did not consider 2 clubs. He wonders what you have in mind." Jack would pass. The alert was a "constructive raise" showing 9+ points and 3+ spades. At least that explains all the spade bids, though I wonder what was wrong with 2 spades for his second bid. Professor Jack has the same comment for my 3NT bid, and wants me to pass there as well.


On the replay my seat passes and they play 1 spade. Jack plays the hand a little dangerously but ends up losing the same tricks I did for up 2.

Nick: -100
Jack: +140
IMPs: -6 (-8 total)