My hand: ♠ K 9 8 7 5 4 ♦ K Q J 9 4 ♣ K 9
East passes. I open 1 spade. West passes and partner bids (of course) 2 hearts. I bid 3 diamonds and he bids 3 hearts. I bid 3 spades. Partner bids 3 NT.
Do I want to let him play here? If he doesn't have a club stopper then my K9 could get finessed off the hop and we'll go down a bajillion. If he does have a club stopper then won't 5 diamonds be a good spot? I bid 4 diamonds to give him a choice. He chooses 4 hearts. He should know I have 6 spades and 5 diamonds and still wants to play in hearts. Can he have 7 of them? I don't think so, but my spades are really terrible. I have at least 3 trump losers unless partner has something in spades and he'd better not be bidding hearts here with something in spades. I reluctantly pass. East leads the 4 of clubs.
Arg! Partner had reasonable support for both my suits but bid his own a third time anyway. I make 4 spades pretty easily and I think I can make 5 diamonds too. I don't think we can make 3NT though. None of that matters though. Can I make 4 hearts?
Well, I have a heart loser unless they split JTx-xxxx. I have a spade loser. I have a diamond loser. I have 2 club losers. That's 5. I have no trump on board so I can't ruff the clubs and there's no way to get rid of the other losers. My only hope is to set up diamonds for pitches. I think my line of play is going to be win the A in hand, cash 3 rounds of trump to prevent any weird ruffs and then lead a diamond. I will still have the K of clubs as an entry to the diamonds so I should be ok unless I get ruffed before I can pitch.
Alternatively I can set up the K of spades for a single pitch. I can't get ruffed unless spades split really terribly. One pitch isn't good enough though... I don't see a better line than the first one, so I go for it.
4-9-J-A. I draw trump, pitching spades. Everyone follows to 3 hearts, with the J still outstanding. I still see no logical play but diamonds so I attack those next. 8-A-4-6. East switches to a spade instead of a club! J-8-2-Q. Uh... There goes my spade loser? Did they really duck a spade because they thought I could have 2 in my hand? Maybe they thought I had 0. I sure did on the bidding. Anyway, I now have just a heart loser and make them take it right away. Making 5.
NORTH ♠ Q ♥ A K Q 9 6 2 ♦ 8 7 ♣ A 6 5 2 | ||
EAST ♣ 4 | ||
| SOUTH ♠ K 9 8 7 5 4 ♥ ♦ K Q J 9 4 ♣ K 9 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 1♠ | ||
| Pass | 2♥ | Pass | 3♦ |
| Pass | 3♥ | Pass | 3♠ |
| Pass | 3NT | Pass | 4♦ |
| Pass | 4♥ | All Pass |
Arg! Partner had reasonable support for both my suits but bid his own a third time anyway. I make 4 spades pretty easily and I think I can make 5 diamonds too. I don't think we can make 3NT though. None of that matters though. Can I make 4 hearts?
Well, I have a heart loser unless they split JTx-xxxx. I have a spade loser. I have a diamond loser. I have 2 club losers. That's 5. I have no trump on board so I can't ruff the clubs and there's no way to get rid of the other losers. My only hope is to set up diamonds for pitches. I think my line of play is going to be win the A in hand, cash 3 rounds of trump to prevent any weird ruffs and then lead a diamond. I will still have the K of clubs as an entry to the diamonds so I should be ok unless I get ruffed before I can pitch.
Alternatively I can set up the K of spades for a single pitch. I can't get ruffed unless spades split really terribly. One pitch isn't good enough though... I don't see a better line than the first one, so I go for it.
4-9-J-A. I draw trump, pitching spades. Everyone follows to 3 hearts, with the J still outstanding. I still see no logical play but diamonds so I attack those next. 8-A-4-6. East switches to a spade instead of a club! J-8-2-Q. Uh... There goes my spade loser? Did they really duck a spade because they thought I could have 2 in my hand? Maybe they thought I had 0. I sure did on the bidding. Anyway, I now have just a heart loser and make them take it right away. Making 5.
| NORTH ♠ Q ♥ A K Q 9 6 2 ♦ 8 7 ♣ A 6 5 2 | ||
| WEST ♠ A 2 ♥ J 8 7 4 ♦ 6 5 3 2 ♣ Q J 3 | EAST ♠ J T 6 3 ♥ T 5 3 ♦ A T ♣ T 8 7 4 | |
| SOUTH ♠ K 9 8 7 5 4 ♥ ♦ K Q J 9 4 ♣ K 9 |
Sadly they don't. For some reason despite the same auction leading up to that point North decides to bid 4 hearts instead of 3NT. South pulls to 4 spades which is where they play. Turns out you actually can't make 4 spades on the layout as they take 3 spades and the A of diamonds. Down 1.
Nick: 450
Jack: -50
IMPs: +11 (-5 total)
I was thinking I might have found a way to make 4 spades so I wanted to try it out. I reloaded the deal and pulled 4 hearts to 4 spades. It got alerted as showing control in spades for hearts. Partner bid 4NT Blackwood. I passed which got alerted as "Please wake up." I don't know which of us they thought was sleeping.
ReplyDeleteI eventually forced 4 spades to happen. I did manage to make it when West overruffed my 5 of spades with his A.
I don't particularly disagree with your partner's bidding on this. I think I would have sat through 3NT, with the knowledge that partner almost certainly has a club stopper as well. I also don't think partner does have reasonable support for your spades. Your diamond suit is fine, but its diamonds!. (although, you make 5D). However, from his perspective, his heart suit is very likely better then your 7-card fit... and probably much better if you even have a singleton.
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