Bridge Match 1 - Board 35

Board 35 – Dealer South – EW Vul

My hand: ♠ A 5 4 3 2 ♥ J 5 2 ♦ K Q 2 ♣ A 2

I open 1 spade. West overcalls 2 hearts and partner jumps to 3 spades. This should be preemptive I think. East passes. I don't think I have good odds of making 4 but maybe I'm wrong about partner's bid being preemptive. Go big or go home, as they say. I bid 4 spades which gets passed around. West leads the 7 of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
			1♠
2♥	3♠	Pass	4♠
Pass	Pass	Pass

Well, on the plus side I don't think we were making 3 either. I have 3 heart losers, a diamond loser, and anywhere from 1 to 3 spade losers. I only have 6 to 8 tricks and not a lot of hope for more. I finesse clubs for the Q. 7-T-9-? I have entry issues. Theoretically I could overtake here, lead a club up to the J and cash the K for a heart pitch. If East was being sneaky I go down an extra trick. If it works I'm still down 1. I suspect sneakiness so I play the 2.

I draw trump. 6-T-A-8. 2-K-7-J. West shifts to a diamond. 6-5-T-K. Huh. I have 3 tricks in. I have 3 spade tricks and two clubs still to come at least. Unless I can sneak another diamond in without them switching to hearts I can't get any extra diamonds, hearts, or ruffs. If the Q of clubs drops, though, I make. I don't think I have any endplays or squeezes so I go for it. I cash the A of clubs. A-6-5-3. I play a spade to board. 3-9 of hearts-Q-4 of clubs. I cash a club. K-8-2 of hearts-4 of hearts.

Hmm. East has the Q of clubs. I don't see any legit lines anymore. I play a heart for fun. 3-8-J-Q. West cashes another heart. A-7-K-5. Interesting. My T is good now. West cashes the A of diamonds so it doesn't matter. Down 1.

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

Professor Jack disagrees with my 4 spade bid. He says I'm one point too light for the bid. Yeah, yeah. My bad. 8P


On the replay they end up in 3 spades. West leads a club and dummy plays low. Declarer draws one round of trump and then plays a club to the K. He then plays the 7 of spades off board. This line guarantees he loses 2 tricks to any Kxx-x split (I pick up Kxx-x in West for 1 loser with my play) so it seems pretty questionable but it doesn't cost him. Declarer doesn't try anything to pitch any hearts and as such loses 3 hearts, a diamond, and a spade for down 1.

Nick: -50
Jack: -50
IMPs: 0 (1 total)