Bridge Match 1 - Board 44

Board 44 – Dealer West – NS Vul

My hand: ♠ K T 9 2 ♦ A Q J 7 ♣ A K T 9 2

West opens 1 heart. Partner passes and East jumps to 4 spades. 6 of a minor is worth 870 so we'd need to set them by at least 5 to make doubling worth it, assuming we can make slam here which is not a given by any stretch. East's bid supposedly shows 7+ spades and 5-8 points so partner has at most 2 spades and as long as I'm declarer we won't lose more than 1 spade trick.

But if I let partner declare and partner has the 2 outstanding spades then they can cash A of spades and then ruff a spade. So while I'd like to start with 4NT showing the minors I think that's just going to wrong-side the contract. I wonder if double is even penalty here. If it is, would partner pull with a spade void and stay with 2 spades?

I decide we're probably not making slam unless partner can take some sort of action. In that case, we only need to set them 4 to score more than 5 of a minor. Taking 7 tricks doesn't seem that unreasonable unless partner is actually stiff or void in spades because East has more then 7. And I kinda want to see what double means... So I start there. It gets passed around with both my double and partner's pass being alerted. I'll check back after the hand to see what those mean. I lead the A of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
1♥	Pass	4♠	Double1
Pass	Pass2	Pass
1Competitive
2Converted Takeout Double

Looks like West had my clubs wrapped up. Combined with his spade void I doubt I had slam and maybe didn't even have game. At any rate... A-3-4-8 of spades.

East shifts to the T of hearts. Should I ruff? I'm pretty sure I'm ruffing with naturals here, and partner is apt to win any heart beyond the first one so I pitch a club. T-2 of clubs-A-3. Declarer ruffs another club to hand. J-7-7 of spades-9.

Now he draws trump. A-2-2 of hearts-3. 4-9-5 of clubs-J. Partner cashes the K of hearts. I shed a diamond this time. K-5-7 of diamonds-4. Partner shifts to the 9 of diamonds. 9-5-A-6.

Can I keep declarer from winning the K of diamonds? He has no board entries so if he started with a stiff diamond he can't get to it. That would require him to have been 7-6-0-1 and to have ignored his known 11 card heart fit. Yeah, not happening. I exit a diamond. Q-K-2-3. He ruffs a club off board. 8-6-6 of spades-T.

Declarer then seemingly gives up by playing a trump. My hand is up. Down 4, doubled.

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

Professor Jack did not consider double. He wonders what I had in mind because that double would be takeout. He would have passed. (For the record, my bid was alerted to show 15-22 points, 4-6 diamonds and 4-6 clubs. I'm pretty sure 17 points with 5 clubs and 4 diamonds fits that...)

He then disagrees with my club pitch. He'd pitch the J of diamonds instead. He claims they'd go down 1 more if I'd done that.

He later disagrees with my diamond pitch. He'd throw away the T of clubs. Note that this would actually give partner a losing play. He could return a club to set up dummy's Q while declarer still has a diamond entry. Unlikely to happen, I would hope, but you never know.


On the replay my seat doesn't double and 4 spades gets passed out. The defense goes a little differently and declarer manages to set up his Q of clubs to pitch a diamond loser. Down 3.

Apparently on the layout NS can make 1 diamond or 2 clubs. So much for slam, huh!

Nick: 800
Jack: 150
IMPs: +12 (-18 total)