Bridge Match 2 - Board 14

Board 14 – Dealer East – None Vul

Opponents convention card: Bridge World Standard 2001
Opponents playing strength: Intermediate

My hand: ♠ Q 6 ♥ K J T 7 6 ♦ Q 6 ♣ J 7 4 3

East opens 1 spade. I pass as does West. Partner reopens with 1NT. I'm actually not sure what he means by this, or how it is different than doubling. I imagine he has a spade stopper? My 9 count is probably not enough to make a game, and I have help for partner's spade stopper, and I imagine if he had a good hand with hearts he wouldn't be bidding NT. So I pass too. West prevents us from playing by bidding 2 spades which gets passed back to me. I suspect they're making 2 spades on a cross ruff of some kind, but that we can make 2NT, so I bid it. Partner pulls to 3 clubs. I don't understand. Is this an attempt to find 5 clubs? Or is he so afraid of playing 2NT that he's pulling before we get doubled? Well, if we're making 3 clubs we're probably making 3NT and it's worth a heck of a lot more, so I bid that. It gets passed out.

East leads the J of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
		1♠	Pass
Pass	1NT	Pass	Pass
2♠	Pass	Pass	2NT
Pass	3♣	Pass	3NT
Pass	Pass	Pass

Hmm. I don't understand. No spade stopper, only 4 clubs... I really feel like we should be playing 2NT. Or maybe 1 spade.

At any rate, I fully expect to lose 5 spades right off the top. And a diamond for fun. If I can find the round queens I might have 9 tricks. If I can't then I'm down a bajillion. Should I cover the lead? I expect West has 2 spades, one of which is an honour. So if I cover then he'll just cover too and lead back the small one and I'm down. So I guess I should hold up and hope the suit gets blocked. J-6-9-2. East shifts to the A of diamonds. A-6-2-K. Now a spade through. 5-Q-K-3. And a diamond around. T-J-4-Q.

Ok, they have all of the spades and diamonds if they ever get in. I've taken one trick. If I can take 8 more I get to make. Now partner and I had 24 points, and East opened. West has already played a K. So if East has even 12 points to open West can't have a Q. So I should be able to pick up the heart Q and will need the club one to drop. That actually seems plausible. Hearts first! 6-2-A-5. 4-Q-K-8. J-9-3-3 of diamonds. T-2 of clubs-4 of spades-5 of diamonds.

At this point East has 5 cards left in his hand. 3 of them are spades. So if he does have the Q of clubs, I actually get to make. First the last heart. 7-7 of diamonds-5 of clubs-7 of spades. Over to clubs. 3-6-A-T. K-T of spades-4-9.

Well, I guess West has the Q of clubs. And East has a spade and a diamond. West has a diamond and the Q of clubs. So I don't see any way to win. Down 1.

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

I actually had a way to make in the middle. I can play East for stiff T of clubs and lead the J of clubs off dummy before touching hearts. That feels like a worse play than what I did, though, so I don't feel bad about it.

4 different NS pairs went down undoubled in a variety of contracts. 3 hearts, 4 hearts twice, and 3NT. 3 hearts went down 2 on one board, so we get full points for beating them for a total of 5 MPs. The people that beat us were 1NT+1, 3 hearts, and 4 hearts.

Professor Jack disagrees with a lot of my bidding. He thinks I should bid 2 hearts over 1NT. He thinks I should bid 3 hearts over 2 spades. And he wants me to pass out 3 clubs.

Ranking after board 14/60: 7/16 with 53.06%