Bridge Match 2 - Board 44

Board 44 - Dealer West - NS Vul

Opponents convention card: Jack
Opponents playing strength: Intermediate

My hand: ♠ A 2 ♥ K Q J 9 ♦ T 3 ♣ A T 8 7 5

Partner opens 1 diamond in second chair. East interferes with a preempt of 3 spades. I double. Partner bids 3NT which gets passed out.

East leads the Q of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	1♦	3♠	Double1
Pass	3NT	Pass	Pass
Pass
1Penalty

I have 2 spades and 2 clubs. So I need to find 5 more tricks. It's entirely possible East only has 2 spades though (I would think West has 7 for the 3 spade bid), so I may be able to give up the lead twice without getting slaughtered. Clubs I can choose which hand to lose to, but I want to make that choice after they play the second round of spades. Getting all the clubs also isn't enough so I should probably play hearts first anyway. Or maybe diamonds? Diamonds are pretty scary, actually, since I'm missing the A and Q. The problem with hearts is I may lose a trick to the T of hearts. But then I can try to get all 5 clubs... Anyway, worry about that later. First I win a spade and play hearts. Q-2-8-K. 4-A-9-3. Huzzah! 3 heart tricks now. East returns the spade. J-A-4-6.

Ok... Should I cash my hearts first? If I do I probably set up a heart for them, actually. I think I need to just play clubs. Should I finesse the Q or play for the drop? If I was sure West had 7 spades I'd go for the finesse for sure. Against Andrew that would be a safe bet for sure. Actually, East had QJ of spades and my team had the AK. Would Jack really jump to the 3 level with 6 spades to the T? I have to assume no. Ok, finesse on East it is. I start by casting the A from hand. A-2-6-3. 5-Q-K-4. Everybody's a winner!

I cash out my 10 tricks and give them whatever 2 tricks they want. Making 4.

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

3NT+1 was a top board. There were 6 different contracts on this board with 8 different results. EW went down 1 in 1 heart. My side played 3NT twice (+1 and just in), 5 clubs twice (-2 and just in), 6NT-1, 6C-2, and 4H-2. It also turns out East bid spades, not West, so my entire logic while playing the hand was backwards and wrong. I was planning on finessing into the dangerous hand. Better lucky than good!


Captain Jack disagrees with my double of 3 spades. He wants me to just bid 3NT. Now, I didn't think my double was penalty. I thought it was negative. If I'd known it was penalty I would have bid 3NT instead. But in what world is it penalty? Jack also wants me to play clubs first, not hearts. I think that is wrong.

Ranking after board 44/60: 1/16 with 57.95%