Bridge Match 3 - Board 52

Board 52 - Dealer West - All Vul

Opponents convention card: Majeure cinquième
Opponents playing strength: Advanced

My hand: ♠ A Q J 8 ♥ 7 2 ♦ A K 8 ♣ K 7 4 2

Partner opens 3 hearts in 2nd chair. Unfortunately it looks like I'm the one he preempted. I have a 17 count and stoppers in all the other suits. If partner has any outside entry, or a solid heart suit, then 3NT should be a good place. 4 hearts is probably a good place too, especially if partner doesn't have an outside entry. Would he know to pull out of 3NT if he has noentry? I hope so. I bid 3NT, he pulls to 4 hearts, and everyone passes.

East leads the J of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	3♥	Pass	3NT
Pass	4♥	Pass	Pass
Pass

Well, it turns out Qx of diamonds was an entry but he couldn't have known that. I have 2 club losers, 1 spade loser, and 1 heart loser. I can pitch one of those on my 3rd diamond though, so we're all good. Actually, I can possibly take lots of extra spade tricks too? And it's actually safe to finesse into West's hand since he has to lead up to my club K. At least, it will be safe after I draw trump. So my plan here is to win this trick with the Q, draw trump, and see what happens. If they take 2 club tricks then I'll just pitch my second spade on diamonds.

Hmm. East actually shows out of hearts on the first trick. So West has AT93. Which means I have another trump loser. West then cashes the A of clubs, setting up my K. Then he throws me back into my hand with a diamond. Which actually means I can cash out. Pitch a spade on the next diamond, then draw trump, lose one more heart, and be up.

Making 4.

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

Everyone played 4 hearts. 3 of us made, 3 went down 1, and 2 went up 1. So we get 8MPs on this hand.


Jack disagrees with my 3NT bid. He says it isn't bad, but that we should play 4 hearts because we have a fit. That's fair, but I do think starting with 3NT opens up the chance of getting a top board (with +10 points for playing in NT) as long as partner's on the same wavelength.

Ranking after board 52/60: 9/16 with 50.14%