Bridge Match 3 - Board 54

Board 54 - Dealer East - EW Vul

Opponents convention card: Bridge World Standard
Opponents playing strength: Good

My hand: ♠ 8 6 4 ♥ 9 7 2 ♦ A 3 ♣ K T 9 6 5

West opens 1 club in 3rd seat. Partner bids 1 diamond. East bids 1 spade. With no real red suit to speak of I can't really bid here, so I pass. West bids 1NT which gets passed around to me. I wonder if 2 clubs would make sense as a bid here... They're not playing doubleton club so probably not? Sure, let's play 1NT.

Partner leads the T of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	Pass
1♣	1♦	1♠	Pass
1NT	Pass	Pass	Pass

T-J-A-7. Partner should have at least 5 diamonds for his overcall which means I should really return a diamond and hope he has an entry somewhere else. 3-4-K-6. 9-Q-2 of hearts-2. Declarer shifts to hearts. 4-7-A-6. And then to spades. 9-2-3-4. I don't like when the 9 wins a trick... And another. T-Q-K-6. Declarer then cashes a heart and 3 spades. Partner didn't keep a 5th diamond so he has to give them the A of clubs at the end. Making 3.

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

There are a wide variety of results this time around. EW played all the contracts with 3 people making 4 spades, 1 person going down 1 in 4 spades, 1 person is 2 spades making 4, 2 people in 1NT making 4, and us in 1NT making 3. This means we get 12 MPs! Mostly because declarer screwed up and gave us an extra trick for no reason, but I'll take it.


Jack agrees with me all the way!

Ranking after board 54/60: 8/16 with 51.06%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 53

Board 53 - Dealer North - NS Vul

Opponents convention card: Bridge World Standard
Opponents playing strength: Good

My hand: ♠ 2 ♥ 9 8 7 2 ♦ 7 6 3 ♣ A 9 7 6 4

West opens 1 spade in 4th seat. Partner doubles and East bids 2NT which is alerted as a constructive raise. My hand is not great, but we probably have a double fit. And I do want partner to know what suit to lead. So I bid 3 clubs. West bids 4 clubs showing a control in clubs for spades. East retreats to 4 spades and that's where they stay.

Partner leads the Q of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	Pass
1♠	Double	2NT1	3♣
4♣2	Pass	4♠	Pass
Pass	Pass
1Constructive raise
2Control in clubs for spades

This shouldn't be a Rusinov lead since I bid the suit, but I bet Jack thinks it is. I'm pretty sure West has a void here, but I guess it could be stiff king? If it is then popping the ace sets up the jack on dummy anyway, so I play low. Q-2-7-7 of spades. Then they start taking tricks and never stop. Making 7.

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

Every table had 13 tricks taken in spades. 2 tables bid up to a small slam, 3 stopped in 5 spades, and 3 stopped in 4 spades. So we get 9 MPs here.


Jack doesn't like my 3 club bid and wants me to pass. He then wanted me to win the A of clubs on the first trick. Which makes no sense, since he had the KQ. Either he should lead the Q and be happy with my duck or he should lead the K to remove the ambiguity. Leading the Q and yelling at me for ducking is stupid.

Ranking after board 53/60: 9/16 with 50.4%

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%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 51

Board 51 - Dealer South - EW Vul

Opponents convention card: Majeure cinquième
Opponents playing strength: Advanced

My hand: ♠ T 8 4 ♥ 9 3 ♦ J 7 6 ♣ A Q T 9 7

West opens 1 diamond in second seat, partner doubles, and East bids 1 spade. I've got something worth telling partner about so I bid 2 clubs. It gets passed back around to East who bids 2 diamonds. Which gets passed out.

Partner leads the 4 of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1♦	Pass	1♠	2♣
Pass	Pass	2♦	Pass
Pass	Pass

4-3-A-2. I can play more clubs and try to run dummy out of trump but that feels wrong. I can draw trump first? Or I can hope from the bidding that partner has good hearts and wants me to return them through declarer. That sounds like a plan. 9-5-K-7. Partner cashes another heart. A-8-3-2. And then he hooks me up with a ruff. T-J-6 of diamonds-4.

Ok, it feels like declarer should have the Q of hearts still, so I want to get into partner's hand for him to pound through another heart for me to ruff. (Or at least force dummy to ruff high and maybe get a trump promotion for partner.) Clubs is really the best bet for having that happen, and I want to make sure partner takes the trick, so I lead low. 7-K-8-6. Oh well. Declarer draws two rounds of trump and then plays a spade to partner's ace. And then declarer is up. Making 2.

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

One NS pair made 3 clubs. 1 EW pair went down 1 in 3 diamonds. 5 made 2 diamonds, and 1 made 2 diamonds up 1. So we get 6 MPs for being in the big tie in the middle. I wish Jack followed the law since he really should have raised my 2 club bid to 3 which was the winning play on this board.


Jack disagrees with my pass over 2 diamonds. He wants me to bid 3 clubs on my own. I don't think it's my position to be making that bid. There's no reason to assume his double of 1 diamond actually shows 4 clubs. It's much safer for me to bid clubs once and then let him take over if he likes clubs.

Ranking after board 51/60: 9/16 with 50%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 50

Board 50 - Dealer East - NS Vul

Opponents convention card: Majeure cinquième
Opponents playing strength: Advanced

My hand: ♠ K 8 7 3 2 ♥ A Q 7 6 ♦ A 5 ♣ 8 4

I open 1 spade in 2nd seat. Partner responds 2 diamonds. I bid 2 hearts. He jumps to 4.

West leads the T of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1♠
Pass	2♦	Pass	2♥1
Pass	4♥	Pass	Pass
Pass
1Forcing

Well, that sure was an interesting bid on partner's part... Why are we playing in our likely 7 card fit when he has a 7 card suit of his own? On the plus side I have 3 obvious losers in the black suits and 11 obvious winners in the red suits. Unless hearts split 5-1 or worse. So there's not a whole lot to say here... They'll take as many black tricks as they wants and then we win.

West puts me to as much of a test as he can. They take the opening spade trick, then 2 clubs, then lead another club. If East had only 2 clubs and West has 4 hearts they could be setting up a trump trick here. Do I have any play to stop it? Ruffing high on board loses a trick to any 4-2 split. Ruffing in hand loses a trick to any 4-2 split. So I need to ruff low and hope East has a club, or East has 3+ hearts.

He had a club. But I'm not yet out of the woods. I don't have a way to draw trump exclusively here. My only play is to draw two rounds from board and then play a diamond to my hand to draw two more rounds. This loses big when one of them has a diamond void but I don't see any way around it. No one has a diamond void. They made me think a lot more than I thought I'd need to, but it was all for naught. Making 4.

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

4 hearts is a solo top board. 2 tables made 5 diamonds. 1 table went down 1 in 5 diamonds. And 4 tables went down 2 in 3NT. This means picking hearts, strange as it seemed at the time, meant we got 14 MPs instead of 12 if we'd played 5 diamonds or 4 if we'd played 3NT. Good job partner! We're down so taking volatile risks like this makes a ton of sense.


Jack agrees with me all the way!

Ranking after board 50/60: 9/16 with 50.14%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 49

Board 49 - Dealer North - None Vul

Opponents convention card: Majeure cinquième
Opponents playing strength: Advanced

My hand: ♠ A K J 9 ♥ T 9 5 ♦ A T 8 5 ♣ J T

I open 1NT in third seat. West doubles and partner redoubles. I have no idea what Jack thinks we're playing. Redouble here by him should be to play. My hand is pretty good for a weak NT, so I'm happy here if he is. West also passes and we get to play 1NT redoubled! Woo!

West leads the ace of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1NT
Double1	Redouble2	Pass	Pass
Pass
114+ points
2Clubs OR hearts and a second suit

Well, it turns out partner's bid was the start of a scramble using some system I don't know or don't remember. I think North's hand should bid 2 clubs here since his hand is such garbage and he actually has a 5 card suit. Without a 5 carder he should pass and let me redouble for him to start scrambling. Anyway, we are obviously dead in the water here, and I can't fathom this being anything but a bottom board. I hope to maybe take 5 tricks.

Juh? East goes and SHOWS OUT on the first trick. West has a 6 card club suit! But if he tries to set it up I actually get 2 club tricks. And then he cashes two more clubs. I now have 2 club tricks to go with my 2 spade tricks and 1 diamond trick. Endplaying west to give me the J of spades seems impossible now, but I should be able to finesse a diamond for a 6th trick. West cashes a heart and then leads a low diamond. This is pretty much screaming that he doesn't have the K, but I lose the ability to finesse diamonds if I don't take it now. So I try it, and East has the K. Now I have another finesse into West's hand. On the plus side he has shown up with 13 of his 14+ points. Anyway, I don't actually have an entry to board to get at those clubs. They have at least 4 tricks they can cash. Maybe more if East has a running heart suit. So my max is 5 tricks. I can only cash out for 3 tricks, so I might as well throw someone in and see what happens.

But first I cash a spade in case something funny goes on. Both of them show in. East has already pitched 2 spades so they only have 2 spades left between them. If West started with Qx I can actually take 3 more tricks here. And I really don't see any reasonable plays for tricks. I cash the K and West drops the Q! Woo! I even have a low spade left in hand as an entry to board! So I have 7 tricks here, but I don't have the communication to get at them. But down 1 is way better than I was expecting and they sure will cash more than 3 tricks if I give up the lead. There is one line of play that lets me make... If West's last 3 cards are diamonds and he has the J9 I can throw him in. He'll get 2 diamond tricks but then will be forced to lead a club or a diamond back. How likely is that to be the layout? Could West really be 2-1-4-6 with the stiff A of hearts? It would explain his switch away from hearts... East would have to be 4-6-3-0 for this to be the case. I guess that's not unreasonable. Is down 1 redoubled going to be worth any MPs at all? No, I actually can't see how it would be. What NS pair is going to score worse than -200? They set 3NT off the top with the spade split. But EW can make 4 hearts I think. (We get a diamond and 2 spades and nothing else.) But would they play in a 7 card fit instead of NT? I don't think so. Which means -200 should be a bottom. And I have nothing to lose by going big? Actually, under my assumed layout the same result happens if I cash out and lead a low diamond off board. West can take a club and 2 diamonds? That's not the same at all. But I can find a layout where he only gets 1 diamond. Ok, I run that. East has the J of diamonds so no plan works. Except, it turns out, the play that East is terrible. He pitched a heart and kept a low diamond so he's forced to give me the last trick in hand. 1NT REDOUBLED MAKING! SUCK IT!

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

1NT redoubled is unsurprisingly a top board. Perhaps more surprising is the fact that 4 EW pairs made it to 4 hearts with 2 more in 3 hearts and 1 in 3 clubs. 2 of the 4 heart contracts went down, the other 2 made, so even 1NTXX-1 would have been worth 4 MPs. Cashing out was definitely right.


Jack disagrees with my pass. Because I have enough strength to bid 2 clubs. I don't understand that comment. The implication is I should pass with a weaker hand. Which is fine if his redouble shows strength, but when it shows garbage this whole thing is off. Jack also disagrees with my pitch at trick 11. I guess since 1NTXX was a top board I really should have pitched my spade. There was no way I was scoring it. And maybe someone had 3 diamonds left and would be forced to give me one?

Ranking after board 49/60: 10/16 with 49.13%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 48

Board 48 - Dealer West - EW Vul

Opponents convention card: Dutch Doubleton
Opponents playing strength: Good

My hand: ♠ K J 8 5 4 ♥ 9 ♦ A K 8 5 ♣ 4 3 2

East opens 1 heart in 3rd seat. I overcall 1 spade. West bids 2 spades as a constructive raise, partner passes, and East bids 3 spades. ALL THE SPADES! This one shows control in spades for hearts. They cuebid some more and end up settling in 6 hearts.

East should have a singleton A of spades for the cuebidding. He should also have a stiff diamond. I'm not sure I believe their cuebids. I lead the K of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	1♥	1♠
2♠1	Pass	3♠2	Pass
4♣3	Pass	4♦4	Double5
4♥	Pass	4♠6	Pass
5♥	Pass	6♥	Pass
Pass	Pass
1Constructive raise
2Control in spades for hearts
3Control in clubs for hearts
4Control in diamonds for hearts
5Penalty
6Control in spades for hearts

K-3-6-Q. Well, it is looking like stiff Q of diamonds after all. But I can't see a reason to play any other cards and I'm not setting up dummy so I try to cash another diamond. It gets ruffed. Then he draws trump, runs clubs, cashes a spade, and ruffs a spade. And is up, actually. Making 6.

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

Every table takes 6 tricks in hearts. But somehow 6 of the tables fail to find a slam. So we only get 1 MP.


Jack mildly disagrees with my double of 4 diamonds. Because he thinks it's a penalty double. It has to be lead directional. (They might end up in 6NT or something and he needs to know about my AK of diamonds. He also disagrees with leading the A of diamonds at trick 2. He'd rather I lead a low diamond. That's insane. If East is false carding from QJ tight it loses the contract! He also gets bitter at my signaling after I knew they had 12 tricks and was just playing the hand out.

Ranking after board 48/60: 12/16 with 48.07%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 47

Board 47 - Dealer South - NS Vul

Opponents convention card: Dutch Doubleton
Opponents playing strength: Good

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

East opens 1 heart in 4th seat. I once again have a RAPTOR hand but I don't think Jack knows what that is. So I pass. The end up in 4 hearts.

I lead the T of clubs.

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

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

T-Q-4-A. East decides to draw one round of trump and then leads a spade. 3-8-K-9. He fires back another spade which partner wins with the Q. Unless I want to overtake and lead instead? I think I do want that. Partner may be able to ruff a spade here. Well, by ruff I mean pitch since my spade is high. I try to give partner another pitch but he ruffs my high spade with the 2 of hearts. East doesn't overruff for some reason. Partner then cashes the A of diamonds and punches through the Q to East's K. East is then up. Down 1.

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

They have 10 easy tricks so it isn't surprising that 6 tables made 4 hearts. The last table went down 2 in 4 hearts. Our declarer threw away a trick by failing to overruff. What happened at that table? Anyway, we get 12 MPs. Woo!


Captain Jack agrees with me all the way!

Ranking after board 47/60: 10/16 with 48.94%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 46

Board 46 - Dealer East - None Vul

Opponents convention card: Dutch Doubleton
Opponents playing strength: Good

My hand: ♠ T 9 7 6 ♥ Q T ♦ Q J 9 7 4 ♣ T 8

East opens 1 heart and I'm not going to get involved this time around. West jumps to 3 diamonds as a Bergen raise. Partner tries to eat up some bidding room with a 4 diamond bid. East bids 4 spades as a cuebid showing a control in spades for hearts. Well... The opponents are well on their way to slam. And I happen to have QJxxx of a suit partner was willing to bid at the 4 level on his own. I'm definitely bidding here. The question is, what? We have at least 10 diamonds between us, and I'd say 11 is pretty likely. So the opponents have at most 1 diamond loser. I have QT tight of their trump suit, so they're not going to lose anything there. East claims to have spades covered. West has to have 10-12 points over there so he probably has clubs locked up. I'd say they're almost certainly making 6 hearts, which is worth 980 points. Down 4 doubled will only be 800 points, so that's where I want to be. I'd say we're probably taking 8 tricks? Partner's 6 trump and then 2 ruffs in my hand? It's entirely possible partner only has 5 trump, or that we can't find cards to ruff. It's also possible we find extra cards to ruff. At any rate, if we take 8 tricks and want to go down 4 then 6 diamonds is actually the place to be. Do we really only have 5 losers? If partner has a stiff spade, yes. We're probably losing 2 hearts, 2 clubs, and all the spades in partner's hand. Him having a singleton is possible, but I don't think I'm willing to bank everything on it. So I'll make the safe bid of 5 diamonds. West bids 5 hearts, partner bids 6 diamonds, East bids 6 hearts and everyone passes. (In retrospect... Maybe if partner is willing to go to 6 diamonds I should bump it to 7?)

I'm on lead. I can actually imagine a lot of situations where they have 13 tricks if we don't cash our diamond. I could bet everything on partner having a spade void but if that was my plan I should have just bid 7 diamonds. So I lead the Q of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
		1♥	Pass
3♦1	4♦	4♠2	5♦
5♥	6♦	6♥	Pass
Pass	Pass
1Bergen (invitational, 4+ hearts)
2Control in spades for hearts

Q-A-8-3 of clubs. Whoa. Partner has SEVEN! And not the ace. We were getting murdered in 6 diamonds doubled! Declarer then draws trump. 3-3 of diamonds-A-T. Ok. Partner has a void, and it's in hearts. So maybe we weren't so murdered after all. 2 club losers, a diamond, and as many spades as partner has. Ok, that's still only down 4 when he has a singleton. And a 1-0-7-5 distribution feels pretty unlikely.

The play from that point is pretty straightforward. I have no decisions at all to make. But it turns out partner scores both the A and Q of clubs! So they're actual down 1! Huzzah! Even better, there are lines of play that actually let them make the contract (finesse with the J of clubs) so this may be a good score.

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

3 people went down in 6 hearts, with one table going down 2 somehow. Other results were someone making 4 hearts up 1, someone making 5 hearts doubled, someone making 6 hearts, and someone making 6 hearts doubled. Ouch! This is worth a whopping 11 MPs for my team which is a welcome break from our run of terrible scores.


Jack disagrees with my diamond bid, because 'Jack expects a disaster after 5 diamonds.' I think Jack needs to read up on the Law of Total Tricks! He then disagrees with my opening lead because he doesn't understand Rusinow leads. He wants me to lead the J from QJ. Which would be right in a normal suit, but when leading partner's bid suit that convention is off. (Because of the number of times you want to lead the suit from Qxx or Jx or whatever.)

Ranking after board 46/60: 10/16 with 48.14%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 45

Board 45 - Dealer North - All Vul

Opponents convention card: Dutch Doubleton
Opponents playing strength: Good

My hand: ♠ 8 7 ♥ Q 3 ♦ A J 7 4 3 ♣ A 9 7 2

Partner opens 1 spade and East passes. My hand is good enough for a bid at the two level so I bust out 2 diamonds. Partner jumps to 4 clubs. I think this has to be a splinter setting diamonds as the trump suit. Ideally I should cuebid my cheapest control. I guess having Axxx of clubs is actually pretty good opposite partner's singleton, and passing the other suits should let partner know I can't help in those. So I bid 5 clubs. Partner retreats to 5 diamonds and I have no reason to go against his judgment.

West leads the T of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
	1♠	Pass	2♦
Pass	4♣1	Pass	5♣2
Pass	5♦	Pass	Pass
Pass
1Splinter
2Control in clubs for diamonds

Well, 6 sure is cold as ice. I feel like partner was probably too timid. I'm almost guaranteed to have the A of diamonds on this auction (I don't have the A of hearts and I have 10+ points. I guess I could have AKQ of clubs and the J of spades which sure would suck.

Anyway, they play 2 rounds of hearts and no one ruffs so I am up. Making 6.

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

5 of the tables bid and made 6 diamonds. The remaining 2 tables played 5 diamonds with one making 7 and one making 5. So we get 2 MPs. *sigh*


Jack doesn't like my 5 clubs bid. He wants me to bid 4 diamonds. He then doesn't like my pass of 5 diamonds and wants me to go to 6. You can't have it both ways, Jack. You think my hand is so bad I have to retreat to diamonds but good enough to push for slam after partner has screamed that we have 2 losers in the majors? I don't think so. Even if I had bid 4 diamonds he'd show a spade control, I'd show a club control, and then he signs off in 5 diamonds anyway. We're off 2 heart tricks on that auction! We should be in a 33 point hand where we can't make slam. That's why we cuebid!

There's a concept I've read that talks about how you should picture partner as having a 'perfect minimum' hand and see where that leads you. If Jack had done that he'd have imagined something like Axxx of diamonds, Axx of clubs, and the Q of hearts. 6 is cold with that hand! And you also have to keep in mind the fact that I thought my hand was good enough to cuebid so I really can't have a terrible minimum. 4 small diamonds with 9 points in clubs is not worth a slam going bid opposite a club splinter.

I thought maybe Jack plays 'fast arrival is bad' and therefore 4 diamonds would have been a slam try with extras in diamonds (while 5 diamonds would be signoff) but no. If I jump to 5 diamonds partner raises to 6. Yes, that's right... If I make a slam going bid Jack will sign off. If I show a minimum with no interest i slam he'll bid slam. (Looking at what he thinks the bids mean, 5 diamonds is 10-11 points, 4 diamonds is 10-13 points, and 5 clubs is 10+. So he does know that 5 diamonds should be bad and 5 clubs should be good. He just didn't put that information into action.

On some of the more recent hands we've got bad scores because I've made mistakes or have made 'interesting' bids. But this hand I really like what I did and we still get a terrible result because Jack is bad. Which is a little frustrating. Jack would be getting an earful from me on the bus ride home from the club!

Ranking after board 45/60: 12/16 with 47.46%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 44

Board 44 - Dealer West - NS Vul

Opponents convention card: Jack
Opponents playing strength: Advanced

My hand: ♠ A ♥ T 8 6 4 ♦ Q 6 ♣ K Q J 6 3 2

East opens 1 club in third seat. It is alerted because it could be short. Given that I have a nice 6 card suit I'm betting it is! 2 clubs would show the majors, so I'm not sure I have a good bid? This would be a fine hand for RAPTOR! Maybe? I don't know if it can show clubs when they open a potentially short club. I think my best bet to get across my hand is to jump to 3 clubs. That should be preemptive I would think, and I do have a hand better than a preempt opener. I'm worried Jack will misinterpret this bid, but what can you do? He'll surely misinterpret any other option! 3 clubs gets passed out, so I guess not!

West leads the T of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	1♣1	3♣
Pass	Pass	Pass
1Could be short

Interesting. I have a club loser, 4 heart losers, and 2 diamond losers. I have no entries to board so even if I could establish the long diamonds I have no way to reach them. I could ruff a heart, but not if they draw the trump off board which looks to be their plan. I can't even use dummy's K of spades since I have no way to get to it unless the opponents do it for me. I guess I need to give them that chance. I win the first club trick (why didn't East take his A?) cash the A of spades, and then run out a heart. 4-5-J-Q. East draws more trump and West shows out. So East started with Axxx in clubs. This hand is going swimmingly.

What can I do now? If I have to lead clubs I will lose 2 of them (East has A7 left to my K6). I guess I have plenty of exits... The rest of my hand! I can't even try to run East out of exits to make him lead a spade to me since I have no winners to cash! I decide to throw out a diamond since those are sure losers. (I might be able to score my T of hearts if I don't lead them.) East wins with the J and draws 1 round of trump for me. He then cashes the A of hearts and plays a low one.

The K and 9 are outstanding. So I need to make a guess here. If East has the 9 and I play the 8 I gain a trick. If East has the K and I play the T I gain a trick. If East has both then it doesn't matter which I play. If West has both it doesn't matter which I play. Do I have any reason to expect one of them to have one or the other of these? Well, East has already shown up with 11 points, and they have 23 left between them. But with 9 points left in diamonds and spades it isn't like I can play the points in either hand. They both should have some of the remaining points. If East had AKQ3 would he really run out the 3 on the 3rd round? I decide no. So I play the 8. West wins the 9. Then he cashes the K so it really didn't matter. West then returns a spade for me. I win it and all the trump in my hand. Down 2.

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

Every other table played hearts from the other side, with 6 of them going down. The last table made 3 hearts which is still better than our vulnerable down 2. So we get another flat bottom. We're on quite the downward spiral!


Jack wants me to pass. He also wants me to play the T of hearts when I have that choice. I tried passing and the opponents end up bidding their way to 4 hearts where we put them down 2. Which would have been worth 8 MPs in the 7 way tie for first. Though I will point out that we get to the same score if partner opens his hand the way he should with a 2 diamond preempt!

Ranking after board 44/60: 11/16 with 48.21%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 43

Board 43 - Dealer South - None Vul

Opponents convention card: Jack
Opponents playing strength: Advanced

My hand: ♠ K 7 5 3 ♥ 6 5 3 2 ♦ 9 3 ♣ 9 4 3

Well, no danger of me confusing Jack with my bids on this hand! West opens 1 spade, partner overcalls 2 clubs, and East makes a negative double. I do have 3 card support for partner, terrible as it is. Ok, I can do this. I bid 3 clubs. It gets passed around to East who doubles again, this time competitive. West pulls to 3 spades.

Partner leads the K of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1♠	2♣	Double1	3♣
Pass	Pass	Double2	Pass
3♠	Pass	Pass	Pass
1Negative
2Competitive

K-6-3-2. A-7-4-8. Partner should know now that declarer is out of clubs. He decides to make declarer ruff which is probably a good choice on this misfit of a hand. Declarer then draws some trump. 4-8-9-K.

I'm in, for probably the only time ever. I can throw declarer back in with a trump if I want, or I can lead something juicy for dummy. His diamonds are super solid so leading them can't hurt and I may be able to cut communication for declarer by doing so. Run it. 9-A-2-4. Declarer draws all my trump and still has a diamond left to lead to dummy, so he is up.

Making 4.

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

We are the only table to let them take 10 tricks in spades, so we get a flat bottom. 5 tables played in diamonds which is worth less being a minor and all, and the other 2 tables in spades took their A of h earts.


Jack doesn't like my club bid. I think it should be a weak to very weak bid. I'm a passed hand and can redouble with relevant values. We're not trying to find a game at this point, we're trying to make them play in the wrong spot. We made them play in the right spot, it turns out, but you can't always win. Taking away the 2 level rates to put them in the wrong spot more often than it puts them out of the wrong spot I would think.

Ranking after board 43/60: 10/16 with 49.34%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 42

Board 42 - Dealer East - All Vul

Opponents convention card: Jack
Opponents playing strength: Advanced

My hand: ♠ A K ♥ 8 2 ♦ J 9 6 5 ♣ Q J T 9 4

I open 1 club in second seat. Partner responds 1 heart, Walsh. So if he has 4+ diamonds he also has a good hand. Hmm. I think 1NT here is probably a strong NT since we're playing weak NT? Man, that sure makes Walsh a bad convention to run... And I'm stuck for a bid here. Rebid clubs? I think I need to just bid 1NT and then if it gets treated as strong I'll need to fiddle with the card. Partner then jumps to 3 spades. So his hand should be really, really good? Why wouldn't he bid 2 spades? What use is eating up all the bidding room? I don't know. I don't know what he wants me to bid. So I try 3NT. He bids 4NT. I think this should be qualitative (and therefore I should pass) but I bet he thinks it's Blackwood. We haven't set a trump suit though. It would have to be clubs I would think? Anyway, I have 1 ace and we're playing 1430 so I can just bid 5 clubs. Maybe he'll pass. Nope. He jumps to 6NT. This should be interesting...

W can hardly contain himself as he leads the A of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1♣
Pass	1♥1	Pass	1NT
Pass	3♠2	Pass	3NT
Pass	4NT3	Pass	5♣4
Pass	6NT	Pass	Pass
Pass
1Walsh
2Strong second suit
3Ace asking for hearts
41 or 4 aces

There's not a whole lot to say here... I have 7 tricks. I probably have an 8th in hearts. And that's pretty much it. Unless they cash the K of clubs too, in which case I get 3 more clubs. I could actually get out of this with down 1 if they guarantee setting me!

They try to do so, but the second club trick goes 2-6-3-9. Hmm. Why aren't they setting me? And if they aren't cashing out why are they setting up my tricks? I don't see a way to sneak 12 tricks. Even if the Q of spades drops I only get to 11. (1 club, 1 diamond, 5 hearts, 4 spades)

So I force them to win their club. West takes it and leads a heart. I take 2 hearts to check if they split 5-1. They don't, so I am up. Down one.

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

Unfortunately 6 of the tables played sane numbers of NT (2NT making, 3NT making 4 times, 3NT up 2). One pair tried for 4 hearts and went down one. So we get 1 MP.


Jack disagrees with my 1NT bid. Shocking, I know. He wants me to bid 2 clubs. Now, let's think about this... I didn't open a weak 1NT here because I had a 2-2-4-5 distribution. Most of the other hands where I'd want to rebid a weaker 1NT after Walsh are covered by just opening it in the first place. I was thinking of lying and opening 1NT anyway. Ok... I think the system is fine. I just screwed up here. I should have bid 2 clubs. We easily get to 3NT where I proceed to make 5 which would have been 13MPs instead of 1. Sorry Jack.

Ranking after board 42/60: 9/16 with 50.51%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 41

Board 41 - Dealer North - EW Vul

Opponents convention card: Jack
Opponents playing strength: Advanced

My hand: ♠ K 5 3 ♥ T 6 2 ♦ A Q T 9 5 ♣ A T

I open 1NT in 3rd seat. West immediately overcalls 2 spades which shows 5 spades, a 4+ card minor, and less than 4 hearts. I'm pretty sure that minor is clubs and I wonder if bidding 3 diamonds here, while insane, might not be the right call. I can't bring myself to do it.

Partner leads the Q of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1NT
2♠1	Pass	Pass	Pass
1Multi Landy

Q-3-2-A. Declarer decides to draw trump. A-7-9-3. 2-6-T-K. I'm in. I can try drawing dummy's last trump but I don't know what he's ruffing. If it's a diamond I get in again anyway and can draw it later. I probably just want to pound a heart through for partner. T-4-7-5. I'm still in. One more heart. 6-9-J-8. That's 12 hearts and partner has the Q left. Partner decides to shift to a club. 5-4-A-3. I send one back. T-K-2-7. Declarer draws my last trump and then runs clubs since it turns out both partner and I are out.

I get my high diamond ruffed at the end. We could have held them to 2, but instead they make 3.

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

My side made 3 or 4 diamonds at 4 of the tables. Guess that wasn't such an insane bid after all? They all likely opened 1 diamond though. One poor pair tried for 3NT and went down 3. The remaining 3 tables played in spades. 2 were in 2 spades making 3, one was in 3 spades making 2. So we get 3 MPs on the hand.


Jack disagrees with my pass over 2 spades. He wants me to bid 2NT! I guess I have a spade stopper, but if partner wanted me to take action he should have said something. Unilaterally trying to play 2NT on my 13 count feels crazy. He then disagrees with my signal on the opening lead. Jack wants me to encourage with Txx. This also feels crazy. Especially since I'd rather he played any other suit when he gets in! Finally Jack would have cashed the A of diamonds at the end before returning that last club. I figured partner had to have a reason for choosing clubs over diamonds and was actually shocked when he showed out. Oh well.

Ranking after board 41/60: 8/16 with 51.57%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 40

Board 40 - Dealer West - None Vul

Opponents convention card: Majeure Cinquième
Opponents playing strength: Good

My hand: ♠ 9 6 ♥ J 3 ♦ J 9 4 ♣ J T 8 5 3 2

Parter opens 1 spade in 2nd seat. East overcalls 2 hearts. My hand is really, really bad. I do have 6 clubs, but I have no possible entry to my hand. My hand does not help partner out. So I pass. West jumps to 4 hearts. They shouldn't be able to make game after we opened, but then again I have a 3 count. Take it away, opponents!

I lead the 6 of spades.

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

West	North	East	South

6-5-T-K. Well, looks like they have spades locked up! Declarer decides to draw some trump. A-3-2-K. 5-J-Q-8 of diamonds. Things are looking very good for the other team. They switch to clubs. 6-4-A-8. Cash a spade, cash a club, finesse diamonds. 6-4-K-A. Partner finally took a trick! Woo!

Partner cashes another diamond and then tries for a third but declarer ruffs. Dummy is up. Making 5.

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

6 tables played 4 hearts making 5. 2 tables played 4 hearts making 6. So we get 9 MPs on this hand.


Jack disagrees with my spade lead because I lead low. I was thinking that we're playing Rusinow leads and therefore the 9 would show the T. But since it was partner's bid suit of course that wouldn't be the case. Oops. It sure didn't change the outcome of the hand though!

Ranking after board 40/60: 8/16 with 52.32%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 39

Board 39 - Dealer South - All Vul

Opponents convention card: Majeure Cinquième
Opponents playing strength: Good

My hand: ♠ J T 2 ♥ Q T 9 8 4 ♦ Q 7 ♣ K 5 2

I get to kick things off with a pass. West bids 1 spade which then gets passed around to me. My team is likely to have more points, but only by a little, and we don't know if we have a fit or not. We don't know if they do either. So leaving them in 1 spade might be the optimal thing to do, especially red on red. I kinda want to double here to give partner the option of converting to penalty if he has 4 or 5 spades but I doubt Jack has that ability and I worry we'll end up playing 4 diamonds in a 3-2 fit or something silly like that. But I want to bid! I feel like 2 hearts should show more hearts than this... Eh, double is probably right with a real partner so I'll give Jack the benefit of the doubt. I double, West bids 2 diamonds, and everyone passes to me again. Ok, well, we got them up a level and into West's second suit. Take it away!

Partner leads the 2 of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1♠	Pass	Pass	Double
2♦	Pass	Pass	Pass

Well, looks like partner has 4 spades. And we're drawing trump so he can score them without just having them ruffed. I like it. 2-3-Q-K. Declarer also wants to draw trump. T-5-6-7. Then he switches to spades. K-3-9-2. 4-5-A of diamonds-T. And now a low club off of dummy. 3-2-T-J. Partner decides clubs is as good a suit as any to play. Q-4-5-A. Partner and declarer are now both out of clubs. Partner played low on the first spade trick so he should have an odd number of spades. This means declarer has 6 spades and partner has 3. Declarer is probably 6-1-5-1.

Anyway, declarer now draws some more trump. I have some low hearts to spare! J-4-6 of clubs-4 of hearts. If declarer was 6-1-5-1 he has all the remaining spades and diamonds after he plays the A of spades, which he does. But then he plays a low spade to partner's Q. I guess partner had 4 spades after all. I pitch my extraneous K of clubs and have no more decisions to make. All my hearts are equal since I can cover dummy's J with my Q.

Partner cashes a couple of tricks and then declarer is up. I suspect he had a play to get an extra trick by not cashing his A of hearts. Oh well. They make 3.

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

Two West's went down 1 in 3 diamonds. Two West's made 3 diamonds. A West made 2 spades up 1. One West made 1 spade doubled just in. And one North went down 1 in 2 hearts. Pushing them out of spades into diamonds was therefore with 3 MPs! Unfortunately that means we only get 6 MPs on the hand. And if we could have held them to 2 diamonds? That would have been 10 MPs. *sigh*


Jack disagrees with my double because it's supposed to be for takeout. He wants me to bid 2 hearts instead. I feel like that's probably a disaster too often to be a good play. And I can pull to hearts after I double if partner bids a minor. This only really works because I'm already a passed hand. But it does work. And the double isn't really takeout anyway. I replayed the hand and partner couldn't have stopped the heart trick at the end because he was nicely endplayed by declarer. And there was never a time when he could have played differently I don't think.

Ranking after board 39/60: 7/16 with 52.26%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 38

Board 38 - Dealer East - EW Vul

Opponents convention card: Majeure Cinquième
Opponents playing strength: Good

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

I open 1 club with my moose of a hand. West jumps to 4 spades and it gets passed back to me. Way to put me to test! I have no idea what the right spot might be. 6 hearts? 7NT? 4 spades doubled? It really depends on what partner has and I have no real way of getting that info out of him. It's white on red so doubling is probably pretty good. I wonder if partner will take it as penalty or constructive or reopening. Partner pulls to 5 hearts and I gladly raise to 6.

East leads the 8 of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1♣
4♠	Pass	Pass	Double
Pass	5♥	Pass	6♥
Pass	Pass	Pass

Turns out Jack took my double as negative showing 4 hearts and 15+ points so I may not have had a good raise to 6? It's sure looking sketchy! I have a spade loser and all kinds of problems in clubs... I really think 4 spades doubled was a better place to be but I guess I can see why partner would pull? Anyway, there's not really going to be much to this hand I don't think. Win the ace of spades, diamond to board, finesse East for the Q of hearts, make them pitch a bunch on hearts and then hope I can get a club trick at the end for down 2.

I misplay and don't get my club. I needed to keep one trump in each hand so that when I threw West in with a spade he'd have to lead a club eventually or give me a ruff and sluff. Oh well.

Down 3 is good bridge?

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

That extra trick was completely irrelevant as we have a flat bottom with either score. Lots of people took 9 or 10 tricks in hearts. Others took 7 or 8 in spades. Only one contract made as one pair got to play 4 hearts. None of the spade contracts were doubled so if partner had passed my double we get a top. I don't know if he should pass my double, to be fair, but I think 543 of clubs is such a turnoff that I think I'd pass. But only if double actually is constructive and not negative.


Jack disagrees with my double and thinks I should have passed. Even though he thought my double showed 15+ points, exactly 4 hearts, 4+ clubs, and 4+ diamonds... I mean, I guess I only have 3 diamonds, but that hand construction is awfully narrow there Jack. Especially since I opened a club and not a diamond so I don't have the 1-4-4-4 or 0-4-5-4 distributions. He then disagrees with my 6 hearts bid. And if I know Jack thinks my double is takeout I agree. But if it's just showing cards? Any hand with few spades and many hearts is extra good with my hand. But Jack claims his bid only showed 3 hearts (how he could have 3 hearts and not prefer 5 clubs or 4 spades doubled is beyond me). He then disagrees with my finesse in hearts. I know, I know... 8 ever, 9 never. But I figured with West jumping to 4 spades he was less likely to have 3+ hearts and by extension less likely to have the Q then normal. He then doesn't like my drawing the last round of trump, which I actually agree with. I decided I should change what he thinks about a double of 4 spades in our convention card but it turns out all the options only have radio buttons up to 4 hearts so I have no way of modifying what that double meant.

Ranking after board 38/60: 7/16 with 52.26%

Bridge Match 3 - Board 37

Board 37 - Dealer North - NS Vul

Opponents convention card: Majeure Cinquième
Opponents playing strength: Good

My hand: ♠ J 9 7 5 ♥ K 6 3 ♦ K 9 ♣ J T 6 3

West opens 1NT in 4th chair. East bids 2NT which is a transfer to diamonds. West completes the transfer and that is that.

Partner leads the K of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	Pass
1NT	Pass	2NT1	Pass
3♦2	Pass	Pass	Pass
1Transfer to diamonds
2No support

K-2-6-4. Partner continues clubs despite dummy having none left. A-2 of diamonds-3-5. Declarer then decides to draw trump. T-9-8-3. 4-K-A-5. Now a spade to board. 3-8-Q-7. And now draw the last trump. J-J of clubs-5 of hearts-7. Back to spades. 2-5-A-6. K-2 of hearts-4-9. Ruff a club, then a heart to his T finessing me out of my king. But then he has to give it to me at the end anyway. Making 5.

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

We actually get a (tied) top board on this one, reversing our terrible trend of bottoming out. 4 tables bid 3NT and made (one made 6!) and one table actually made it to 6 diamonds and made 6. The remaining tables played 3 diamonds with one table making 5 and one making 6. So declarer pitching badly in hearts and not taking the spade finesse cost him a couple MPs. I'll take it!


Jack disagrees with my spade signal. He wants me to play high to signal event. I played the 7 from J975! I thought I was playing high! I guess since he'd played the 8 already my 7 and 9 were equivalent so I should have used the 9, but I know he'd be yelling at me if the 8 was outstanding even if it would later cost us a trick to lose a potentially high card in the 9.

Ranking after board 37/60: 5/16 with 53.67%