Sunday, October 06, 2013

Bridge Match 2 - Board 21

Board 21 – Dealer North – NS Vul

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

My hand: T 8 5 4 2 K Q 9 J T 8 5 4

Partner opens 1 diamond. I respond 1 spade. West gets in there with 2 clubs which gets passed back to me. Given that we're vulnerable it's better to let them make 2 clubs than to go down 1. On the other hand, it's better to go down 1 than to let them make 2 clubs up one. But I'm not sure what I should bid if I want to keep going. What does double even mean here? With one fewer club I'd be happier with double, but I guess no matter what partner bids over double I'll be happy? Yeah, I'll be happy. I double. It gets passed out. I guess I should have decided if I was going to be happy if partner didn't bid...

Partner leads the 7 of spades.


NORTH
7

EAST
A J 9 3
8 7 4 3
7 6 4
K 2

SOUTH
T 8 5 4 2
K Q 9
J T
8 5 4


West North East South
1 Pass 1
2 Pass Pass Double1
Pass Pass Pass
1Penalty

Apparently my double was penalty. Unlucky! Well, better find a line of play to set them... Maybe partner has Axx of hearts, that will give us 3 heart tricks. If he has Axx of clubs too then I can give him 2 spade ruffs? Sure! Run it!

The opening spade trick goes 7-3-8-K. West then draws trump, but partner doesn't win with the A. 9-6-2-4. More trump. A-3-K-5. Now declarer switches to hearts. 6-5-3-9. Ok, I'm in, and we need 5 more tricks. I still think we have 2 more hearts. Dummy has no entries except maybe in spades. Do I need to play a spade to get rid of that? What if declarer started with just one spade, then I'd feel pretty silly. Could partner have led the 7 from Q-7-6? Yes. Yes he could have. Playing diamonds through declarer is probably wise. I might even get a diamond ruff if things work out well. Run it! J-K-A-4. Partner has a different plan and cashes a heart. A-4-Q-T. Then a diamond. Q-6-T-2. And another diamond. Partner leads the 9, which is high at this point. Should I ruff it anyway? Pitch my high heart? Both seem wrong. I pitch a spade. 9-7-2 of spades-8. One more diamond from partner. It's also high, but it can't be winning the trick. Partner must have started with 5 diamonds. But ruffing can't help either. Or can it? If I pitch a spade and partner has stiff Q left I give up a trick. I probably need my high heart, too... No, the spade can't matter. Declarer has too many trump in his hand for the 3rd spade to be relevant. 5-7 of hearts-4 of spades-7 of clubs. Declarer only has black cards left, so he is up. Making 2, doubled.


NORTH
7 6
A J 5 2
A Q 9 5 3
6 3

WEST
K Q
T 6
K 8 2
A Q J T 9 7

EAST
♠ A J 9 3
8 7 4 3
7 6 4
K 2

SOUTH
T 8 5 4 2
K Q 9
J T
8 5 4


2 clubs doubled, just in, is a terrible result. It beat one pair, where NS somehow played 3 spades and went down 3. Every other table was between -100 and -130 points, so 2 clubs undoubled just in would have been a top board. *sigh*

Captain Jack disagrees with my double and would have passed. I didn't think it was going to be penalty or I would have passed. He also disagrees with my play on the opening lead and wants me to signal with the 2 instead of vainly trying to 'win'. I guess that makes sense, but partner really should be able to derive that I have nothing when dummy has AJ and I can't play a good card.

Ranking after board 21/60: 7/16 with 50.34%

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