Oct 31 2010
Failure to Unblock
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(This picture doesn’t show it [i'm still figuring out the Hand Editor on BBO], but we were vulnerable and the opponents were not.)
Despite the opponents holding eleven diamonds, my partner and i were allowed an uninterrupted auction to 4♠. This deal occurred in a BBO match among friends.
I won the opening diamond lead and played a trump to the Ace and another trump to the Jack. I have to work on clubs now because entries to either hand are a little bit scarce. The club suit looks like it will block, and in my dismay about the 4-1 trump break, i fail to see how i am supposed to play the clubs. I begin with the ♣2. The Jack pops on my right, and when the Queen wins, it appears the clubs are 2-2. I go ahead and cash the Ace, and the King comes tumbling down.
Belatedly, i realize that any club but the deuce would have clearly worked against any club break. I would have been able to use the ♣2 as an entry to my hand. Whoops.
It appears that i always had 10+ tricks on this deal, and i may have conjured a way to go down.
Well, RHO has the trumps. If i lead another club now, he will be endplayed if he ruffs. I proceed, and he proceeds to ruff. He returns a diamond. This allows me to ruff in hand, pitching the high club from the table. I pull RHO’s last trump and run the clubs, pitching two hearts. I then lead a heart up to the King, and since the Ace was onside, i made eleven tricks.
My failure to unblock the clubs led to an interesting position for everyone. RHO knows something is wrong when i allow him to ruff the club holding nine of them. He also figures i do NOT have the ♥A since i would have no transportation problems if i did. (Also i would have bid differently.) His diamond play was an attempt to put me on the board to make me lead away from the hearts, or be forced to let him ruff another club.
It turns out, no matter how the remaining cards lie, i am cold for ten tricks even if the heart honors are over the King.
Everyone should know (after the third club was played) that my shape is 4225 or 4315. In the 4225 case, while i may have botched the club suit, i’m still cold for 10 tricks – I could ruff the diamond in dummy, pull the last trump, unblock the club, and concede two hearts. I’d still get four trumps, one ruff, the diamond bullet and four clubs.
In the actual 4315 case, the actual defense allowed a ruff-and-discard to get rid of the blocking club and later pitch two losing hearts. Result: 11 tricks. Does a heart return do better? As it turns out, no. A heart allows the ♥K to score a trick. Pull the last trump, unblock club, back to hand with a trump, cash the last club. Result: 11 tricks.
Oddly, i didn’t give up a trick by (mis)playing the clubs as i did. I can only get eleven tricks anyway. Funny.