Oct 14 2010

They Don’t Grow on Trees

podrey @ 6:11 pm
North Deals
None Vul		 ♠ 8
♥ A J 10 4
♦ K 9 4 2
♣ Q 8 7 5
♠ J 7 5 2
♥ 8 6 5
♦ J 3
♣ A K J 9
N
W E
S
♠ Q 9 6 4
♥ 3 2
♦ A 8 7 6
♣ 10 3 2
♠ A K 10 3
♥ K Q 9 7
♦ Q 10 5
♣ 6 4
1 N by South, hands rotated

In the first session of a two-session sectional pairs event, i opened a weak NT (11-14) and played it there. The lead is the ♣A.

I note with some dismay that we have 10 opposite 14, and a 4-4 major suit fit. Some pairs will find 4♥ on these cards, and since it looks like the ♣AK is onside, they will make ten tricks easily, even without finding the ♦J. Oh well, my job now is to take as many tricks as i can in NT. I’ll need some good things to happen to salvage a good result, though.

LHO is dismayed by the dummy. RHO discourages, but she continues with her ♣K and ♣J, felling partner’s Ten while i win the Queen. I need some diamond tricks – if diamonds are 3-3 and i can find the Jack, i can take ten tricks as long as the person with the ♦A does not have the long club.

Since i’m already in the dummy, i lead a low diamond to the Queen and that holds. I continue mechanically with the ♦T, which is covered. I play the King and RHO wins the Ace. He thinks for a few seconds and continues with a high diamond spot and LHO shows out while i win the curse of Scotland in dummy.

If i had been playing more carefully, i would have led my low diamond from hand on the second round, to cater to this holding, since i was planning to finesse the diamond anyway. Oops. But wait! I now have the rest of the tricks on a double squeeze! It is pretty simple to play out from here, but these things don’t grow on trees. I play out all my hearts, ending in dummy. Here is the ending with the final heart still to be played.

♠ 8
♥ A
♦ 4
♣ 8
♠ J 7 5
♥ -
♦ -
♣ 9
N
W E
S
♠ Q 9 6
♥ -
♦ 7
♣ -
♠ A K 10
♥ 7
♦ -
♣ -

On the last heart, RHO cannot discard his diamond guard, so he discards a spade.  Similarly, LHO cannot discard her club winner, so she also discards a spade.  Since neither of my minor cards are good, i can play the spades from the top, and the ♠T comes up a winner.  This result salvages half the matchpoints.

I should have played the diamond suit more carefully. But RHO, a very good player, should also have been playing more carefully. If he had given more thought to double-squeeze defense, he would have returned a spade. Then my entry to the spades for the double squeeze would have been destroyed.