The Adventures of Sam and Richard - Part 37

Last duplicate of the season for the Grand Slam club. After a summer break,
they'll resume next fall.

Sam and I sit down to finish up the second half of the two-session event.
Our game runs in streaks. We do some good things, then we do some stupid
things. Like, for instance, I miss an odd-even discard from Sam, allowing
our opponents to make a totally unmakeable contract. Then Sam pulls not one
but two of my penalty doubles in the same auction. Neither of these actions
proves successful.

Then I face an interesting balancing decision and an interesting defensive
quandary:

2
JT5
AK642
T953
QJ64 AKT3
8743 K2
Q753 JT9
J K864
9875
AQ96
8
AQ72

Sitting North, I pass in second seat as East opens 1NT in third seat.
Looking at it now, I see it only contains 14hcp even though my impression is
that the opponents played 15-17 notrumps. Either I'm mis-remembering or
East fudged his bid.

The auction proceeds P - 2C - P - 2S - P - P to me. We're red against
white, making balancing less attractive. Still, it seems wrong to let the
opponents play cheaply at matchpoints. I gird myself and balance with 2NT.

East passes, and Sam duly bids 3C. West now competes with 3S, which I am
happy to pass. This is passed out.

Sam has an easy diamond lead. I play the King and Ace of diamonds as Sam
pitches an encouraging heart.

I now stop and think. Sam will be looking at my spot card to decide what to
lead back. My problem is that I don't want him to lead either side suit to
me. Underleading any club honors he has won't be good, and leading hearts
is certain to blow at least one heart trick. I consider breaking hearts
now, but then we lose the diamond ruff.

I decide to lead back a low diamond, hoping he has KQ of clubs or something
and will know to lead one of those rather than underleading. Sam duly
ruffs, thinks for a long time, then does indeed underlead his clubs.
Dummy's Jack holds.

Declarer isn't necessarily pleased by all this. He's still left with a lot
of losers and no obvious place to put them. He plays two rounds of spades
hoping to draw trump and isn't surprised when I show out on the second
round. In the end, the best he can manage is down two, +100 for Sam and I.

This is a half-point below average for us. Clubs will make quite a few
tricks despite the 4-1 split. In fact, some N/S pairs are playing heart
contracts, making 170.

Drat. It's difficult for either of us to double that contract. But we also
blew the chance to set declarer three tricks. If I had returned my middle
diamond, that should tell Sam I don't have any preference and steer him
towards just firing back a trump. But I also think Sam could have worked
out on his own that a trump back was best. +150 would have been much
better.

Then I get a "play of the hand" problem (rotated for convenience):

AT853
7
T875
Q87
J752 KQ4
Q952 T8643
A94 Q62
65 T3
9
AKJ
KJ3
AKJ942

Sam and I bid to 6C on an auction where I simply blast to 6C after finding
out Sam has an Ace and club support. I get a trump lead. I hopefully put
in dummy's Seven, hoping to create an extra entry, but East covers with the
Ten, foiling that plan.

I win and consider my options. I don't have the entries to set up spades so
I have to play diamonds for one loser. Two realistic possibilities: AQ or
Q9 onside (or the overlap, AQ9). Both require that I lead the Ten of
diamonds from dummy, then get back to dummy again to make my best guess at
the position.

Thus decided, I pull a small trump from my hand. Then I hesitate. It
occurs to me that the opponents don't have any idea how many spades I hold.
The better line of play may be to simply put them under discarding pressure.

I tuck the club back in my hand and play Ace of hearts, heart ruff, then
begin running clubs. To encourage diamond discards, I start throwing
dummy's diamonds.

West is the first to feel pressure. Discarding two hearts is easy, since if
I had any more heart losers I surely would have ruffed them. But on the
fifth club, West is reluctant to discard a spade from Jxxx, so lets loose a
diamond.

East also discards hearts. But when I cash the King of hearts (finally
discarding a small spade from dummy), East is looking at:

KQx
-
Qxx
-

What's the right discard? If the position is something like:

ATxx
-
T
-
KQx
-
Qxx
-
Jx
-
Ax
x

Then pitching a spade is fatal.

Eventually, East does pitch a diamond. I am now home free as long as I
guess the diamonds correctly. I cross to dummy's Ace of spades and lead the
Ten of diamonds. East spares me a guess by covering, although it had been
my plan to play East for that card anyway. I cover with the King, West wins
the Ace, and my Jack and Three of diamonds take the last two tricks.

And, finally, a competitive decision that irks me because we got a bad
result even though I think I did the right thing. =)

KT2
A82
AQJ8
Q63

In fourth seat, white versus red, I hear the auction go 1H - P - 1S to me.
Sam and I play that 1NT in this situation is a weak takeout of the other two
suits, at least 5-5. Playing a strong notrump in this position never made
sense to me, as you're between two live bidders with the potential to go for
a huge number.

As it turns out, those people who had a natural 1NT available got to play it
there. LHO has a minimal 12-point opener, RHO has a minimal 6-point
response. We have eight tricks available in 1NT. I end up reopening after
my LHO rebids 1NT when I pass, and Sam and I play 2D making exactly. +90 is
below average.

How do y'all play 1NT in that auction? Any thoughts about whether it's
better to play it as natural or not?

Sam and I end up with almost exactly a 50% game, which more or less sums up
our year at the Grand Slam club. Here's hoping for better things next year.

-Richard

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: MI ruling
    ... South decides that even a 4-3 will play well, with a spade ... West's DJ wins the diamond exit ... first club in hand and then draw two rounds of trump and lead a low ...
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  • Re: Just some questions
    ... I suggest the following play: ... Cash your spade tricks unless they are 5-1, discarding a club from ... the King wins discarding a diamond from the table. ... If ace of hearts is not taken, ...
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  • Re: I dont like rulings ...
    ... >>> A distinctly inferior line of play (for some reason I thought I ... >>> needed a diamond trick to make the contract) ... >>> The director considered the club lead automatic. ... >> This certainly fulfils the requirements of a major blunder (2 major ...
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  • Re: Tough defense hand
    ... >>> The opponents play five card majors and a strong no trump. ... >> The best the defense can do is for you to pitch a diamond and partner ... >> to shift to a club which you will duck. ... Declarer can now make 2S by ...
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  • The Adventures of Sam and Richard - Part 40
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