The Deal in the Field
Upon inspection, our Deal’s auction may seem unusual, as indeed it will prove to be. At seven other tables in the room, E/W reached what seems like the obvious 4♥ contract, most taking ten tricks although eleven are there with careful play. Two others reached an ill–advised slam in 6♥, both down two. One table besides ours reached 3NT making four, and one hapless N/S pair competed to 5♣, which got doubled and went down three for –500, handing the nonvulnerable E/W pair there an icy top.
The Auction
At our table, North passed and East opened the unbalanced 15 HCP hand 1♦. South passed, and with a game–forcing 15 HCP West took it slow with a 1♥ response. North now came to life with a takeout double, although some partnerships might have preferred a more descriptive “Sandwich” 1NT to show 5–5 or better in the unbid suits. This would also have had the advantage of consuming all of the remaining 1–level bidding space.
Dear Reader, who hasn’t had a lapse of focus or of memory? East, who was prepared to make a Support Double if North had overcalled, blanked on the Support Redouble and rebid 1♠, even though North’s double presumably showed that suit. This prompted an equally unfortunate mental misfire by West, who could have invented a forcing 2♣ rebid to keep the auction going. East could then have made a delayed heart raise with three of them, and again the heart game would have been reached. But right or wrong, West bid the notrump game.
The Play of the Hand
North led a fourth–best ♣5, and declarer paused to assess prospects, which were not that cheerful given badly blocked transportation in the minors. Dummy won the opening lead perforce, and declarer unblocked the ♦A before leading a heart to dummy’s ♥A, North showing out. Declarer continued the ♥J as South ducked, then the ♥10 was covered by the ♥Q and ♥K.
On the auction declarer put the ♠A in the North hand and switched to a low spade towards dummy. North inserted the ♠10, won by the ♠Q, and declarer cashed dummy’s two high diamonds, discarding hearts as North pared down to ♠ A J 4 and ♣ Q 9. Declarer next unblocked the ♠6 to the ♠K and ♠A, then unblocked again with the ♠5 as North cashed the ♠J. North could cash one more spade but was endplayed and had to lead into declarer’s club tenace, surrendering the last two tricks for a N/S score of +430.
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Closing Thoughts
Note that had declarer not unblocked the ♠6 and ♠5 after cashing dummy’s two diamond winners, North could have exited with a spade after cashing the ♠A and ♠J. Dummy would have won the ♠6, but South would have won the last two tricks with the ♥9 and ♦10, holding declarer to nine tricks and +400.
3NT making four for +430 against the field did not turn out so terribly, scoring 7.5 of 11 possible matchpoints or 68.2% on the board. If our E/W pair had been in an optimal 4♥ making five for +450, the outcome would have improved only marginally to 72.7%. Still, as your author is fond of saying, sometimes to excess, “I’m not responsible for the outcome, only the effort.” Our E/W pair had two chances to find the best contract, with each partner missing an opportunity. East could have made the Support Redouble, and West could have made a forcing 2♣ rebid after East rebid 1♠, either of which would have found the heart game.
All the best,
Rex
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