The opponents may not be Law-abiding

At the club game yesterday, partner passed, RHO opened 1D and I had a decision to make holding:

S

South

♠

Axxx

♥

xx

♦

Jx

♣

AKQ109

What would you do? You should know that we open nearly all 10-point hands, so partner's initial pass means that we are unlikely to have game our way.

2C seems to be a standout. That's the lead I want if lefty declares NT or any other contract.  It also takes away a bunch of bidding space. The auction continued:

W

LHO

N

Pard

E

RHO

S

Me

—

Pass

1♦

2♣

2♥

3♣

3♥

?

Now, what do you do?

This was how I reasoned.  The opponents, by going to the 3-level, have shown 9 trumps. I think that we have eight, maybe 9. Thus, there are a total of 17-18 tricks on this hand.  Hearts are breaking 2-2, opener most likely has short clubs, so 3H is probably making.  4C, on the hand, may be down only 1. If it is down 2, we will be okay as long as we are not doubled. Consequently, I bid 3S. If partner has 4 spades, we could play there. By issuing a game try, I can probably convince the opponents to not double.  Partner corrected me to 4C and that is where I played, (undoubled).

This was the full hand:

.

Board: 16

Vul: None

Dlr: North

N

North

♠

KQ

♥

Jxx

♦

xxxxx

♣

Jxx

.

W

West

♠

xxxx

♥

KQxxx

♦

Qx

♣

xx

Lead: ♥K

E

East

♠

Jxx

♥

Axx

♦

AKxx

♣

xxx

.

S

Me

♠

Axxx

♥

xx

♦

Jx

♣

AKQ109

.

As you can see, 4C is off 1 with two diamonds and two hearts off the top.  -50 was not a good matchpoint score because 3H is also down -- we'd have gotten 3 spades and two clubs.

The opponents were following neither the law of total tricks nor were they counting losers -- East  had gone to the 3-level on a 8-card fit and a flat, 9-loser hand hand.  . The simplistic rule-of-thumb "3-level is for the opponents" would have served me well.

Have your mishaps on boards where they don't cost

Lately, I have left the table convinced that I picked the wrong line, by missing something obvious.  Looking back, it turns out that there was no better option. I don't know what to call these not-quite-mishaps.

Take this hand from a few days ago:

.

Board: 16

Vul: E-W

Dlr: West

N

North

♠

QJ1098

♥

K

♦

K10xx

♣

xx2

.

W

West

♠

xxx

♥

?xx

♦

?xx

♣

J10x4

Lead: ♣4

E

East

♠

Kxxx

♥

?xx

♦

?xx

♣

KQx

.

S

Me

♠

A

♥

AJxxx

♦

AJ9x

♣

Ax3

.

I was South, and was in 3NT with the opponents silent throughout. I got the lead of the 4 of clubs.

At the table, I held up once, then took the Ace of clubs, played the Ace of spades and a heart to the King and played the Queen of spades. East took the King and played another club.  So, I lost three clubs and the king of spades. 3NT made 3. A seemingly average board, but had I not missed a clue?  The 4 of clubs was the lowest club, and so West is marked with only 4 of them. If I hold up twice and then take the Ace of clubs, East would not have a club to return and perhaps, then, I had a free diamond finesse. Ergo, I should have made four! Poor play!

But looking back, now, If I had done that, without a club to return, East would have led a heart -- the obvious lead, with a void in dummy. And unable to risk the heart finesse (since West held the fourth club), I would have to go up with the Ace. And then, I could not risk the diamond finesse either. So, there are only 9 tricks no matter what.  Not scrutinizing the opening lead did not cost.

Or take this hand from a more recent club game:

.

Board: 16

Vul: E-W

Dlr: West

N

North

♠

Qx

♥

Qxxx

♦

xxx

♣

AQJx

.

W

West

♠

KJxxx

♥

A

♦

AJx

♣

xxxx

Lead: ♣4

E

East

♠

xxxx

♥

xx

♦

10xxx

♣

Kxx

.

S

Me

♠

Ax

♥

KJxxxx

♦

KQx

♣

109

.

I was South, and playing 4H. I got the lead of a low club. How do you play this hand?

I tried the club finesse, losing to the king. East returned a high diamond. I played the king. West now took the Ace and played the jack of diamonds to my queen. Now what?

I could see one diamond loser, one slow spade loser and one heart loser.  I have already lost two tricks. I gave up on the hand and played a trump.  This way, I can get rid of the slow spade loser and get out for down 1.

Immediately, I realized that I had made a mistake. A better line is to now go to dummy and pitch the diamond loser on the club queen.  Then, pull trumps. But as you can see, that is no good as the hand lies. West wins the Ace and plays the 4th club, East ruffs the Jack and I don't get a spade discard. So, I am still down 1.  This is a better line, though, because it would have worked had West held the second heart or the 3-card club suit.  But again, giving up on the hand too quickly did not cost.

You know it is a lucky session when you make your mistakes on boards where they will not cost.  And sure enough, we ended up with 60% in both sessions, good enough for second overall both times.

Bid what's in front of your nose

Playing at the club game with an occasional partner, we were having a pretty decent game mostly by sticking to the straight-and-narrow and getting good boards only when the opponents gifted them to us. But once in a while, you have to make a decision and I failed to find the right one on this board.

I was South, holding:

S

Me

♠

J10xxx

♥

Axx

♦

9x

♣

AJx

The auction had gone:

W

West

N

Pard

E

East

S

Me

—

—

—

Pass

2♥¹

3♦

Pass

?

(1) weak

What is your bid?

When I posted this as a poll on Bridge Winners, the votes were 2:1 in favor of 3NT over 3S.  I chose the unpopular option assuming that if I heard back 4D, I could bid 4NT (natural) but over anything stronger, I could investigate slam. My two aces looked extremely powerful.

Unfortunately, with the preempt having removed a lot of bidding space, 3S only served to torture partner. She held:

N

North

♠

Qx

♥

Kx

♦

KQJ10xxx

♣

Kx

Without the Ace of diamonds, she did not feel comfortable bidding the NT game, and so it was in 4S that I played.  I deserved that, for not bidding what was in front of my nose.