This week we will look at a hand where keeping proper transportation is
important. And counting ...
East dealt and passed, and I picked up this nice collection:
A K 5 4
--
K J 9 5 4
Q J 7 5
I opened one diamond (showing 11-15 HCP in our system with 5+ diamonds
unless I have a 3-suited hand). LHO overcalled 1H and partner doubled. This
double by partner is called a negative double and strongly suggests that he
holds four spades. He should have at least 8 high card points. It certainly
looks like we can make game here. I decide to jump to 2 spades, because I
want partner to know I don't have a minimum. This also leaves room for
partner to inquire further about my hand if he has slam interest. Well, LHO
isn't done yet and bids 3 Hearts. Partner now bids 4 Spades, and that ends
the auction. LHO leads the Ace of Hearts, and I see:
Q J 8 2
7 2
A 10 3
A 9 8 6
A K 5 4
--
K J 9 5 4
Q J 7 5
Wow, we are likely making overtricks here. I ruff low. The only danger in this
hand is that since LHO has bid hearts twice, she very likely could be short in
spades. It trumps split 4-1, I could be in trouble. I will probably only be able
to draw three rounds of trumps in that case and then will rely on some minor
suit finesses. My partner and I have 25 HCP; that leaves 15 for the opponents.
Now, west has bid twice, vulnerable, so she has most if not all of those missing
HCP. Maybe one finesse will lose, but certainly not both of them.
So, I decide to draw three rounds of trumps, regardless of how they split, ending
in hand so that I can try the finesses. Accordingly, I lead a low spade to the
board and then come back to hand and cash the Ace and King. I am happy to
see that trumps split, with LHO having two of them. This is now what I see:
Q
7
A 10 3
A 9 8 6
--
--
K J 9 5 4
Q J 7 5
Which suit should I finesse first if I think that at least one of them is working?
Diamonds! It is the longer suit and I am missing only one of the top five cards!
How should I play them? I need to be able to end up in my hand to run them
and my only fast entry is the diamond king. So, I should finesse by leading to
the Ten. I do, and this holds the trick. I cash the Diamond Ace, both opponents
following and come back to my Diamond King to run the suit. After I play my
fifth diamond, I am in my hand, looking at this. I have not yet lost a trick.
Q
--
--
A 9 8
--
--
--
Q J 7 5
This is matchpoints, so of course we are greedy. We want as many tricks as we
can get. What should you play next? I played the Queen, planning to finesse
LHO for the King. Afterall, she had cooperated so well already the entire hand.
She covered with the King and I won the Ace. When I continued with the 9,
RHO played low. What should I play? Where is that Ten of Clubs? Maybe if I
go up with the Queen I will drop it and take all 13 tricks? Is this a guess or
should I know? I SHOULD KNOW! How? Did anyone take note of what
happened when I played the diamonds? I didn't tell you, actually, other than
to say they split 3-2. Suppose I tell you now that LHO had 3 diamonds. Then
what?
[Side note: Here is where the counting is important, and it is the hardest part
of the game for me. Actually, in hindsight, I don't think it was so hard in this
particular case. One just has to commit to paying attention and always be
thinking about the distribution of the opponent's cards. Doing this on every hand
(you don't always know at the beginning of the hand whether it will be necessary
or not) is a discipline that is essential for becoming a good player. I still have a
ways to go, as you will see momentarily.]
So, LHO had 2 spades and 3 diamonds. And lots of hearts. So probably not many
clubs. How many? If she had 7 hearts, then only one club. With 6 hearts, then
two clubs. Which is it? I think she is more likely to hold seven hearts than six
for two reasons. One, she was vulnerable and bid hearts twice, including at the
3-level. Two, and more importantly, our opponents have 11 hearts and if LHO held
only six of them, RHO would hold five and surely would/should have jumped into
the auction over my partner's negative double, even if she didn't have any high
card points. That gives LHO 2 spades, 7 hearts, 3 diamonds, and one club (the
King, which she just played). So, I need to let the 9 of clubs ride and I can take
all 13 tricks.
Did I do that? No, I played the Club Jack? Why? Carelessness? Already happy
that everything else had worked and not worried about the extra trick? This is
the kind of hand I probably get right when I read it in the paper, but did not get
right at the table. We got an average board, as every N/S pair was in 4 spades
(one pair did make seven and one pair made five). Here was the entire hand (Board 22).
Q J 8 2
7 2
A 10 3
A 9 8 6
7 6 10 9 3
A K Q 10 9 8 6 J 5 4 3
Q 7 2 8 6
K 10 4 3 2
A K 5 4
—
K J 9 5 4
Q J 7 5
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