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All For Naught

All For Naught

This Real Deal was played in the 2012 U.S. Team Trials. With both vulnerable, South held:

J 7 6 5 4 3
A K 7 2
A
6 4

RHO opens 1 and this is a normal 1 overcall. LHO bids a natural 1NT and partner raises to 2. RHO bids 3. Since there is a premium on bidding vulnerable games at IMPs, it is possible to jump to 4. That seems a bit much. Over a 3 game try, partner will likely know to go to game if he has enough useful cards. In fact he does jump to 4 and West leads a low diamond:

Q 9 8 2
Q 4 3
10 8
K 10 8 3
J 7 6 5 4 3
A K 7 2
A
6 4

All of partner's 7 HCP (not to mention the 4th trump) look potentially useful.

How should declarer plan the play?


Assuming 2 trump losers, it looks like the A needs to be onside. There is also the hope that West might have K10 doubleton and guess wrong when declarer leads a low trump from hand (he might go up with the king, crashing his partner's ace). So, should declarer win the A and play a low spade from hand, trying to induce the crash?

If you are willing to give up on that possible deceptive play, there is a nice technical line of play available. If West has both the AK, there is no chance (the A will surely be wrong). But, with the spade honors split, you have a great extra chance. How about stripping East's exit cards, so that when he wins his supposed singleton spade honor, he will be endplayed?

You must cash the hearts first, but there is not much worry. West would have made a negative double (as opposed to 1NT) with 4 hearts. So, there is no danger in trying to cash 3 heart tricks (If West has only 2 hearts, you are still okay if he has the A; he will ruff the 3rd heart, get his A, but then the remaining spades will be 1-1, so only one loser there). Anyway, upon winning the A and laying down the K (a nice ploy to get the defense to give count), they both show an odd number of hearts (confirming your suspicions that they were 3-3). The rest is easy.

Cash another high heart from hand, cross to the Q and ruff a diamond to eliminate that suit. Now the coup de grace. Exit with a spade and East (who started with the singleton K) is endplayed.He has to lead a club from the ace or give declarer a ruff-and-sluff.

This was the full Deal:

Vul: Both
Dlr: East
Q 9 8 2
Q 4 3
10 8
K 10 8 3
A 10
J 10 6
J 6 5 3
Q J 7 5
K
9 8 5
K Q 9 7 4 2
A 9 2
J 7 6 5 4 3
A K 7 2
A
6 4

If declarer plays a trump at trick 2 (and West works out to play low), the contract fails. East exits safely in a red suit and declarer has to eventually lose 2 clubs along with the 2 trump tricks. On the actual line, East was endplayed at trick 6 (declarer won the A, cashed 3 hearts, ruffed a diamond and exited in spades).

Okay. Now for the sad truth. All the facts are true (I played it this way at the table), but it was all a big waste of time. The diagram has been changed a little--some of the minor-suit honors were the other way around. On the Real Deal, West held the A all along, so any old fool could have made this one.