This deal was played in the finals of the 2024 Senior USBF Team Trials:
Vul:E-W Dlr: East | AQ84 A10 AK AKJ96 | |
109 742 QJ7432 32 | 753 KQ9865 85 Q8 | |
KJ62 J3 1096 10754 |
At one table, East (a sound preempter) passed as dealer. North opened 2 in fourth seat and there were nine bids in a sequence! What did they all mean? South responded 2 waiting. North bid 2 a relay to 2 followed by 2NT which showed a GF balanced hand. South bid 3, Puppet Staman and North's 3 showed a 4-card major. South bid 3 to show four spades and North bid 3 -- so it was: 2-2-2-2-2N-3-3-3-3. I think South should have done more than his actual 4 which ended the auction. West led a diamond and declarer drew trump and played the ace-king of clubs for all 13 tricks (an unsatisfying +510).
At the other table, after East dealt and opened with a weak two-bid, North drove his partner kicking and screaming into 6 (by South). You might think this would be an easy 1010, but after a heart lead, the contract depended on guessing the clubs. Declarer cashed a high club and drew trump ending in hand. He knew East had 9 cards in the majors, so he went with the odds and finessed in clubs (playing East for a small singleton). Down one.
In retrospect, declarer should have made the slam. After the A, he should cash the high diamonds and play the A and K. Now he trumps a diamond high in dummy and returns to the Q. He has a complete count that East started with 3=6=2=2, so guesses the clubs and make all 13 tricks.