Friday, May 29, 2009

School's out

This is a textbook deal that was flubbed at the club last night (hands rotated and low cards are approximate):


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

After two passes South opened 1. North bid 2 Drury showing a heart fit and limit raise values. South rebid 4, ending the auction.

West led the 3. Declarer played two rounds, both opponents following, then played the A and another. East won to shift to a club, knocking out South's ace.

Declarer now played the A and then the J to the king to lead a third round, ruffed in her hand. She was hoping for Q 10 x in either defender's hand. The 9 would then be good for a club discard. That didn't work and she made four for a score of 620 and 1 matchpoint on a 7 top.

Here are all four hands:


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


Do you see where declarer went wrong? After drawing two rounds of trumps, she should lead a diamond from dummy and play the J. If it wins, she can unblock and the K is available for a club discard. If the diamond finesse loses, she is no worse off. She can still discard a club on the K and four still makes. It's a no-cost play.

This player did't see the textbook play. She is already on summer break -- I'm just sayin'.

Here's the same deal with BBO's Handviewer:

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