AK / 
86
/ 
J10543 / 
A874Low Level Excitement
A great thing about bridge is that even the lowliest part-score hand can yield a fun play problem. Playing at the local club pair game, I am the dealer with both sides vulnerable:
AK / 86
/ J10543 / A874
I open 1 and after a pass
by West partner bids 1. East passes. Now I could
bid 1NT, I suppose, but with this shape I prefer 2.
Partner gives preference to 2 and this is passed
out.
One doesn't get to play 2
in a pair game very often. Probably just a ho-hum hand. West leads the 4.
| Q 10 7 6 J 9 5 3 Q 7 K 10 9 |
||
| 4 led |
 |
|
| A K 8 6 J 10 5 4 3 A 8 7 4 |
W |
N |
E |
S |
1 |
|||
P |
1 |
P |
2 |
P |
2 |
AP |
I have five tricks in the black suits, so if can score three trump tricks that makes eight. I'll need either a 3-3 trump split or for West to go up with a trump honor when I lead the first trump toward dummy. Not the greatest chance but I don't see anything better.
I play low from dummy on the first trick and win East's 9
with my Ace. When I lead a low trump to the Queen, East wins with the King
and returns the 2, which I win perforce with
the K. Now I lead the J,
won by East's Ace. East thinks for a while and then bangs down the Ace and
King of hearts and follows with the 2.
Could East be underleading the Q
for a ruff? I doubt it. Probably West has the Q.
And in any event, I can't afford to ruff high; I need my 10
to draw trump. So I ruff low. West plays the 10.
Now I lead the 10 to draw
a third round of trump. If both follow I'm home. Unfortunately, West discards
the 8. Too bad -- that means East has the high
trump.
We are down to:
| Q 10 J -- K 10 |
||
|
||
| -- -- 5
A 8 7 4 |
Now what? I've taken four tricks and I have two good clubs
and the Q coming, but my trump is not high
-- East still has the 9.
But wait! I've read about this situation. If I find East with the right distribution I can score my last trump "en passant."
I cash the AK and discard a
club on the Q. East follows to everything,
good. Now here's the two-card ending:
| 10
J -- -- |
||
| -- Q -- Q |
|
J -- 9
-- |
| --
-- 5 8 |
None of my cards are high, and if the lead were in my hand
I would lose both tricks. But when I call for the J
from dummy, East is caught: if he ruffs, I discard my 8
and score the last trick with the 5. If he
discards, I get this trick with the 5. In
fact he discards, I win the 5, and he gets
the last trick with the 9. Making two.
And then we get only 3.5 matchpoints out of 11! Too bad.
I was the only declarer in diamonds. Several were in notrump, making one or
two (sometimes declared by North; I can't see how that happened), and some
E/W pairs bid and went down. Even one down is +100 for N/S, beating my +90
for making 2.
Oh well. The play was fun even if it didn't lead to a good score.
The full hand:
| Q 10 7 6
J 9 5 3 Q 7
K 10 9 |
||
| 8 5 4 Q 10 7 4 8 2 Q 6 5 3 |
|
J 9 3 2 A K 2 A K 9 6 J 2 |
| A K
8 6 J 10 5 4 3
A 8 7 4 |
[WBL Unit Game, B/C game, 9-15-2016]