A Matchpoint Play

At rubber bridge or IMPs, it is rarely correct to risk the contract for an overtrick. At matchpoints, however, the calculation is different. Consider this deal:

Playing in the district finals of the North American Pairs (Flight B), I hold:

K / A8 / KQJ1095 / K1075

East is the dealer and he opens 2, a standard weak two. I don't think I'm quite strong enough to double and then bid my diamonds, so I bid 3 directly. After a pass by West, partner bids 3, which asks me to bid 3NT with a stopper in hearts. I'm a little concerned about my stopper—with Ax I can only hold up for one round—but obviously I have one, so I bid 3NT, which ends the auction. West leads the J.

	J 10 6 2 6 5 2 A 3 2 A J 4

	K A 8 K Q J 10 9 5 K 10 7 5


W	N	E	S
		2	3
P	3	P	3NT
P	P	P

I'm glad to see that partner has the A, which guarantees the contract. I hold up on the first heart trick, and West continues with the 4. East plays the nine and I win with my A.

I have six diamonds, two clubs, and a heart for an easy nine tricks. I could get another if I could locate the Q, but I can't afford to lose a trick now that the defense has knocked out my heart stopper. Let's think about it as I run off the diamonds.

On the second diamond West discards a spade. Hmm! So not only did East have six hearts to West's two, he has three diamonds to West's one. Surely West is a big favorite to hold the Q. I continue more diamonds. West discards three more spades and finally a club. East follows to three rounds, and then discards a heart, a spade, and finally a club on the same trick as West. That brings us down to:

	J 10 — — A J 4

	K — — K 10 7 5

I could still just cash the AK for nine tricks, but let's review: East had nine red cards to West's three, so West has ten black cards to East's four. The odds are strongly in favor of West's holding the Q. Plus, since East discarded a spade and is known to hold nine red cards, he can't have more than three clubs. If he had Qx or Qxx, would he possibly have discarded a club?

I know it risks the contract, but sometimes you have to have the courage of your convictions. Especially at matchpoints. I finesse the J successfully, and then the AK drops West's Queen, so I make five for +660 and 8.5 out of 9 matchpoints. +600 would have been worth only 5.

The full deal was:

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

[Flight B NAP finals, District 6, 10-25-2010]