— / 
K104
/ 
654 / 
AK109862That'll Show 'Em
It's always fun to make an overtrick in a doubled contract, but the second overtrick is particularly sweet, especially when it comes on an endplay.
Playing in the second session of the "Cherry Blossom Pairs" (a regional event for players with up to 750 masterpoints), I hold:
— / K104
/ 654 / AK109862
in second position at favorable vulnerability. The dealer opens
3. I'm not sure what to do but I decide to give
4 a try. West now doubles and all pass. Hmm, I wonder
how much trouble I'm in. But when West leads the K
I get a very favorable dummy:
| A J 8 5 2
A J 5 A 3
7 5 3 |
|||
| K led |
 |
||
| —
K 10 4 6 5 4
A K 10 9 8 6 2 |
W |
N |
E |
S |
3 |
4 |
||
X |
P |
P |
P |
On this lead I can't possibly go down. I take the A
and discard a diamond, so I can't lose more than a heart, a diamond, and a club.
Now I lay down the AK, expecting West to have all
the missing clubs, but in fact she has the singleton Queen! East has J4.
What did West double on? I'm going to make an overtrick, or two overtricks if
I guess right in hearts.
In fact, I might even be able to eliminate the guess. One might
expect East, the pre-emptive bidder, to be short in hearts, so with nothing
else to go on I would play West for the Q. But with AJx
opposite K10x, the real goal is to get the opponents
to lead the suit -- then three tricks are guaranteed. If I could eliminate all
the other suits, I could throw in either opponent for an endplay. Here, I can't
eliminate the spades, but again, East's diamond pre-empt suggests shortness
in the other suits, so maybe I can eliminate East's spades and then
throw him in with a diamond (which he may have to win).
I cross to the A and lead a
low spade, ruffed in hand. East (who has been dangerously close to exploding
in anger at his partner the whole time) discards a diamond on this trick, so
things are looking good; East's spades are gone. I lead my remaining diamond.
West, as one would expect from the bidding, is now void, so East has to win
the trick. We are down to:
| J 8 5
A J 5 — 7 |
||
|
||
| —
K 10 4 — 10 9 8 6 |
With nothing left but hearts and diamonds, East has a choice
between leading into my heart tenace or giving me a ruff-sluff. Eventually he
leads a heart, which goes around to the Jack, and I claim the rest. Happily,
it turns out that East had the Q, so most declarers
who just guess in hearts will probably guess wrong.
4 doubled making six is worth +710
and 10 out of 11 matchpoints. That'll show 'em!
We finish second in the overall event, just giving my partner the last points he needs to become a Life Master!
The full deal was:
| A J 8 5 2
A J 5 A 3
7 5 3 |
||
| K Q 9 7 6 4 3 9 8 3 2 7 Q |
|
10 Q 7 6 K Q J 10 9 8 2 J 4 |
| —
K 10 4 6 5 4
A K 10 9 8 6 2 |
P.S.: Yes, there was one pair in 6
making six, and they beat us with +920. Maybe West made a stripe-tailed ape
double!
[Alexandria Regional, Cherry Blossom Pairs, 7-3-2006]