Think Fast

I generally feel happy if I make one good play per session. Which is a good thing, because it was in an otherwise disastrous pairs session that this deal came up:

J3 / Q107 / A9652 / A108

No one is vulnerable. My RHO is the dealer and opens 1. I insert a 1 overcall, and LHO bids 1. Partner passes and RHO goes to 2. Having put in my best suit, I pass. LHO bids 2NT this time. RHO bids 3 and LHO goes to 3NT. Partner obligingly leads the Q and for a change we have a defensive problem. I am East:

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

W	N	E	S
	1	1	1
P	2	P	2NT
P	3	P	3NT
AP

A long string of clubs in dummy, but I have the Ace, and if we can establish our diamonds we should get five tricks before they can get nine. It all depends on how strong declarer’s diamond stopper is.

I encourage partner with the 6 and declarer plays the 4. Partner continues with the J and I duck again, as does declarer. Does partner have another diamond? Yes, happily he plays the 3 and I take my Ace. I return the 2 and declarer wins perforce with the King, partner discarding a small heart. That leaves:

	4 A K J — K Q 9 7 6
		J 3 Q 10 7 9 A 10 8

We have three tricks in and presumably declarer will have to play at least one club, so I can just take my A and my remaining diamond to set the contract.

Declarer indeed leads a club, and partner comes up with the Jack. Declarer calls for the King and my hand is moving toward the Ace when suddenly a bell goes off.

Partner played the Jack! If I take my Ace now, I’ll set the contract with the 9, but then I won’t have anything else to cash. Setting the contract is always tempting, but if I duck, then, with the J gone, I’ll have A10 behind dummy’s Queen, and if declarer, in an attempt to make his contract, leads another club toward dummy, I’ll be able to set him two. And this is matchpoints.

My hand is still moving toward the A. If I duck, will I be giving declarer the last trick he needs to make his contract? How many spade tricks does declarer have? No time to think about it! If I’m going to fool declarer into thinking that partner has AJ, I have to act fast. I should have counted declarer’s tricks earlier.

At the last possible moment for a smooth play, I slightly change my hand’s direction and pluck out the 8. Declarer hmms, thinks, and then goes back to his hand with a spade to the Ace and cashes the K as well, discarding a club from dummy and dropping my J. Heightening the tension, declarer cashes the Q and discards the J. I throw the 7. Then declarer plays another club—and partner discards. Declarer puffs sharply, but he’s trapped—I take the A, 10, and 9 for down 2.

“I could have cashed out for down one!” declarer wails.

Plus 100 is worth 9 out of 12 matchpoints, and plus 50 would have been only 4, so ducking gained nearly half a board.

The full deal was:

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

[Reston Regional, Open Pairs, 7-3-08]