A Little Help from a Friend
8 6 5
Q 10 4 2
A Q 10 5
10 5
K Q 10 9 4
A 8
9 2
A K 9 3
South |
West |
North |
East |
1 ♠ |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
All Pass |
|
Dave Metcalf (sphinx on OKbridge and a regular face-to-face partner of mine
in the early 90s) played this hand nicely to make his contract,
with a little help from the bidding. As his partner,
I have to admit, I passed 3 ♥ not due to any caution or wisdom on
my part, but because I thought Dave had opened 1 ♦. I'm not sure what
to make of Dave's 3 ♠ call - he certainly isn't ready for a
4 ♦ call if he reopens with a double, and his spade suit is pretty good.
Pass is an unpleasant option, although not unreasonable.
The
♣ Q was led, and Dave won the
♣ A, cashed the
♣ K,
and ruffed a club, West's jack falling. Dave led a trump to the king, which
won. Crossing with the
♦ A, he led another trump, and East
flew the ace, West showing out. East exited a heart, which Dave
won with the ace.
It looks like Dave still had to lose a trump, a diamond and a heart,
but Dave made an inspired play - he cashed the
♠ Q and the good
♣ 9, pitching hearts from dummy, then threw East in with the trump.
East could cash the
♦ K, but then had to give up a trick in diamonds,
allowing Dave to pitch his heart loser.
If West had been quiet on the auction, we would either have played
3 ♠, making, or
4 ♠, which would
be down one when Dave took the diamond finesse. The
bidding gave Dave enough information, though - West showed up with
the
♥ K-J-x-x-x-x and
♣ Q-J-x, so he was quite
unlikely to have the
♦ K as well. Also, East was marked with only
the one heart, so it was a sure thing that he was left with only
diamonds at the end when he was thrown in with a trump.
So again, let me argue passionately for passing. We often see
cases where preempts and overcalls win, but we rarely comtemplate the subtle
instances when they lose. Against a good player, describing your hand
can be very dangerous.
I've had spectacular wins when I've failed to overcall. While it is
nice to find that nine-card solid fit during the auction, it is much
nicer to find it on opening lead against
3 NT.
It is often nice to conceal those 6-1 and 7-1 breaks in side-suits, as well.