Sunday, September 6, 2009

Good result?

Here's a deal from our fifth round match against Chile Bulgaria:
Board 7. Dealer South. All Vulnerable.
♠ A K Q 8 2
-
A K 7 6 3
♣ K J 3
♠ -
A 9 8 7 5 4 3 2
8 5 2
♣ 8 6
Bridge deal ♠ J T 7 6 5 4 3
K J
J 4
♣ Q 9
♠ 9
Q T 6
Q T 9
♣ A T 7 5 4 2

West opened 3 and Doug, North, bid 4 showing a strong 2-suited hand. I bid 4NT which I hoped showed some values. I planned on raising the expected 5 to 6. West passed and Doug jumped to 6. When East passed I was not tempted to bid a grand slam -- with a really strong hand and first round heart control Doug could have cue-bid 5. Now West doubled, asking for an unusual lead. East had no trouble working out that this requested a spade, but when the A didn't cash Doug took the rest of the tricks for +1540. He set up the Q for his thirteenth trick, but even if West had exited with a low heart Doug could ruff three rounds of hearts in his hand to get a complete count.
You can see the results from all 11 tables here. Apparently some Norths overcalled a 4H opening with 4♠, not a successful approach here. In most matches we'd have won 13 or 16 IMPs. At the other table in our match, though, our teammate opened 4 and then doubled 6 for a push.

Did I miss an opportunity? I could have redoubled, but then EW might have run to 6which goes for only 1100. If West runs,  though, and Doug makes a forcing pass, I might try 7♣! In practice West is unlikely to run, since for all he knows he's going for 1700. If he does run I'm unlikely to bid 7♣, since West's void could easily be in clubs.

1 comment:

  1. I don't follow all that, but the picture of the board sure is pretty!

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