Hope for the Best #07-15

IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

When declaring a hand, it is often important to discover the opponents' distribution. This hand shows you can sometimes succeed even when it seems impossible.

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

Hand #15
Dlr	W
Vul	N/S

	A75
	852
	QJ64
	J43

	Q108
	J9743
	A5
	A97

	KJ42
	KQ
	102
	108652

	963
	A106
	K9873
	KQ

West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	Pass	1
1	2	2	3
All Pass

BIDDING: South gave some thought to passing the deal out but finally decided to try for a plus score. East decided two top honors were as good as three small cards so he raised his partner. A responsive double showing the other two suits would have better described his hand but this pair was not using that convention. South competed to the three level in an attempt to get that plus score.

PLAY: Determined not to give up a trick, West led the ace and another diamond. Declarer was very disappointed as he counted six potential losers. One could be discarded on the jack of clubs but that still meant down one so he regretted his decision to open the bidding. However, after reflecting on the auction, declarer knew East had raised with only two cards so he saw a possible solution. First he knocked out the ace of clubs. Still reluctant to give up a trick, West returned a club. Next declarer ducked a spade. East won and returned the king of hearts but it was too late. South won the ace, played the jack of clubs discarding a spade and then played ace and another spade ruffing in hand. With the black suits eliminated, declarer now led a heart and East was end-played. He had nothing but black cards left and had to allow declarer to discard his heart loser as he ruffed in the other hand. Declarer was lucky to find a defender with that holding but it was the only way for him to succeed.

Note if West had led a heart earlier, East could have unblocked his honor cards and declarer could not make the hand. Making the contract for +110 was the best result N/S. Several pairs passed the hand out while others made 2