IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

It is important to be able to place the opponents' cards from the auction as well as from the play of the hand.  This boldly bid contract gives you a chance to do both.

Scoring:  Matchpoints (Pairs)
 
Hand #21
Dlr  E
Vul E/W
S AK102
H 10
D KJ102
C J943
S 63
H QJ643
D Q965
C K6
    
S QJ
H AK98
D 84
C AQ875

S 98754
H 752
D A73
C 102
West North
 East
 South


1C Pass
   1H    DBL
     3H     4S
All Pass
  
   
    

BIDDING:  Sitting South, after hearing my partner's takeout double showing spades and diamonds, I realized my weak hand was worth a lot more on offense than defense.  So, looking at favorable vulnerability and expecting the opponents to probably make 4H, I leaped to 4S hoping to go down only one or two tricks.  I was surprised when the contract was not doubled.

PLAY:  West led the queen of hearts and then shifted to the king and another club.  As declarer I saw East-West could possibly make 4H but there was a good chance I had bid one too many.  Reviewing the auction it seemed likely West had started with only two clubs and was now poised to over-ruff my spade.  However, my only play was to ruff high and I was pleasantly surprised when West discarded a low heart.  I now knew East had both spade honors and I quickly drew trumps with the ace and king.  Next I had to find the diamond queen.  The auction and the play of the hand disclosed that East had started with two spades, four hearts, and five clubs.  That left room for only two diamonds.  East had shown up with 16 high card points and might have doubled with more so I played West for the diamond queen and made the contract.

The important points of this hand: 1) the auction told me partner was going to be short in hearts, 2)  my partner's t/o double allowed me to realize the importance of my 5th spade, and  3) the play of the hand gave me a count of the opponents' diamond holding.  Note that East should not have played a third club allowing me to discover the location of the spade queen/jack.  Also notice that East-West have four losers and would not have made game. 

Copyright ©2007 Larry Matheny.