Off to a bad start

In the last 16 of the Hubert Phillips we are playing against one of the seeded teams. The match got off to a bad start on the first board, when we had a chance to pick up a game swing, but inferior play at both tables meant that the swing went to the opponents.

		♠ A Q 6 4 ♥ K 10 7 ♦ 9 6 ♣ 10 9 8 2
	♠ J 9 ♥ A 8 5 4 2 ♦ J 5 3 2 ♣ 7 4

At my table, I was South and LHO opened a strong no-trump after two passes. Partner (Martin) overcalled with an Asptro 2♦ (spades and another suit) and RHO raised to 3NT. Partner led the eight of spades (2nd highest from a bad suit) and declarer won with the King in hand. After much thought, he led a heart to the Jack, King and I won with the ace. Now what? I returned the two of diamonds - not good enough as the full hand was

	♠ 10 8 7 3 2 ♥ J ♦ A Q 10 4 ♣ K 6 5
♠ K 5 ♥ Q 9 7 3 ♦ K 8 7 ♣ A Q J 3		♠ A Q 6 4 ♥ K 10 7 ♦ 9 6 ♣ 10 9 8 2
	♠ J 9 ♥ A 8 5 4 2 ♦ J 5 3 2 ♣ 7 4

My diamond lead went to the eight and ten. Martin now played Ace and another diamond but declarer won and ran his hearts to squeeze North. Although Martin bared his King of clubs smoothly, he was marked with the King after the overcall and declarer dropped it to make an overtrick. There is only one card for me to play at trick 3 - the Jack of diamonds.

In the other room, our team mates were playing a weak no-trump so West opened 1♥ . North overcalled 1♠ and South doubled the final contract of 3NT. I think that this asked for a non-spade lead, so North led ace and another diamond. Declarer can now make the contract by playing on hearts and then squeezing North in the black suits, but in practice she took the club finesse and was one down.

Although North found an overcall in both rooms, I'm not sure that it was a wise choice as it gave declarer the clue to the winning line.Without the overcall, declarer would surely take the club finesse.

Should Have Stayed in Bed

Our second round Crockford's match was one of those evenings where I could do nothing right. Apart from going off in several making contracts, this was the sort of thing that was happening to me. At red, I held

♠	K 10 7 6 5
♥	K 3
♦
♣	A 10 9 6 5 2

Partner passes and RHO opens a Precision 1♦. We don't have a 2-suited overcall to show this hand so I bid 2♣. LHO now cue-bids 3♣, pass from partner, 3♥ on my right. Not having shown my 5-card major on the previous round, I feel obliged to try 3♠. LHO now jumps to 5♦ and partner bids 5♠. I hope she is allowing for my usual over-bidding, as otherwise this might be going for 1100. As expected, RHO places the red card on the table but leftie is still there and removes to 6♦ which partner doubles.

I lead the Ace of clubs and dummy is a bit of a shock

♠	Q 8
♥	5
♦	A K Q J 9 6 4 2
♣	7 4

Partner plays the Jack and declarer follows small. We play reverse attitude on Ace leads, so partner could have J, Jx or KJ. What now? If declarer has AQJx of hearts and KQx of clubs, we need to cash our spade tricks immediately, but a spade lead will be disastrous if partner does not have the Ace.

At the table I tried a spade and began to feel ill when dummy's queen held. Declarer's hand was

♠	A 3
♥	Q J 9 7
♦	10 7 5
♣	K Q 8 3

Should I have got this right? There are no guarantees, but I think a club continuation is best. This works if partner has KJ or singleton J of clubs, or the Ace of hearts, and only loses when partner has the Ace of spades. Even then, declarer has a choice of plays in hearts and may choose to finesse.