Dubious Logic

We won't have that talk at the table

This year's Eastern Counties League match against Essex was – well, what is the word?

Fun - that's it!

It ended with the defeated Essex 'A' team players - and, yes, the competitive outcome put a gloss on it - recommending local hostelries to us. Unique I think in the annals of Essex-Suffolk skirmishes. What brought on this levity? The only evidence I can bring forward to explain this is the set of deals we played. Clearly the Great Shuffler was in benign mood (or perhaps whoever programmed the Duplimate™). The problems we faced were levelling: no-one could get them all right and everyone had a few successes to go with their failures:

• KQJ965
• 4
• ---
• Q107432

Vulnerable against not, you hear the dealer, your RHO, open 1♥. What do you fancy?

You could try a two-suited gadget but 6-6? How will either of you know to progress? And it will be worse if say, your 2♥ cue is "spades and another", not specifying clubs. I selected the nominally weak jump overcall of 2♠. I considered 3♠ and even 4♠ (I remember a partner trying that on a bank holiday Monday at Woodbridge once - down fourteen hundred or was it seventeen? For the pleasure we brought they should have had us every week) and I even thought about 1♠.

But I liked 2♠; partner would surely get the idea I was highly distributional when I bid again. Again? Oh yes.

But you have to have your eyes open here. The warning signs are writ large indeed. There is every chance your partner's hand is red and LHO's is black. But then again, there's every chance that reality is a good deal more mundane. Partner figures to be short in spades but say:

• 32
• QJ87
• KQ75
• A86

No reason for partner to do anything when they come to rest in 3♦ but you'd expect to make 4♠ wouldn't you? And replace those useless red cards by the heart ace and even with two trump losers you're favourite. So as I made my decision to bid twice when I selected 2♠, now I came with the master stroke, 3♥!

Well that operation was quite a triumph, partner seeming to get the message, and I remember willing West to pass as he considered his final action. The play was not without interest:

The lead of the ♦K was ruffed in dummy and got the ace from East. And I started to get worried; partner had to have a stack of diamonds and it was unlikely that the opponents would have too large a heart fit yet be keen to defend. South secured a trump promotion for his eight spot and prevented a spade ruff in the closed hand. He exited with a trump to reach this endgame:

To garner three more tricks and six in total, Jonathan had to play either the spade six or, his choice, another trump first. South threw a spade and was thrown in with the ten to stepping-stone a trick to West's heart queen. Erm, that would be just the –1100. Still I appreciated the focus; my partners need that. And, just three IMPs away if team-mates made their slam. Slam?

Six hearts looks good and indeed was chosen at several tables. However, no-one made twelve tricks there - though one pair were down one in seven. Let's look at how we would play 6♥, given East has overcalled spades or made a two-suited noise (rotated for declarer's perspective).

The spade king is the obvious lead and we ought to draw trumps so we can enjoy those diamonds. So win the lead and play king and another trump, when next player follows low can we afford to put in the ten? Yes I think we can; we're likely to have a bad trump split and only RHO can have them. Moreover, if we need a trump in dummy to deal with a diamond loser then it's unlikely if this loses the overcaller will have another heart to play and lastly, we're not worried by spade forces or over-ruffs.

When the ten wins and the 4-1 split shows, we can do either of two things: retain that trump in dummy to ruff a diamond or draw trumps and play to score our two trumps separately. The first plan means one small diamond goes on the club king and the other gets ruffed. The second approach means that after the ♥A, if diamonds break 5-1 or worse, we have to score both our small trumps for we'll only have, in addition to our three black winners, four diamonds and so need five hearts - that's all those in hand having removed dummy's. But we're OK. Resisting the tremendous temptation to unblock the diamonds, we play a club to the ace, then king and ruff. Now a diamond to dummy's ace:

You no-doubt expected East to follow to those clubs but when he didn't you have an easy play. And it's absolutely clear when the diamond ace confirms the count, but if West had followed you could protect against West's 2=4=5=2 by ruffing a spade now. It looks odd to leave yourself without trumps when you're trying to run a side suit, but trust me, it's safe. If East had made a jump overcall as I had, you could play this line against any shape West might have with a singleton spade.

What happens if West splits the trump honours? Now ruffing a diamond seems to set up the remaining Q-8 as North cannot draw trumps. But the same technique is equally effective: easiest to see is diamond to ace, club ace, king and ruff. Now all you have to do is cash diamonds and ruff the last – whether it is a loser or not – with dummy's trump.

On the actual layout West will follow to the fifth round of diamonds and dummy will have the lead for us to score our twelfth trick with the heart ten. So you see, it wasn't a draw trumps and run the side suit hand – it was a cross-ruff.