Jennbridge: Matchpoint Matters

Here are a couple of hands from the evening session of the pair game at the Sacramento regional. (Board rotated.)

Board 16 North Deals E-W Vul	♠ K 10 4 ♥ Q 10 5 ♦ 9 8 4 ♣ Q 9 6 3
	N W E S
	♠ A 8 6 5 3 ♥ A K J 9 ♦ A K J ♣ K

West	North	East	South
x	Bob	x	Jenn
	Pass	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 ♦	Pass	2 NT
Pass	3 NT	All pass

Looking at 23 of the finest, I opened 2 clubs.  Bob responded 2D, waiting, and raised my 2NT bid to 3NT.  A low club was led and my king won.  I paused to assess matters and was pleased with the contract.  It was likely that we were on our way to a good matchpoint result. 

At trick two, I led a spade to the 10. RHO won and returned a diamond.  I won the ace and noted the encouraging signal on my left.  I now starting running my major suits, spades breaking 3-2 and hearts breaking 3-3. 

A funny thing happened in the end game.  LHO thought she was being squeezed in diamonds and clubs and ended up pitching the ♦ queen.  I figured her for the ace of clubs as well as the diamond queen and was surprised when I saw the whole hand:

Board 16 North Deals E-W Vul	♠ K 10 4 ♥ Q 10 5 ♦ 9 8 4 ♣ Q 9 6 3
♠ Q 7 ♥ 8 4 3 ♦ Q 10 2 ♣ J 10 8 5 2	N W E S	♠ J 9 2 ♥ 7 6 2 ♦ 7 6 5 3 ♣ A 7 4
	♠ A 8 6 5 3 ♥ A K J 9 ♦ A K J ♣ K

Plus 690 was a cold top.  Opening or rebidding notrump on hands like this generally works well for me.  Since we play puppet stayman, we usually find our major suit fit when it is important to do so.  We needed the 690 score as there were a few 680s.

******************
On the very next board (hands rotated) I opened 1 club and Bob bid 2 clubs, inverted minor.  I then jumped to 3NT showing a strong notrump. (Our opening notrump range is 14-16.)

Board 17 East Deals None Vul	♠ A 10 8 ♥ 10 9 8 ♦ K 8 4 ♣ A J 6 4
	N W E S
	♠ Q 7 4 ♥ A 6 3 ♦ A Q 6 ♣ K Q 8 2

West	North	East	South
x	Bob	x	Jenn
		Pass	1 ♣
Pass	2 ♣*	Pass	3 NT
All pass

A low heart went to the king which I ducked.  The 4 of hearts was returned which I won with the ace.  I then played 4 rounds of clubs and West discarded the nondescript 6 of spades, while East discarded the 2 of hearts.  I followed this with 3 rounds of diamonds, ending in dummy.  With 8 tricks in, these cards remained:

Board 17 East Deals None Vul	♠ A 10 8 ♥ 10 ♦ ♣
	N W E S
	♠ Q 7 4 ♥ 6 ♦ ♣

If East had the spade king, I could lead low toward my queen and score 10 tricks.  If I made that play and West had the spade king, however, I would hold myself to 9 tricks.  I studied the hand some more.  I knew that West had 2 hearts and (I believed) 2 spades left.  I had to guess the location of the spade king to get that most prized possession:  the extra trick at matchpoints.  I knew the players and tried to read the situation.

After a minute or two I finally led my heart, throwing in West who cashed her remaining heart and led a spade.  The moment of truth.  I ducked and East followed with the 9, my queen winning! 

Board 17 East Deals None Vul	♠ A 10 8 ♥ 10 9 8 ♦ K 8 4 ♣ A J 6 4
♠ K 6 2 ♥ Q J 7 5 ♦ 10 7 2 ♣ 10 9 5	N W E S	♠ J 9 5 3 ♥ K 4 2 ♦ J 9 5 3 ♣ 7 3
	♠ Q 7 4 ♥ A 6 3 ♦ A Q 6 ♣ K Q 8 2

Plus 430 was worth 15.5 matchpoints out of 17. 

See you at the table!