Midway through the fourth and final session of the All Western Open Pairs, we sat down to play against two experts--friends of mine--playing in a casual partnership. At favorable vulnerability I dealt as East and had to make a call with this hand:
| ♠ | 4 | |
| ♥ | K Q 8 7 6 5 3 | |
| ♦ | — | |
| ♣ | K J 8 5 4 |
It's not easy to find a call for this freaky 7-5 hand, so I took the bull by the horns and opened 4♥!
LHO doubled, partner passed and RHO bid a slow, agonized 5♦. The bidding was far from over. It went pass, pass and partner doubled. It went pass, pass and LHO redoubled! "Wow!", I thought as I pondered my opening lead. I didn't have any trumps to ruff spades if I led my singleton and partner had the ace, but the doubler rated to have them anyway. I tabled the ♥K.
All Western Open Pairs, Evening Session 4 of 4
| Board 2 East Deals N-S Vul |
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E 3♥; S 4♦; W 2♥; N 3♦; EW 1N; EW 1♠; EW 1♣; Par +100: E 4♥×−1
They ended up losing two diamonds and two spades for the dramatic score of minus 1000! Needless to say, we scored all 25 matchpoints on this one. Declarer could have salvaged a few by executing a strip and endplay and getting out for down one.
In looking at the hand later, my guess is that South thought he needed a big score to make up for the lost opportunity of collecting a big number against 4♥ doubled. Careful play in 4♥, however, will keep the losses to a minimum and a couple of pairs actually made 4♥! The results were all over the map (see below--names omitted to protect the guilty...:-) and it was certainly a fun hand.
Contract
|
By
|
Made
|
Scores
|
Matchpoints
|
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N-S
|
E-W
|
N-S
|
E-W
|
||||
4 ♠×
|
W
|
−4
|
800
|
25.00
|
0.00
|
||
4 ♠×
|
W
|
−3
|
500
|
24.00
|
1.00
|
||
4 ♥×
|
E
|
−2
|
300
|
22.00
|
3.00
|
||
4 ♠×
|
W
|
−2
|
300
|
22.00
|
3.00
|
||
4 ♠×
|
W
|
−2
|
300
|
22.00
|
3.00
|
||
4 ♠
|
W
|
−3
|
150
|
20.00
|
5.00
|
||
4 ♥×
|
E
|
−1
|
100
|
17.50
|
7.50
|
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4 ♠
|
W
|
−2
|
100
|
17.50
|
7.50
|
||
4 ♥×
|
W
|
−1
|
100
|
17.50
|
7.50
|
||
4 ♥
|
E
|
−2
|
100
|
17.50
|
7.50
|
||
4 ♥
|
E
|
−1
|
50
|
14.00
|
11.00
|
||
4 ♥
|
E
|
−1
|
50
|
14.00
|
11.00
|
||
4 ♠
|
W
|
−1
|
50
|
14.00
|
11.00
|
||
5 ♦
|
N
|
−1
|
100
|
12.00
|
13.00
|
||
4 ♦×
|
S
|
−1
|
200
|
10.50
|
14.50
|
||
5 ♦
|
N
|
−2
|
200
|
10.50
|
14.50
|
||
4 ♥
|
E
|
4
|
420
|
9.00
|
16.00
|
||
5 ♦×
|
S
|
−2
|
500
|
6.00
|
19.00
|
||
2 NT×
|
S
|
−2
|
500
|
6.00
|
19.00
|
||
5 ♦×
|
N
|
−2
|
500
|
6.00
|
19.00
|
||
5 ♦×
|
N
|
−2
|
500
|
6.00
|
19.00
|
||
5 ♦×
|
N
|
−2
|
500
|
6.00
|
19.00
|
||
4 ♥×
|
E
|
4
|
590
|
3.00
|
22.00
|
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5 ♦×
|
N
|
−3
|
800
|
1.50
|
23.50
|
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5 ♦×
|
N
|
−3
|
800
|
1.50
|
23.50
|
||
5 ♦××
|
N
|
−2
|
1000
|
0.00
|
25.00
|
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2. Later in the session, as dealer with all vulnerable, I needed to bid with this hand:
| ♠ | A K 10 9 5 3 2 |
| ♥ | 9 |
| ♦ | 8 5 4 |
| ♣ | Q J |
This looked like a textbook hand for a 3♠ call, so that's what I bid. The bidding proceeded: pass, pass, 4♣, all pass. I led the ♠A and dummy hit with a pretty good hand.
All Western Open Pairs, Evening Session 4 of 4
| Board 26 East Deals Both Vul |
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NS 6♦; NS 6♣; NS 2♥; EW 1♠; Par +1370
As you can see, 6♣ is the optimal spot. Our score of minus 170 was worth 16 of 25 matchpoints. I don't know the agreements of the opponents, so don't know whether they had a bidding misunderstanding. This much I do know, however--preempts make life difficult for the opponents. They often produce unexpected results and certainly keep things lively!
See you at the table!
