Monday 8 February 2016

SLOPPY DEFENCE GIVES THE GAME AWAY

In a teams of four match I was sitting South holding J976 K543..10...KQJ6 , when my LHO opponent opened a spade 
........suppressing his 6 card diamond suit. This in due course
turned out to be a brilliant move on his part. My partner over
called 2H with a cavalier air of bold defiance. My RHO bid 
2NT alerted as a good raise. I responded 3H which was then blasted away by a 4S bid . Two passes to me and so I doubled.
What this is a wise double ? Sadly , on our defence it proved
a disaster. 
Partner led out the Ace of hearts which received a signal from me to switch to clubs . Oh no....then came the Ace of diamonds on which I played my singleton 10. Surely , my partner would continue the suit ?
Oh no....next came a heart taken by my King. End of defence and
minus 790.
Best defence for us would be two red aces , K of H and two diamond ruffs , which would have happened if my RHO had opened 1S. So where did my partner go wrong ?
If after the Ace of hearts he led a club declarer still has a real problem. He needs to force out the Ace of diamonds before drawing all my trumps. This he cannot do if partner holds up his Ace of diamonds until the third round. Then a second club forces declare to ruff in hand and ultimately my jack of spades will make.
Can declare do better ? I don't think so. Playing on diamonds exposes my singleton allowing partner to give me a ruff. Drawing my trumps with the diamond Ace still outstanding would be an act of suicidal madness. His only hope is to get North to part with his diamond Ace on the first round , then hopefully be in a position to finesse my jack of spades for the contract. 
Our pair went 2 off doubled in 4S for minus 500. A horror board indeed. 




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