Do You Watch Signals?
|
K Q 10 8 7 |
|
A Q J 2 |
|
|
3 |
|
|
Q 9 7 |
|
4 2 |
|
A J 9 3 |
10 6 4 |
|
5 |
Q 8 6 4 |
|
A J 10 9 7 2 |
K 8 6 4 |
|
J 5 |
|
6 5 |
|
|
K 9 8 7 3 |
|
|
K 5 |
| Contract: 4 hearts |
|
A 10 3 2 |
|
This should have been an easy one to avoid, and evidently a very expensive one not to. The final tally was 88.71, which is to say a very good board for N-S making 5.
The opening lead was a low club, won by declarer in dummy. I thought the next lead should be a diamond from dummy and settle that matter, but declarer didn't ask my advice. Trump were drawn in three rounds, East sluffing the 7 of diamonds and then deuce on the last two leads. Declarer now led the 9 of clubs from dummy, capturing the jack, then a spade to the queen, taken by East, and only by the grace East being out of clubs were N-S spared a club loser here. East cashed the ace of diamonds and continued the suit, declarer sluffing dummy's last club. A spade was led to the king, then a spade back, ruffed, West sluffing the 8 of clubs. The 3 of clubs was ruffed, taking the king with it, a spade was ruffed back in the closed hand and . . . here's the crunch. The 10 of clubs won the last trick!
Why oh why did West sluff that 8 of clubs when she had two diamonds to spare, her partner had signalled unambiguously and on top of that, her partner's failure to lead clubs after winning the lead with the ace of spades marks her with only two and thus declarer with four! Was this by chance another of those cases where a defender looked at dummy, saw no more clubs (after the sluff on the king of diamonds) and so said, That suit is dead to us? But of course it wasn't dead when declarer has two clubs, West holds the tenace over declarer's holding and there's only one trump in dummy.
To be sure, there were also no diamonds, and West had to blank either his Q of diamonds or his K of clubs. Perhaps the situation isn't so open-and-shut as I at first thought. East had signalled vigorously, but then he'd played the ace and doesn't guarantee the J, does he? Still, East had played four diamonds, and if declarer has four diamonds, that means East had signalled vigorously with a mere A 9 7 2. Hey, partner, lookee here! I've got an ace! -- a card that declarer would probably have to knock out anyway. No, it isn't a absolute situation where a simple count can guide West. But given East's play of the diamonds and non-play of a third round of clubs, it would seem to me that there is a clear call for the saving of clubs and a bundle of matchpoints. If West was thinking her hand was now useless -- dummy has neither clubs nor diamonds, the only suits she has -- the club discard might have seemed on a par with a diamond. But it wasn't, and declarer's ability to sluff a club from dummy really doesn't help all that much, or shouldn't have when dummy has only one trump oppposite the closed hand's 2 clubs (and East has the other suits under control).
I don't know. The club suit wasn't dead to the defense. And the discard was a very, very expensive gift.