Four Clubs, Four Diamonds


A 8 7
J 6 5
A 6 5 2
8 4 2
10 3 K Q J 9 6 4 2
7 2 Q 9
J 10 9 3 4
Q 10 9 7 5 K 6
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A K 10 8 4 3
K Q 8 7 Contract: 6 dia, 6 hearts
A J 3 Opening lead: 10 of spades (but doesn't matter)

An interesting hand. The powerful 9-card heart suit that splits evenly doesn't work as well for trump as the 6-card diamond suit that splits unevenly! All I can say is that it's intriguing situations like this that make bridge the game it is. And don't say I didn't warn you. Go here for a discussion of the "Balanced over the Unbalanced" for trump. But didn't I point out once that the balanced suit won't necessarily serve you better and that given a choice between an unbalanced major and balanced minor, I'd go for the major. Yes, said I, but at the game level, where you stop at one trick lower in the major. At the slam level, where you're going for the same number of tricks, I'd be awfully inclined to opt for the balanced minor.
Now four declarers were in 6 hearts, one making on a blunder I'll get to in a minute, and only one in six diamonds -- doubled for a top score and 100% matchpoints. How's that for what the minor suits can do for you. Six hearts won't make against best defense, since you've gotta lose a diamond and a club. Well, don't you hafta lose the same tricks in 6 diamonds? No, for you're going to throw one club on the A of spades, then one from the other hand and on the fourth round of hearts and another on the fifth round of hearts. And then ruff a club in that hand.
As for the declarer making 6 hearts, one defender wouldn't listen to me when I said Keep the same number of cards in each suit as dummy shows (insofar as is practical). After the opening lead of a spade, declarer led three rounds of trump, on which third round, West discarded a club. Declarer then came to the A of clubs and led a fourth round, on which West sluffed his last spade, and then a fifth round, on which West sluffed a diamond! Expensive? I'll say.
I guess he liked spreading his discards around and if it's any mark in his favor, he did wait until his third discard to sluff from that most important suit. But it's not that big a mark in his favor when he gives up 90 matchpoints! At that point, he had four diamonds and four clubs. Declarer had sluffed one club on the A of spades opening lead and has shown a powerful 6-card trump suit. Dummy showed three clubs and four diamonds. How many rounds of clubs does West think can hold up, for heaven's sake? Not much excuse for that, I would say.
As for the lone declarer in 6 diamonds, opening spade lead, taken with the ace, sluffing a club. Two rounds of trump, noting the bad break (bad, did I say? That's what allows this declarer to walk off with all the marbles!) Now he runs three rounds of hearts, his RHO sluffing a club on the third round (it was played from the opposite side of the table). On the fourth round of hearts, RHO ruffs and declarer overruffs with the A, ruffs a spade with the 7 and leads another heart. RHO ruffs, and declarer discards a club (RHO is now out of trump), takes a club return with the A leads another heart, sluffing a club, and now he crossruffs out the last two tricks, ruffing a club with the 6, a spade with the 8.
Could the defense have done better on a club opening lead? I do believe so. Declarer can't sluff any clubs until the fourth round of hearts. His RHO can ruff in on the third round and cash a club. Still . . . declarer didn't get that lead and took advantage of how the balanced suit would serve him very well, thank you.
Of course it was the "bad break" and the double that pushed this declarer to the top. Without the double, the declarer in 6 hearts getting a defensive error woulda been top. Without the uneven break in diamonds, the heart bidders woulda wiped out the 6 diamond bidder.