| Contract: 4  by South
|
—
 K 8 6
 —
 8 6 4 | ||
|
Q
A 4
J
Q 7 | 
|
7
(J) 9 5
(4)
T 9 | |
|
J 9 4
(J)
(4)
K J |
Early in our first round match against St Cats II, I picked up Q 7 3, A Q 4, A Q J 7, Q 7 3. (all vulnerable), and I was too strong to pass, so I had to grit my teeth and overcall 1NT, hoping Qxx would be good enough. LHO bid 2, and opener rebid 2, ending the auction.
From a choice of unattractive leads I picked the A, and dummy hit with T 8, K T 8 6 2, K T, A 8 6 4.A and ran the T. Coming in with my queen, I cashed the Q, and then realised that I was in danger of being endplayed with a trump if the remaining cards were like this (with the bracketed cards either way
...so I cashed my Q. I still had to make a decision—if declarer had a heart left I needed to cash the A to avoid being endplayed, but if he didn't the A would get ruffed, setting up the king, and a diamond would endplay me. So I tried the diamond, but it got ruffed. Declarer duly led a heart, and my only chance was to win and lead a club, hoping Jonathan had the jack. I was shocked to see Jonathan win with the K and return the J to take the contract two off. The actual hands were:
| North deals |
T 8
K T 8 6 2
K T
A 8 6 4 | |||||
|
Q 6 3
A Q 4
A Q J 7
Q 7 3 |
|
7 5 2
J 5 3
9 4 3 2
K J 9 | ||||
|
A K J 9 4
9 7
8 6 5
T 5 2 | ||||||
| ||||||
Not only had declarer opened with 8 points, but at the other table Teymur found the same opening bid! Toby doubled the 1NT overcall and Teymur thought he had better run. They then had a Groundhog Day auction finishing in 2NT doubled.
Toby led the T to set up his partner's suit, and Teymur correctly played low to preserve the entry. Declarer decided not to look for an entry to dummy, but played A and another. Toby returned a spade, and Teymur ran the suit. Declarer unwisely pitched a heart from both hands, thus losing his second heart guard. Teymur switched to a heart to the ace, and declarer could have cashed two diamonds for