Matchpoint Odyssey

By Brent Manley

Anyone who plays regularly in pairs knows that the game can torture you at times, and when you get on a roll the wrong way, it can be tough to recover.

The third qualifying session of the Mixed Pairs played by German star Sabine Auken and American George Jacobs featured a variety of hills and valleys. The first board was a high point, featuring a deal that has received a lot of press in today’s edition of the Daily Bulletin.

Board 23. Dealer South. All Vul.
	♠ J 5 4 3 ♥ 8 ♦ K J 10 7 ♣ K J 10 6
♠ 9 7 2 ♥ K 9 ♦ A 8 6 4 3 2 ♣ 9 4		♠ K 10 ♥ A Q 10 7 5 4 3 ♦ Q 9 ♣ A 8
	♠ A Q 8 6 ♥ J 6 2 ♦ 5 ♣ Q 7 5 3 2

West	North	East	South
			Pass
Pass	1♣	1♥	1♠
Pass	Pass	2♥	3♣
3♥	3♠	4♥	All Pass

South led her singleton ♦5, and Auken studied the dummy for a long time before calling for a low card. North won the ♦K and also huddled for a bit. You can see that a spade return would have defeated the contract – declarer must lose two spades, a diamond and a club (or a ruff of the ♦A). North erred, however, in returning a diamond for his partner to ruff, and now South had to cash the ♠A to prevent an overtrick (she did not do that). A club return went to the king and ace, and Auken played a heart to dummy’s 9, followed by a diamond ruff high. Another heart to dummy’s king pulled the outstanding trumps, and Auken was able to discard three black cards for plus 650 and nearly 100% of the matchpoints.

It is noteworthy that South could still have defeated the contract by declining to ruff the diamond return (declarer cannot pull trumps ending in dummy to play the ♦A without getting it ruffed), but that is a play few players would make without benefit of a peek at the entire deal.That fine board (97%) was followed by a series of less-than-stellar results, although they weren’t as bad as they seemed. This deal, from round two, was typical:

Board 28. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	♠ A Q ♥ Q 9 5 ♦ 8 6 3 2 ♣ A J 5 3
♠ K 10 9 5 ♥ A J 10 ♦ 10 7 4 ♣ 10 9 2		♠ J 8 6 3 2 ♥ 7 4 ♦ Q J 9 ♣ K 8 6
	♠ 7 4 ♥ K 8 6 3 2 ♦ A K 5 ♣ Q 7 4

West	North	East	South
Pass	1♣	1♠	2♥
2♠	2NT	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Auken, not impressed with her spades, tried to generate tricks in another suit, starting with the ♦Q. Declarer won the ace in dummy and played a heart to the 10 and queen. Another heart went to Jacobs’ jack, and he played the ♠10. Declarer inserted the queen then knocked out the ♥A. The contract was still doomed had Jacobs played another spade, but he returned a diamond instead. Now declarer was home with nine tricks, losing only two hearts, a diamond and a club. It wasn’t a disaster, but an opportunity lost.

It was on the next round that Auken and Jacobs formed the impression that any chance of matchpoints had deserted them. First, they overbid to a hopeless 5♦ contract (38%), then Jacobs got off to an unfortunate lead against 3NT, surrendering an overtrick that resulted in a 28% score. After taking average on the first board of the next set, Auken and Jacobs fared very poorly on the second deal.

Board 8. Dealer West. None Vul.
	♠ K 10 ♥ 10 9 7 5 3 ♦ A 9 7 5 ♣ 10 7
♠ Q 8 6 5 ♥ A Q J 6 ♦ 8 4 ♣ J 6 4		♠ J 7 4 2 ♥ K 4 2 ♦ 6 3 ♣ A Q 5 3
	♠ A 9 3 ♥ 8 ♦ K Q J 10 2 ♣ K 9 8 2 West North East South
Pass	Pass	1♣	1♦
2♦	3♦	All Pass

The contract was played by Debbie Rosenberg, and she took full advantage of Jacobs’ failure to find the most effective lead. The contract cannot be defeated, of course, but all players lust after – and try to prevent – overtricks. Had Jacobs found the trump lead, the contract could have been held to 10 tricks. On the club opening lead, Auken won the ace and switched to a trump, but Rosenberg had the timing she needed. She won the ♦K in hand and exited with the ♥8 (Jacobs’ 2♦ showed 4-4 in the majors). Jacobs won the ♥J and continued with a trump, but Rosenberg won in dummy with the 9, ruffed a heart, cashed the ♣K and ruffed a club, then noted a heart. A third heart ruff set up the 10 in dummy and Rosenberg could claim plus 150 and 74% of the matchpoints.

At that point, Jacobs and Auken were shaking their heads and were seriously concerned about qualifying for the Mixed Pairs final. It didn’t help matters when Jacobs went minus 800 on the next round (2%). More bad news was waiting at the next table, where a 3NT contract was played from the wrong side, resulting in only one overtrick for East-West instead of two had the contract played from the other side, and Jacobs-Auken could not stop an opponent from plus 170 after Jacobs opened 1NT (28%). Things began looking up on the next round, however, as Auken managed plus 200 in a spade partial on poor defense (77%), while simply taking the two tricks to which they were entitled on the next board was good for 68%. This deal produced a nervous moment, but Auken and Jacobs had the tools to come out on top.

Board 26. Dealer East. All Vul.
	♠ K 8 7 ♥ A 8 ♦ K Q J 10 5 4 2 ♣ 9
♠ 10 9 ♥ Q 6 5 4 3 ♦ 9 7 ♣ A K 6 3		♠ A 6 3 ♥ K 10 7 2 ♦ 6 ♣ Q J 8 5 2
	♠ Q J 5 4 2 ♥ J 9 ♦ A 8 3 ♣ 10 7 4

West	North	East	South
		Pass	Pass
1♥	2♦	4♦	Dbl
4♥	5♦	All Pass

Auken led the ♥7 (third and fifth best), to the jack, queen and ace. Declarer played two rounds of trumps, ending in dummy, and played a spade to the 10 and king, ducked by Auken. She ducked again when declarer continued with a second spade. After winning the third spade (Jacobs had played a low heart), Auken carefully exited with the ♣2. This was indicative of an odd-numbered holding, and given the number of cards declarer was already known to have, Auken’s club suit could not be three cards. Jacobs therefore did not try to cash another club, but played a heart for the setting trick and 68% of the matchpoints.

They bid a slam on the next deal for 81%, received another good result when an opponent declaring 4♠ did not try very hard for overtricks (and indeed achieved none), followed by this deal: On the final two rounds, the luck that had been so bad for Auken and Jacobs turned to gold. On the next-to-last round, an opponent underplayed 4♠ (taking 11 tricks where 12 were relatively easy) then put his partner in 6NT off a cashing ace-king (and it didn’t matter that the suit wasn’t led on the go). The next-to-last board was a nightmare for declarer but good news for Auken and Jacobs.

Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul.
	♠ 4 2 ♥ K Q 10 8 4 ♦ K 8 7 4 ♣ A 8
♠ K 10 9 8 7 3 ♥ 6 ♦ Q 3 2 ♣ K 3 2		♠ Q 5 ♥ J 7 5 3 2 ♦ A 10 9 6 ♣ 10 7
	♠ A J 6 ♥ A 9 ♦ J 5 ♣ Q J 9 6 5 4

West	North	East	South
	1♥	Pass	2♣
Pass	2♦	Pass	2♠
Dbl	Pass	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Jacobs started with the ♠10 to the queen and ace. Declarer thought about ducking, but it wouldn’t have helped. A club to the ace was followed by a club to the queen, ducked by Jacobs. When declarer continued with a third club, Jacobs won the king as Auken signalled vigorously with the ♦10. Jacobs put the ♦2 on the table, and declarer desperately went up with the king. It was grim from there as East-West first cashed five spades then three more diamonds. Declarer took trick 13 with her singleton ♥A, which captured dummy’s singleton king. Plus 500 was worth 93% for Auken and Jacobs, no longer convinced that the god of the cards was out to get them.