The Unlucky Experts (and the Lucky Ones)

By Ron Klinger

Imagine a pair bids to game with no opposition bidding, the trumps break evenly but the contract goes eight down. How could that be? Take a look at:

Round 6. Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul.
	♠ 6 5 4 ♥ – ♦ K Q 10 6 5 3 2 ♣ Q 10 8
♠ Q 2 ♥ J 10 9 8 5 ♦ J ♣ K J 6 3 2		♠ A 7 ♥ K 7 6 3 2 ♦ A 9 8 7 4 ♣ 9
	♠ K J 10 9 8 3 ♥ A Q 4 ♦ – ♣ A 7 5 4

At one table the bidding was uneventful:

West	North	East	South
Pass	3♦	Pass	3♠
Pass	4♠	All Pass

Lead: ♣3

Declarer, Warren Lazer of Australia, played the ♣Q and continued with the ♦K: ace, ruff. A heart was ruffed in dummy, followed by the ♦Q, discarding a club. West ruffed and a spade to the ace and a spade back would now be best for the defence. Instead, West gave East a club ruff and East played another diamond. Lazer ruffed with the ♠K, ruffed the ♥Q in dummy and led a spade. With the trumps now 1-1, he had his game for +620. At the other table:

West	North	East	South
Matthew		Valerie
Mallumphy		Cummings
Pass	3♦	Pass	3♠
Pass	4♥	All Pass

North found the expert bid of 4♥, showing spade support and heart shortage. The trouble is that an expert bid is no longer an expert bid if partner does not read it. Thus, North was left to play in the 3-0 fit.

Cummings led the ♣9, ducked to the king. Mullamphy shifted to the ♠2 to the ace and Cummings returned the ♠7. Declarer took the 'marked' finesse and West's ♠Q scored. A club was ruffed by East, who shifted to a trump, ducked to West. After another club ruff, East played the ♦A. South ruffed with the ♥Q. The ♥A was South's only other trick for -800 and 16 IMPs away. For the MULLAMPHY team, that did not quite make up for the previous board where East-West had a lucky outcome:

Board 19. Dealer South. E-W Vul.
	♠ 10 ♥ K 5 4 3 ♦ 10 9 6 5 ♣ 9 6 4 3
♠ A 5 ♥ J 6 ♦ Q 7 2 ♣ K Q J 8 7 5		♠ Q J 9 7 3 ♥ A Q 10 9 7 ♦ A ♣ A 2
	♠ K 8 6 4 2 ♥ 8 2 ♦ K J 8 4 3 ♣ 10

At one table Cummings/Mullamphy bid and made game. At the other table:

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1♣	Pass	1♠	Pass
2♣	Pass	3♥(i)	Pass
3♠	Pass	4♣	Pass
4♦	Pass	4♥	Pass
4NT	Pass	5♦(ii)	Pass
5♠	Pass	5NT	Pass
7♣	All Pass

(i) 5+ - 5+ majors, game-force
(ii) 0 or 3 key cards for spades
Lead: ♣4

Declarer drew trumps and ran the ♥J. With both major-suit finesses working, declarer was able to pitch the diamond losers after setting up the fifth heart and the grand slam came home for +17 IMPs. I am unsure about the meaning of some of the East-West bids and I daresay East-West were not sure of them either. (Apology: In DB No. 7, page 14, the strip squeeze declarer in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was Kieran Dyke).