My team (John Diamond-Brian Platnick, Ron Smith-myself)had a good run in the USBC, reaching the semifinals and losing a close match toFLEISHER. There were plenty of deals I could have won the match on, but here are a few of the bright spots for the team.
First, a deal from the second eighth:
Fleisher led the ♦10, Rusinow, and dummy's king lost to Martel's ace. Martel shifted to the ♥J, covered by the queen and ace, and Fleisher returned a heart to the nine and king. At this point, Martel was marked with the high spades and the ♥10, so he would come under pressure on the run of dummy's clubs.
I ran my winners, reducing to:
On the last club, East and I discarded diamonds. Then, a diamond to the queen squeezed East in the majors, letting me throw him in in one suit to give me a trick in the other. He threw a spade in practice, so the ♥8 was my ninth trick.
The defense could have prevailed in a number of ways. West could have ducked the first round of hearts or switched to spades after winning the ♥A. East could have led his low heart, rather than the ♥J. There is no way I would have played the ♥8.
The next deal comes from the third segment:
At the helm in a precarious Moysian fit, I received the ♠10 lead to the queen, and Fleisher returned the ♠K, which I ruffed. Needing some luck, I led a diamond to the jack, holding, and a second diamond. Fleisher ruffed and tapped me again in spades. The position was:
The actuallayout seemed like my only chance to make, so I played for it. I cashed the ♣K, played ♥A, heart ruff and was gratified to see the ♥K pop up. I cashed dummy's ♣A, crossed to the ♦K, and played the ♥Q. Martel only scored his high trump. Making four: +130.
My final exhibit was from the fifth eighth:
Ron faked a splinter, then after finding me with one keycard, bid slam without checking on the ♥Q. Bidding 5♦ would have given Hampson a chance not to double for a diamond lead, making it more likely Greco would have found the killing club lead. Ron's ploy worked: Greco led a diamond.
I won in dummy, led a heart to the king, crossed to a spade, and led another heart. Hampsoncontinued diamonds, leaving me enough entries to ruff out spades and ensure the contract. If he had shifted to clubs, I would have relied on the ruffing finesse in spades.
