Round Robin 3 - At one table bold bidding reveals a safe opening lead for 14 IMPs; in another match a strange looking play at trick one is right...but to no avail.
| Board 15 South Deals N-S Vul |
♠ 7 ♥ 8 6 5 2 ♦ A 8 3 ♣ Q J 8 6 5 |
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♠ 10 9 6 5 ♥ K 7 ♦ Q J 6 5 2 ♣ A 3 |
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♠ A K Q 8 ♥ A Q J 10 9 4 3 ♦ — ♣ 4 2 |
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| ♠ J 4 3 2 ♥ — ♦ K 10 9 7 4 ♣ K 10 9 7 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Shark | Jack | Shark | Jack |
| Pass | |||
| Pass | Pass | 2♣(1) | Pass |
| 2♦ | Pass | 2♥(2) | Pass |
| 2NT | Pass | 4♥ | Pass |
| 4NT | Pass | 6♦(3) | Pass |
| 6♥ | All Pass |
| (1) strong; (2) not game force; (3) 2 keycards with diamond void |
| 6♥ by East; lead: ♠ 2; made 6 |
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As he cards lie, only a spade lead allows 6♥ to make. At table 1 Jack made the unfortunate 'blind' lead of a spade and 6♥ made. At table 2, Shark Bridge South doubled over 2♥ and had an easy club lead to defeat 6♥ when partner bid 3♣.
A strange play at trick one is right...but to no avail.
A most interesting play occurred in the Q-Plus Bridge vs. Micro Bridge match. At one table, Micro Bridge opened 4♥ and played it there, making 7 on a spade lead. At the other table Q-Plus Bridge played in the superior 6♠ contract from the West position. [7♠ is the best contract, as it makes almost always when 6♠ makes.] North led the ♦A and Q-Plus Bridge ruffed with the ♠Q and led the ♠8! A strange looking sequence of plays, but a good plan. If spades are jack fourth in either hand and that player wins the jack at trick two, declarer will succeed on many hands (not on this one with a club return because South is void in hearts and declarer can't get to its hand to pull the last trump.), while ruffing with the 8 and leading the ♠Q at trick two never wins against jack fourth. Shark Bridge South correctly ducked the spade return, guaranteeing defeat, as winning and returning a club might lose if declarer started with ♣AQ. Of course, playing one high spade before retuning the ♠8 might pick up the singleton jack, or induce South to more readily win the jack knowing partner has no more trumps. These possible variations in play depend on the limited hand samples used in the play analysis.