With Jack Stocken

This board from the Harrogate Swiss pairs helped my partner and I to recover after an indifferent start to the tournament. North’s 2♣ was announced as the popular “Landy” convention over a 1NT opening, normally showing 5 – 4 in the majors.

Certainly North’s holding in the majors was not for the faint hearted but with no one vulnerable it often pays to be aggressive in the bidding over 1NT to try and find a fit. After all, 1NT down one or two non-vulnerable is only 50 or 100.

Bill Townsend’s double was a typical tight penalty double at pairs and with good defensive values was a good bid – at pairs scoring the odd part score making is outweighed by defeating the contract by one or two tricks doubled.

Bill correctly led the ♠3 against 2♠ doubled – normally you would not lead a trump from three to the Queen but against a doubled part score a trump lead is right – it cuts down declarer’s ability to make extra tricks with trumps.

I played the Ace of spades and continued with a spade which declarer won with the King. Declarer tried to create a void in the short trump hand (normally dummy) by playing the two of the hearts to dummy’s King which I ducked smoothly.

Declarer played the ♦6 from dummy to the Jack in hand and then another small heart to the Queen in dummy which I won with the Ace and played my third and final trump. Bill won the Queen of spades and switched to a low heart which I won with my Ten and switched to the ♣2.

Bill won the ♣K, cashed his winning Jack of hearts and now had an awkward choice – cash the Ace of clubs or play a diamond. After some thought he correctly played the Ace of clubs, forcing dummy to ruff with the Jack of spades.

Declarer took another winning diamond finesse to the Ten, cashed the Ace of diamonds but could not get back to dummy to enjoy the 13th diamond. She had to concede a club at the end and that was two down doubled, so 300 to East West and 98% of the score.