Make sure you have logged in before clicking a Members’ Area Button

Having been only 7 imps ahead it was 'all to play for' going into the last round in a teams of 8 Sunday League match. On the last board of the match we were vulnerable, the opponents were not. Partner opened 1♣.
 
I held -  ♠ A K Q 7 6 3
            ♥ 10 5 2
            ♦ J 5 4
            ♣ A
 Game looked certain from my point of view and if partner was strong possibly a slam. The bidding continued…

1♣    -    Pass    -    1♠    -   2♥
Pass  -  Pass     -    4♠       All Pass

The Ace of Hearts was duly led and dummy went down to reveal…

Sheepishly partner said, “last hand so thought it was worth a chance opening”. “Thank you partner”, I managed to sweetly reply.

I could see 2 immediate Heart losers followed by a probable a Heart ruff. I had the Ace of Diamonds to lose and I needed the Spades to be kind to limit the damage to only 1 off. Others would probably be making 8 or 9 tricks in Spades so -100 against +140, or -200 against +110 is either -6 or -8 imps for us. Whilst one should always be bidding close games in a teams match, this one was not quite close enough and I suspected that -6 or -8 would not go down too well with my team mates – especially if we lose the match by a close margin.

The hands were:                                ♠ Jxxx
 E/W Vul                                             ♥ 6
                                                           ♦ Axxx
                                                           ♣ Kxxx
                                   ♠ 10x                                        ♠ AKQxxx
                                   ♥ Qxx                                       ♥ 105x
                                   ♦ KQ                                         ♦ Jxx
                                   ♣ Q987xx                                 ♣ A
                                                            ♠ x
                                                            ♥ AKJxxx
                                                            ♦ xxxx
                                                            ♣ J10   

I played the ♥10 smoothly on the Ace hoping she would put me with a singleton. Opener’s partner had played the ♥6 on the Ace. After thinking for a while she switched to the 10 of Clubs at trick 2.

I played AKQ of Spades revealing a 4-1 break with the Jack of Spades to lose, and then exited with a diamond. The defenders came to my rescue again as they now tried to cash the K clubs which I ruffed (the Jack of Clubs falling!). With the Diamond Q entry to dummy and North having no option but to follow suit to the established clubs, I was able to discard my losing hearts and claim 10 tricks.

The distribution of the defenders cards certainly helped or maybe it was the luck of the last board against tired opponents but whatever it was, we were grateful for the 10 imps on the board helping us to a crushing 10-10 draw!

Peter Taylor

The Luck of the Last Board

By Peter Taylor