Showing Up by Foxymoron

One recent quote I liked is "it's not always about being the perfect person in the perfect position - it's about showing up when you're needed" - Jill Biden, the new first lady, who is also the first to hold both a professorship and a doctorate. [Twitter caveat: "The claim of first lady is disputed by Donald Trump"]

Showing up was the theme of the hand here:

I think I would have used Stayman and then bid 6H over the 2NT opener, but NS were attracted by the greater prize of the no-trump slam. 6H rates to be better for two reasons:

a) the 12th trick might well come from a ruff in the South hand

b) the 13th trick might well come from a ruff in the South hand

It is true that when both contracts are making the same number of tricks, you want to be in no-trumps, but that might only happen a third of the time. This was that third, and Tony Moloney, North, used his good luck to help him to a fine win in the Thursday Pairs in partnership with Mike Klein.

How do you play 6NT on the lead of the seven of spades, denying an honour in the suit? Well, the first thing to do is to play three rounds of hearts, ending in dummy, and keeping a heart entry in South. West comes under pressure. In practice he let go a club, and that gave declarer 3 club tricks and his contract, but say that he discards a spade and a diamond. Now you take the club finesse, running the jack, and East wins and continues with another spade which you win in dummy. Now, before guessing how to play the clubs, it does not cost to cash the ace and king of diamonds, and cross to the king of hearts, and cash the third spade. West is squeezed in the minors and has to let go a club, but now the ten of clubs shows up on the third round of the suit, and the slam comes home. This line works whenever West has four diamonds unless East has four clubs including the ten. A sort of show-up squeeze, but a trick later. If East had KTx of clubs you would still make it. East can test you a bit more by ducking the jack of clubs, but another squeeze operates when you then play a club to the queen. East wins and exits with another spade. The ten of clubs does not show up, but when you cash the major suit winners West gets squeezed in the minors.

The theory of available spaces says that West is 12:9 on to have any card outside hearts, and the chance of success of the above line is around 70%. The declarer who finessed the nine of clubs early on gained no marks for artistic impression or technical merit. But then he didn't have any from the auction either, reaching only 3NT.