Trump Pressure by Foxymoron

The last week has seen further pressure on Trump to concede, with more and more of the GOP deserting him. On a hand today, the run of the trumps exerted a similar amount of pressure.

Some players think there is a gap between a weak two and a one-level opening bid. I would also prefer to pass with a flawed weak two, and I would not open a weak two with more than one of the following flaws (although third in hand I would relax the requirements):

a) Two aces
b) A side 4-card major

c) More than half my points outside the suit

d) A void

e) A suit worse than QJTxxx

f) Ten or more HCPs

I would have opened 2S on Vampyr's hand below, but it is close. It only fails on rule (c) and only just. I don't mind pass, and I don't mind 1S. It meets the rule of 18 in that the points plus the two longest suits total 18 or more.

West expressed her hand quite well, by jumping to 3S over the reverse of 2D. What could that be other than a good weak two with a flaw or two? Ken Rolph was not going to pussyfoot around and jumped to 6S. A couple of well-placed kings is about all he needed and the good slam was reached. The cold slam in fact.

But it is matchpoints and there might be a bonus for 13 tricks. Indeed, there was as 6S= only gets 65% while 6S+1 is over 90%. North leads a passive heart and you ruff a heart, draw a trump, play the ace of diamonds and ruff a diamond and ruff another heart. Now you ruff a diamond and the king does not fall. Time to broach the clubs and a club to the queen holds. Now run all the trumps. If North has the king of diamonds and the king of clubs he will be squeezed. As it happens, the king of clubs is doubleton, so good technique does not get an extra reward, but +1010 does get almost all the matchpoints.

Vampyr played the slightly inferior line of playing to pin the doubleton ten of  clubs, so NS escaped gratefully with a 35% board. This was still enough for Vampyr and KenRolph to win the event by less than 1%.