Looking at all four hands, you may wonder how 6♦ could fail. The trumps are 3-2, and the Clubs are 3-3 with the Queen on side. If I just draw trumps and finesse in Clubs I get four Diamonds, five Clubs, two Spades with the ruff and a Heart.
However, I was reluctant to take that Club finesse. No one likes to go down early on in a slam on a finesse. So instead I drew just two rounds of trumps, then played the ♣AK, and had a think. At this point I realised my plan of ruffing out the Clubs was doomed, as I couldn't ruff both a Spade and a Club in the South hand, and return to North to draw trumps. I glumly tried this plan anyway, and I was correct in that it was impossible, and it duly went two off.
I could have still made it if I'd kept going with Clubs and discarded a Spade from dummy (then guessed Hearts right in the endgame, which I probably wouldn't). But probably the best plan was just to play the Club finesse.
What I've learned is that when you have limited trumps and limited entries like this sometimes you do just need to finesse. It was an expensive lesson, turning +1370 into -200. That 1570 point swing would have meant instead of losing the match overall 9-7 we would have won it 9-7.
The other three tables played 3♦+3, 5♦= and 5♦+2, so the team lost 330 overall. Even if I'd have just bid and made 5♦ we'd have won the match.
Apart from that board, I think we marginally had it better on our table, and picked up a lot of small swings, that perhaps just about added up to that failed slam. Here's one:
My bidding is somewhat erratic here (still on the tilt from 6♦-2) and my raise to 5♦ depends on partner having quite a suitable hand. 5♦x is not going to make, but could be a good sacrifice.
Anna played it nicely, drawing trumps then eliminating Clubs and Spades before playing Ace and another Heart. This would have gained a trick if an opponent had ♥Kx or ♥Qx and so was forced to win and give a ruff and discard.
5♦x-2 was worth -300, against the opponent's easy 4♠ for a modest gain.
The other tables played 5♠+1, 4♠= and another 5♦x-2, team Rowan declaring on all four tables and gaining 300 overall.
Finally an early board, showing the opponent's careful defence:
I have a great suit for a pre-empt, eight solid Spades with zero defence. The only problem is I'm in second seat and vulnerable. When East opened 1♣ I compromised with a 3♠ overcall, and I'm glad I settled for that as West doubled and East passed! I'm not sure East should pass, and they are rather fortunate that there are five tricks in defence.
I tried leading a Spade from hand hoping they would crash their honours. There's really no reason for West to play his ♠K (would I really be leading the Queen from AQ?) but it sometimes works. When that didn't happen I settled for 3♠x-1.
The other tables scored 4♥= on a similar auction, 4♠x-1 and 4♠-1 (the defence did crash their trump honours on those two tables). Overall we gained 320 on the board.
After those initial excitements there were a lot of fairly flat boards, where the opponents played 3NT on a combined 30 count and Anna and I tried to keep our concentration. I was still looking for an opportunity to 'win back' the missing points from my 6♦, but kept my discipline.
In the end the four tables produced very similar scores, more so than I've seen in any oher league match. Our match was won by 390, the other lost by 1020, for a narrow 9-7 loss overall.
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