Fall NABC

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frs1016@centurylink.net
In November, players flocked to San Diego —a pleasant site — for the 10-day ACBL Fall Championships. As usual, many experts from outside the U.S. attended. In today’s deal from the Board-a-Match Teams, Italian champion Norberto Bocchi won a board with a good deceptive play.

Dlr: North ♠ Q 7
Vul: All ♥ Q 3
♦ A K J 9 8 2
♣ J 3 2
♠ K 10 5 4 3 ♠ J 9
♥ K 10 8 ♥ J 9 6 5 4
♦ Q 6 5 ♦ 10 7
♣ 10 7 ♣ Q 9 6 4
♠ A 8 6 2
♥ A 7 2
♦ 4 3
♣ A K 8 5
North East South West
1♦ Pass 1♠ Pass
2♦ Pass 3NT All Pass

Opening lead — ♠4
Board-a-Match is a demanding format; overtricks can matter. South played at 3NT, and Bocchi, West, led a spade, won by dummy’s queen. Declarer led a club to his ace and returned a diamond … and Bocchi played the queen!

Guess

South had a guess. If the queen was a singleton, he needed to duck in dummy to preserve communication. If South took the ace, king and jack and lost a diamond to East’s 10, he might never reach dummy for the two good diamonds.
South must have been suspicious, but he judged to trust Bocchi’s card: South played low from dummy. He wound up with 10 tricks, plus 630, but in the replay, South took 11 tricks at 3NT against a less testing defense, and Bocchi’s team won the board.

Daily Question

You hold: ♠A 8 6 2   ♥A 7 2 ♦4 3    ♣A K 8 5.
Your partner opens 1♣, you respond 1♦, he bids 1♠ and you try 2♥. The dealer, at your right, opens 1♥. You double, your partner bids 1♠ and the opening bidder rebids 2♥. What do you say?

ANSWER
If the opening bidder had passed at his second turn, you would pass. Your partner might have little or nothing, and a voluntary raise to 2♠ would show more strength. But in a competitive position, you can stretch a bit when you have a sound double. Bid 2♠.