I sat North and East on Wednesday evening, but I am sure that I was the declarer on hand #16. So, the boards must have been inverted.
Board #16
West dealer
East-West vulnerable
| | North
♠ K Q 7
♥ 10
♦ A 10 7 5 3
♣ J 8 7 3
| | West
♠ J 10
♥ A Q 4 3
♦ K Q 9 4 2
♣ K 2
| | East
♠ A 9 8 3
♥ K J 9 7
♦ J 8 6
♣ A 6
| | | South
♠ 6 5 4 2
♥ 8 6 5 2
♦ _ _ _
♣ Q 10 9 5 4
| |
|
| | | | |
| South | West | North | East |
| P | 1NT | P | 2♣ |
| P | 2♥ | P | 4♥ |
| P | P | P | |
On this hand I opened 1NT. North passed. If I held North's cards and were playing a system (such as DONT) that allowed me to show two minor suits at the two level, I would have interfered. The vulnerability is favorable; little harm is likely.
In this case my partner bid Stayman and jumped to game when I showed four hearts. The lead was the ♠7. In the postmortem North asked if a club would have been better. I said "Yes", but at the time I was hard-pressed to explain why I thought so.
Before playing to the first trick I did a quick assessment. Our side had twenty-eight points. Probably most of our counterparts were in the same contract. In all likelihood I would need to take eleven tricks to get a good score. I would certainly lose a diamond, but if I could bring in four diamond tricks, I could achieve that goal as long as South did not have both missing spade honors. I really had no choice but to duck the first trick, and I was surprised to win it in my hand.
There were four spades out that were below the 7. If North had led top of nothing, surely South, who was a good player, would have taken the trick. So, North must be left with a KQ combination. What a peculiar lead in a suit contract! Maybe I could actually win twelve tricks—two spades, four hearts, four diamonds, and two clubs.
I decided to test the hearts. When North showed out in the second round, I had to reassess my chances. I could still take eleven tricks even if North had all the diamonds. The one thing that I needed to avoid was a diamond ruff. So, I drew trump and played the rest of the hand as if we were in notrump.
My eleven tricks gave us a good score. I assume that at the other tables the declarers tried diamonds before drawing the last two trumps. I might have done that, too, if a club had been led.
What if North had bid 2♣, which in DONT and a few other notrump defenses shows clubs and a higher suit? East would have bid Stayman by doubling. South should definitely raise to 3♣. What should West do? Must he respond 3♥ with his minimum? What if partner is bidding "Garbage Stayman"? If West passes, what will East do? East-West might find the heart fit, and they might play in 3NT (which is the best contract). On the other hand, they might end up in a disastrous diamond contract, or they might just double 3♣, which is only down two.
And what if North had bid 2NT to show both minors? Would East-West have had the tools to find the heart fit? 2NT is more risky, but in this case the higher level of interference would probably have paid off.
Life is more exciting if you aggressively oppose strong notrump contracts.