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Matchpoint Decisions
Team games are so much easier in some ways ... we get into a contract and then we try to make it. At matchpoints life is more complicated, the quest for the overtrick(s) is paramount, even if, once in a while, we risk our contract. Or, sometimes, we'll end up in the wrong contract (yes, really!) and our line of play will be designed to beat those other pairs who got into the theoretically correct contract.
Related Play Problems Play Problem 4
Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games
After an Inverted Minor auction, against 3NT, South leads a Club won by Declarer’s Ace. The ♦A is knocked out and South continues Clubs or maybe shifts to Spades. Either way, Declarer has a choice to make … he can cash 9 tricks and give up … or he can lead towards the ♥K, trying for an overtrick but risking the contract if the ♥A is with North. We’d say that the odds favor going for the overtrick, it’s better than a 50-50 shot. How so? Well, the ♥A may be onside (that’s 50%) but even if it is offside Declarer will survive if (a) the Heart suit is blocked (South might hold QJx or QTx or JTx, for example), or (b) the defense manages to block the Heart suit (North might go wrong holding AQJx or AQTx or AJTx), or (c) the Heart suit might be there for the defense to take but they might neglect to do so. So, it’s +630 for the bold Declarers, only +600 for the wimps.
Against 3NT, North leads the ♠J, won by Declarer. Now, how does Declarer play the Clubs? The old, old rule is “Eight ever, nine, never”, meaning that with a 9-card fit one should not finesse against the Queen. But here there are two excellent reasons to break that rule. Firstly, the bidding tells us that North has long Spades, and that increases the chances that South has longer Clubs. Secondly, it’s essential to keep South off lead, as a second Spade through Declarer will be fatal. So, Declarer cashes the ♣A, crosses to the ♥K, takes the Club finesse, and when that works he is up to 10 tricks. Dare he cross to the ♦A and take the Heart finesse for 11? The danger, of course, is that, if the ♥Q is offside, the defense might wind up scoring 4 tricks (♠A, ♥Q and two Diamonds). Yes, it’s possible, but the defenders will have to discard accurately and the Heart finesse would have to lose. On balance, it seems right to go for 11 and risk getting only 9.
North leads a low Club to South’s Jack and Declarer’s King. Because of the entry situation, Declarer’s most sensible line of play appears to be to attack Diamonds at Trick 2. The finesse of the ♦T loses to the Jack and now the defense gets three tricks, holding Declarer to 10 tricks. If the Diamonds had behaved better then Declarer would have had 11 tricks.
There is another line of play which improves Declarer’s chance of making 11 tricks, but only at the risk of going down one: Club lead to the Jack and Declarer’s King Diamond to Dummy’s King (North should duck) Club to North’s Ace Spade shift, won by Dummy’s Ace By now, Declarer has established 5 winners outside the Heart suit. If the Hearts are worth 6 tricks then his total is 11, but if the ♥J does not fall then he is down one! Fortune favors the bold (or greedy) on this board!
Against 4♠, a Heart lead from South would be quite tragic (one good reason for North not to raise to 3♥ on three small), and a Diamond lead would also make Declarer’s life easier. So, let us assume that South finds the highly sensible opening lead of the ♣J. Dummy wins that, trumps are drawn, and the ♦J is unsuccessfully finessed. North cashes a Club, followed by a Heart to the Queen, King and Ace. Declarer has 10 sure tricks and this is one of those hands where he must decide whether to settle for just 10 or risk the contract by finessing against the ♦T, thereby scoring a third Diamond, getting a Heart pitch, and scoring an overtrick.
Well, we have looked at the Hand Record and our advice is to go for the overtrick! But, even without the Hand Record, the odds favor taking that Diamond finesse. South is known to have 8 cards in the majors, and North has only 5. The odds are that North has 4 Diamonds and that the Diamond finesse is likely to succeed. It’s your classic matchpoint situation, risking the contract for an overtrick, and praying that Partner will be understanding if it does not work. Those with irascible partners are advised to play the Diamonds from the top, that may also provide an overtrick (if the suit is 3-3), and does not risk the contract.
East does best to lead a trump against 4♠, cutting down on Dummy’s ruffs. Declarer can count 6 Spades, A♥, AK♦, and hopefully 2 Hearts ruffs on the board. The play might go as follows: Spade lead, won by Dummy’s Nine (West does well to withhold the Ten) A♥ and ruff a Heart AK♦ and ruff a Diamond with the Eight Heart ruff K♣ (hoping that East will win) won by West’s Ace Q♦, Declarer pitching a Heart loser Now, Declarer ruffs the Club switch, and draws trump for 11 tricks.
This line of play is not without risk and we would never dream of playing this way in a team game. The danger is that East will overruff the 3rd round of Diamonds with the Ten, and then return a trump, setting the contract! This is a risk we’ll take at matchpoints, after all it requires short Diamonds with West, and a third trump for this line to come a cropper. We are happy to risk the occasional setback for a multitude of good boards. At IMPs, however, it’s way too cavalier to risk our vulnerable game like that … our team-mates will never remember the overtrick IMP that we won on the 20 other occasions that this board (or its like) was played, but they will remember the time that we lost 12 IMPs playing for an overtrick.
Against 3NT, South leads a low Diamond East has an interesting matchpoint decision: - He can guarantee the contract (assuming Spades are 3-2) by going up with the A♦ and playing on Clubs … this ensures 9 tricks, and the best that the defense can to is take their two Diamonds and two Aces; - Or, he can risk his contract by playing the Q♦, going down if the finesse loses and the defense shifts to a Heart … however, if the finesse wins, he can make 11 tricks. Yes, this is one of those matchpoint situations where we must risk our contract in order to avoid a bad result. If we play it safe we’ll make our contract and +400, but that will not be worth many matchpoints if the field is in 4♠ scoring +420 or +450. So, the only hope for a decent score is to take the risky finesse.
While we’re on the subject of matchpoint tactics, let’s try another one. Suppose again that you are in 3NT and this time South leads a Heart. Rats! Now, with normal play, the Spade bidders are destined to outscore you. They’ll score 10 or 11 tricks (depending on the Diamond finesse) against your own puny 8 or 9 tricks (depending on the Heart break). But that’s with normal play. The only way to salvage some equity is to be abnormal, and so you will take a first-round finesse of the Spade Ten! Your hope is that Spades are 4-1, and that 4♠ is going off with a loser in each suit. So, when you win your Heart trick you take that anti-percentage Spade finesse, and when it wins you’ll cash the A♠ and play on Clubs, hoping to escape with three Heart losers and one Club loser. There’s no point in taking the Diamond finesse, that has to lose if you are to get a good board. Anyway, the good news is that the Spade finesse works, and the bad news is that they split 3-2. But, at least, by taking that Spade finesse, you gave yourself the only chance you had to get a good board.
South tries the opening lead of a fourth-best Diamond, and North’s Jack forces Declarer’s King. Things look bleak for Declarer, but the card gods are with him. He plays A♣ and out a Club, and not only are the Clubs miraculously fortunate, but also the winner of the second Club is South. At this point Declarer has 9 top tricks, and if South persists with Diamonds, that’s Declarer’s 10th.
Suppose that South, when in with the Club, shifts to the safe Spade. Dare Declarer try the Heart finesse for a 10th trick? Well, it’s not without risk, if South’s opening lead of the Diamond Seven was from A987, and if the Heart finesse loses, then a low Diamond to North’s Queen, and a Diamond back, will sink the contract. Would you go for the overtrick and risk the contract? We admit that we would be tempted, it needs three things to go wrong for us to regret this play: - The Heart finesse must lose - Diamonds must be 4-3 - The Q♦ must be with North
All the E-W pairs will be in 4♥, but how many tricks will they make? 11 or 12? It all depends on the opening lead, and on Declarer’s Greed Quotient. - If South leads a Club: The Q♣ looks to us like a reasonable lead and that will surely lead to 11 tricks. Dummy’s Ace wins the opening trick, and loses a Club immediately, setting up a ruff in Dummy for the 11th trick. - If South leads a Trump: Leading trumps against this auction is too passive for our taste, South will usually be better off trying to develop side-suit tricks. So we are especially glad to report that the trump lead works badly here. True, it stops that ruff in Dummy, but it allows the Diamonds to be set up instead. Declarer wins the A♣, cashes A♦, and gives up a Diamond. Later a Diamond is ruffed high, trumps are drawn, and Declarer will still have an entry to enjoy the long Diamonds. Making six! - If South leads the K♦: An aggressive lead and not a bad idea, but it does not work well on this board. Again, Declarer establishes the Diamonds for 12 tricks. - If South leads a Spade: This lead looks especially unattractive, but it leads to some interesting play possibilities. Dummy’s Ace wins the first trick, after which Declarer can make sure of 11 by going after the Club ruff in Dummy. But if Declarer has a high GQ he might try for 12. He wins the A♠, and gives up a Diamond. Now the defense does best to shift to Clubs. The A♣ wins the trick, then A♦ and ruff a Diamond high. All that is needed now is for trumps to be 2-2. When they are, it’s a lovely 12 tricks. Against good defense this line will make 12 tricks when trumps are 2-2 and Diamonds 3-2, but only 10 otherwise. But the odds are improved greatly if the defenders are merely mortal and try to cash a Spade instead of finding the Club shift.
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