Jeff and I have a pretty strong difference of opinion on who's at fault for this one.  I was asked to substitute in a team match against Waldemar and Piotr for 6 boards tonight, started down 13 and immediately lost another 12 on the first board (through no fault of our own,) then 3 uneventful boards, then this one (we were down 20 IMPs when this board came up, so it was the final nail in the coffin.)

54 / A6 / AT72 / AQ842 1st hand

Q3 / KJT7 / KJ98 / T63 3rd hand

1st hand opened 1NT, all white.  3rd hand bid stayman.  4th hand bid 3 Spades.  1st hand passed, 3rd hand doubled.  Float.

On lead with

54 / A6 / AT72 / AQ842

A trump was led.

Dummy tracked.

J7 / Q984 / Q43 / K975

Declarer played the Jack and 3rd hand covered with the Queen.  Declarer won and led the Jack of clubs.

1st hand won the Ace and cashed the Ace of hearts, third hand signaled with the 7 (playing upside down carding, 1st hand could see that's the 2nd highest spot outstanding, with 3 lower, and pard almost surely has 4 Hearts (we don't run through stayman without a major.)  So 1st hand switched to the Ace of diamonds and 3rd hand signaled with the 8 (again, a very high spot, but this time only 2 lower spots were missing.)  Now 1st hand switched back to clubs.

Declarer ducked and ruffed, then led a trump to dummy's 7, cashed the King of Clubs, pitching a diamond, ruffed a club, and ran spades.  1st hand pitched his last heart (the highest spot outstanding) at the first opportunity and the deuce of diamonds next.

3rd hand had to decide at trick ten whether to stiff the King of diamonds or King of hearts.  Dummy was Q9 of hearts and stiff Q of diamonds at that point.  He stiffed the King of hearts.  Declarer, who was left with a trump and two hearts, had 2 of the last 3 tricks, and the contract.

If 1st hand had continued hearts, +300 would have been the result.  If 1st hand had continued diamonds, +100 would have been the probable result (3rd hand would have to win and switch back to hearts to get +300,) if 3rd hand had read the end position properly, +100 would have been the result.

If it matters, +300 would have won 8 IMPs, +100 would have won 4 IMPs, -530 lost 10 IMPs.

Assign blame.  My opinion is over in MORE >>, but if you're going to weigh in, please weigh in before you read it.

Dummy and declarer:

J7 / Q984 / Q43 / K975

AKT9862 / 532 / 65 / J

I held the hand that opened 1NT.  I like how I bid the hand.  I like how I defended the hand.  Here's why:

I opened 1NT because it was an awkward hand to begin with, with 4 Diamonds and 5 Clubs.  It's a mildly swingy action that avoids a different problem altogether.  We were down 20, so a somewhat swingy action seemed called for. 

I led a trump because deciding which Ace to lead is a crapshoot.  I'd have led the Ace of hearts if I had to lead another suit, but a trump seemed conservative.

When I got in with the club, I did what I could to find out where pard lived.  When he appeared to discourage hearts and discourage diamonds, I reasoned that it was possible he had a stiff club and declarer had attacked the suit with JTx (not expecting it to be 5-1.)  Unlikely maybe, but how likely is it that declarer had all 3 of the lowest spots in one of the suits pard was trying to encourage and he was trying to play the 8 as a LOW spot in the other suit?  If that had cost the contract, I'd have said 'ok, my bad, but it was a VERY unlucky hand.'

But that's not what happened.  Declarer pitched a diamond.  Why doesn't Jeff keep hearts?  His defense is only right if declarer started with a stiff heart.  And if declarer has a stiff heart, do I have any trouble reading Jeff's 7 at trick 1 as the LOWEST spot he had?  Uh, no.  Did I unload the suit I wasn't in charge of right away starting with a high spot? Yes.  Did I play the deuce (a pretty low spot) in the suit I was keeping?  Yes.  Might I have bid 4 Hearts with 4 hearts (Jeff's defense only gains if I have 4 hearts) in a stayman auction?  Maybe. 

I'd assign 80-20 Jeff.  I can save him with an inspired 'Maybe he has the worst spots in the world and he has to have something in one of these suits for his double.'  But +100 still wins IMPs.  And his problem is easier than mine.  Trusting partner's signals is like leading partner's suits.  It isn't always right, but it should keep partner happy.