Happy Birthday Mom! 

Here's a hand from yesterday's set that didn't make the quiz.

You pick up in third at unfavorable:

72 / KT5 / KJ72 / AJ98

2 Passes to you and you open 1 Diamond.

Partner bids 1 Heart, Pass to you.

I'd bid 2 Hearts if partner was an unpassed hand, but even though I'd like to shut the opponents out of their Spade fit, Jeff will play me for a better hand than this if I raise him.  I passed.

Lefty balanced in with 2 Clubs and Jeff doubled, pass to you.

I hope you found a green card.  This is another example of a style (low level doubles are takeout even after both partners have bid a suit) that I really used to hate.  But this auction is the ONLY logical way to punish the opps on this sequence, since I clearly don't have enough to whip 2 Clubs on my own.  Doug Heron, a great Ottawa player who can't play anymore for health reasons, was a big proponent of that style.  He'd probably like this hand.

If you're wondering why I didn't bid 2 Hearts if double is takeout, I'm already marked with 3 Hearts on the auction (I'm not going to volunteer to play in a likely 4-2 fit red, nor am I going to open light in 3rd at unfavorable if I can't handle any response.)  Jeff's most likely shape is 4-4-3-2 (he almost surely doesn't have 5 hearts or 4 diamonds) and if he is, passing is 200%, but I guess he might be 4X1 as well (keeping Spades open as a possibility instead of unilaterally raising Diamonds.)  In any case, -180 isn't the end of the world and this hand has a lot more upside potential than downside potential.

Jeff led the Queen of Hearts and dummy tracked:

KQJ4 / 7642 / Q98 / K6 Dummy (RHO)

72 / KT5 / KJ72 / AJ98 Me

I encouraged the Heart.  Declarer won the Ace and tried to cash 3 rounds of Spades.  I ruffed the third Spade and continued Hearts.  Declarer ruffed my last Heart and played a trump to the King and my Ace.

K / 7 / Q98 / 6 Dummy (RHO)

- / - / KJ72 / J9 Me

Now I had to decide whether to play back a Club or a Diamond.  I should have returned a Diamond, because without the Ace, Jeff would have a 5 count (Declarer had already shown up with the other 2 bullets and my hand and dummy combined for 23 points.)  But I fell from grace and returned the 9 of Clubs (hoping Jeff had the Ten, if not the Queen, or that Declarer misguessed.)  Declarer played the Ten and my heart sank, but Jeff won the Queen and tapped Declarer again with a 4th round of Hearts.  Declarer played a Diamond up and ducked it to my Jack, I drew his last trump and we took the last 2 tricks with the AK of Diamonds.  +500 was worth 8 IMPs and change.

Declarer didn't have much, but at these colors he probably felt reasonably safe at the 2 level.  (He would have had a better chance in 2 Spades.)

KQJ4 / 7642 / Q98 / K6

A53 / A3 / 643 / T7432

Jeff made a thoughtful double on a hand a lot of people would have passed

T986 / QJ98 / AT5 / Q5