Congratulations to Dan Korbel and Jonathan Steinberg on their 2nd place finish in the Wernher Open Pairs (NABC event) in Nashville. 

Here's the hand I mentioned where partner made a questionable double with QJT9x in the opponents' suit against Jeff and JZ.

He picked up all red in 4th:

T32 / QJT93 / 62 / A96

LHO bids 1 Spade, Righty 1NT.
LHO 2 Clubs, Righty 2 Diamonds (BART, artificial, usually with Hearts.)
LHO 2NT (16-17), Righty 3 Hearts.

At this point in the auction, my partner doubled.

What's the rush?  This auction isn't over (with a really bad hand with nothing but a long heart suit, RHO probably would have bid 2 Hearts over 2 Clubs, so surely this auction is forcing.)  But how rich are we getting against 3 Hearts doubled?  We have 4 tricks and partner has ???  If the opponents end up in NT or Hearts, this hand is on lead and if they end up in Spades or Clubs, it's not so clear that a Heart lead is best anyway. 

All that being said, it was still pretty unlucky that a) the opps can make 3 Hearts and b) they chose to stop and play it here.

Now here's the hand as a declarer play problem:

On the Queen of Hearts lead (RHO follows with the 6):

AKQ95 / 54 / AKJ / T32

J4 / AK872 / 97543 / J

Let's say you win the first Heart and cash 3 rounds of Spades, pitching your Club loser.  Spades are 3-3.

Did you continue with a suit that doesn't rhyme with flub?  Well, you flubbed the hand, then.

AK / 5 / AKJ / T32

- / A872 / 97543 / -

You're about 95% sure that LHO has JT9x of Hearts so that looks like 3 tricks for the defense.  What's the best way to make sure that's all they get (while guaranteeing we don't go down in this cooler)?

Since their Heart spots are better than mine, let's score our lousy spots with Club ruffs.

Ruff a Club, Ace of Hearts (make sure they were 5-1 all along), Diamond up, Ruff a Club (surely Clubs aren't 8-1 on this auction, but even if they are you're safe if LHO overruffs because he's marked with 3-5-4-1 distribution at this point and so the Diamond hook must work,)  Diamond up, Ruff a Club with your last trump.

Guess what?  That's 10 tricks.

AK / - / J / -

- / - / 975 / -

Let the opps fight over the last 3.