The throw-in and the little old lady

[MartininBC]

You are called in at the last minute to the local club matchpoint session to partner a little old lady whose partner has been unable to attend. You only have time to nod at all the Standard American conventions she mentions then you are under way. You have an up and down session, with the ups mostly in the hands you play and the downs in the ones your little old lady partner plays. Then you come to the final board. RHO opens 1NT (announced as 15-17), and LHO thinks for a bit then raises to 6NT which is the final contract. You hold:

 

♠JT92

♥KJ74

♦65

♣852

 

Not too tough for an opening lead, you think: J♠ looks good. This dummy hits the table:

 

♠Q3

♥AT6

♦AK742

♣Q73

 

Declarer covers with the Queen from dummy, your little old lady partner plays the King, and declarer wins the Ace. Neat.

 

Then declarer takes the Q♣, and follows with the A♣, K♣ and J♣, discarding 6♥ from dummy. Your little old lady partner follows with the 6, 9 and T, then discards the 4♠. Declarer then plays the A♦ and comes back to the Q♦ and the J♦, your little old lady partner following with the 8 and T, then discarding the 5♠. You of course have thrown all your useless cards: the five minor suit cards and the 4 and 7 of hearts. Now declarer leads the 9♦ and it is crunch time. But not for an expert like you. You've seen this position before, you know the drill. If you throw the 2♠, the future will unfold with the certainty of a Hugh Kelsey sample hand: dummy's fifth diamond will remove one of your spade winners and then you will be thrown in to lead away from your K♥ into dummy's split Ace and Queen doubletons. And declarer, while no genius, will work out that he has to try A♥ if you keep both high spades. But there is one hope: perhaps your little old lady partner has the 8♠ ... so, discard 9♠! Dummy's K♦ is played and your little old lady partner plays the 6♠.

 

Declarer leads the 7♦, and a faintly sick feeling comes to you as you realise your little old lady partner might not know what a crucial card her 8♠ is, but she contributes 3♥ and you sigh with relief ... inwardly of course. Declarer drops the 2♥ and you continue your plan by discarding the T♠, watching declarer's face to see if he is aware of how you have slipped the noose. As he pauses, you spare a second to daydream of the admiring glance your little old lady partner will give you as you explain how you engineered her win with the 8♠; and how her "clever" (ahem, "forced"; but you can afford to be magnanimous) shift to hearts through declarer's Q into your KJ tenace made you the only pair to defeat the slam.

 

Declarer however gives you a mildly puzzled look and leads the 3♠ from dummy, winning his 8♠ and then his 7♠ and then leading his 8♥ to his A♥ for his 13th trick. Declarer had:

 

♠A87

♥82

♦QJ93

♣AKJ4

 

and your little old lady partner had:

 

♠K654

♥Q953

♦T8

♣T96

 

There is a brief contemplative silence as declarer opens the travelling scoresheet, and you use the time to begin to mentally prepare a long and arduous explanation of your actions. Revealed on the scoresheet are some 3N-making-11s, some 6D-making-12, and some 6N contracts going one down. Declarer silently enters his 6N-making-13, and your little old lady partner looks at those 11-trick-making no-trump contracts ... your hope that she may decide to say nothing is dashed as she opens her mouth to speak ... then she querulously ventures:

 

"Looks like the other declarers misplayed it."

 

Sometimes a partner who doesn't notice any card below a Jack is a treasure beyond price.