Play in 1NT

[plaur]

[hv=pc=n&s=saj8hk62dqj2caq94&n=st74hq87dk85cjt65&d=n&v=e&b=9&a=pp1nppp]266|200[/hv]

Could I have played this better ?

 

Matchpoints, lead is 4th best.

Trick 1: ♥5, 7, 9, K

Trick 2: ♦J, 7, 5, 3

Trick 3: ♠8, 2, T, Q

Now ♥ to West's A, another ♥ to dummy, ♣ finesse to West's K and West cashed two ♥ and ♦A.

7 tricks and 90 for a zero :( other tables were 120 or 100

[semeai]

It seems to be the spade trick they got that made the difference between 90 and 120.

 

Here's my thinking:

 

At trick 2, I'd try a diamond to the King. If this wins, I take the club hook. If it loses, maybe they put you back in dummy by playing hearts and you can again play on clubs. If they return a spade or a diamond, you probably have to play on clubs from your hand.

 

You're in a similar situation after your ♦J wins. You don't want to play on diamonds any more right now, and you don't want to play spades because you're giving up a trick and are also about to establish the suit for them unless East has both honors. You could maybe lead a heart to the queen, but they could win ♥A and clear diamonds, and now you're still stuck in your hand unless you want to clear hearts for them as well, playing to ♥Q.

 

The ♦J was an understandable ploy to try to get to dummy's ♦K, but against good opposition it often won't work, and after you play it it's too dangerous to play on diamonds any more. Better to play up to the ♦K, which at least has a 50% shot of working, and, if not, forces them to play something back to you.

[BunnyGo]

To further explain Semeai's thoughts, if I were going to break a black suit from my hand, it'd be clubs. For one, that's less likely to blow a trick than breaking spades (starting spades from my hand blows a trick unless both honors are offsides, and starting clubs only blows a trick when the K is onside). Secondly, breaking clubs definitely gets me the entries to play on other suits.

 

I would try a diamond to the K first, but then I'd just play A and out of clubs.