Tenerife hands

Tenerife hands (8) - Versace and my friend Martin

Let's have this one as a problem

You are sitting South and hold:

J
K Q 5 2
K J 5 2
Q 9 5 3

With NS vulnerable, East is dealer and this is the bidding:

West         North            East           South
                                    1S              dbl
2H            3C                4S              ?

? What are you going to do? Pass, double or bid on? If you either pass or double, this is going to become the final contract. What do you lead?

This was deal 2 of Round 9 in Tenerife.
The full deal was:

                               9 8 5
                               A 9 8 
                               10 7
                                A 10 7 4 2

K 3 2                                     A Q 10 7 6 4
J 7 6 4 3                                10
Q 9 6 4 3                               A 8
----                                         K J 8 6

                               J
                               K Q 5 2
                               K J 5 2
                               Q 9 5 3

As you see, 5C is not a good move as the cards lie; it will probably go for 800. Pass or double? It depends on what you lead. The majority of South players did double, but nearly all of them led a low club and this was the end for the defence: declarer discards something from dummy, wins the belated trump shift, and is able to ruff two clubs in the dummy, losing one club, one diamond and one heart.

The scorecard was littered with 590s (including one +880 when the Poles redoubled then made it after a club lead), although more than one declarers managed to go down even after this friendly lead (they probably ruffed at trick one).

Only three declarers led the jack of spades! One of them was Terraneo of Austria but then the defence faltered and the contract was made. The two successful were the reigning Olympic champion Andrea Versace of Italy and my friend and clubmate Martin Schaaper playing for Luxembourg (he is a Dutch)...

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