What Did I Just Do?

When I look back in years to come, I may see many mistakes here. In the end, I surprised myself by making the contract. Maybe what just happened will stick in my mind, and I'll know what I'm looking for next time.

Holding:
AQ986
A8
A2
AK97

Unsure of whether to upgrade or not, I settled for 1 spade. Partner raised to 2, and bidding game was easy.

Here was the hand:

♠ T52 ♥ J42 ♦ KQJ4 ♣ 642

♠ AQ986 ♥ A8 ♦ A2 ♣ AK97

The 8 of clubs did not look like good news, as GiB leads 3/5. I need the 2 of diamonds to throw round suit losers, so no trump ruff.

I decide to play ace and low to the board, hoping to catch a doubleton honour. In retrospect, low to the board then ace is probably better, but again, I'm not sure and need to think about it. The second round loses to the jack, with the king still outstanding.

Back comes the 5 of clubs from lefty, and the club split dream is no more. No point in drawing trump, so I play ace of diamonds, diamond to the jack. The next round of diamonds is trumped by RHO with the king, onto which my heart loser disappears. I win the heart return, and for some reason think I still need the club split, so I concede a club trick.

Upon winning the heart return, I finally notice that there's still a trump on the board, taking care of my club loser in hand. Making 4.

I think that, with the exception of the spade honours, I played this hand reasonably well. (If there's a clearly better line, it doesn't jump out at me.) I just wish I'd seen how it was going to fall down before it actually happened.

Reasoning

Playing 2/1, partner opens 1 club. Opponents are silent, and you hold:
S KJ
H QJT753
D AK5
C J8

The bidding goes:
1C 1H
1S 3H
4D ?

What does partner hold?

It took a moment, but I rationalized that partner's distibution was 4045. Ergo, I opted for 5 clubs.

As it turned out, both 4 hearts and 5 clubs were making, though 3NT making was the most common contract.

Interestingly, GiB at other tables bid clubs, then diamonds, then spades. This made it easier to get to 3NT. I do wonder, though, if both ways of bidding show 4045. If so, what is the implied difference between the two methods?

Distribution = Strength

Lest this blog become simply a collection of my failings (and believe me, I'm making a lot more mistakes than are showing up here), here's a hand from yesterday's Beginner/Intermediate Lounge Indy Tourney.

2nd hand, I held:
void
KQJ654
3
K87643

I simply could not let myself be held out of the auction. I chose hearts, and decided to bid clubs next round, even if things got high.

P 1H 2S 3D
4S 5C P 6C
X P P P

As it turned out, 3D was a misclick, and the slam was colder than penguins. On the King of Spades lead, partner laid down:

2
AT8
KJ84
AJT92

Win 12.5 IMPs, on my way to 3rd place out of 20.