Kenmure at home: Two defences (one good (?) and one not so good)

So, today was a home match against Kenmure, which is a team run by Bobby Moore, who is a regular at the various Glasgow bridge clubs (I think mostly the GBC), and who I've played with a couple of times. Last year, Kenmure had no sort of regular line up, and I even played in about 3 of their matches (with a different partner each time), so we had no idea what to expect. Norman and I played at table one, against Ian Burn and Stuart (I'm afraid I don't know his surname), who are a good pair, and we had a lot of fun. Here's two hands where I'm not sure what I should have done in defence, and one play hand.

NS Vul. E Deal ♠ 9 6 5 2 ♥ T 4 ♦ J T 7 5 2 ♣ 8 ♠ A K J ♥ Q 7 5 3 2  ♦ 9 8 4 3  ♣ J * * * * ♠ Q 7  ♥ K J 9 8 ♦ A Q  ♣ Q T 9 6 4   ♠ T 8 4  ♥ A 6 ♦ K 6  ♣ A K 7 5 3 2

W N E S 1♣ - 1♥  - 3♥ - 4♥ - - -

So, this hand was interesting. Norman led the 8 of hearts, and I won with the king, and then started to think about the hand... If I can make the K of diamonds, we just need to make one more trick to beat this, so I decided to try and give Norman a ruff leading the 2 of clubs, so he'd know to switch to a diamond. Unfortunately, this sequence of plays makes it pretty obvious Norman has led a singleton, and Ian ruffed with the Q of hearts and played a heart to the J, making 11 when I for some reason forgot to give Norman a ruff with his ten...

The interesting part about this is that I have several choices at trick two, and two choices at trick one. I want to try and give Norman a club ruff. I know he can ruff a club, and declarer doesn't. How should I go about this? Well, there are two strategies I might try - I could win the first trick with the ace of clubs, instead of the king, so declarer places Norman with the King, both making it harder for him to set up clubs later, and less likely he'll ruff high, or I could try winning the first club with the king and then "cashing" the ace. Not sure how likely this is to catch declarer napping. 

As it turns out, looking at the hand again, I don't think we can beat the contract even if I do manage to give Norman a club ruff. He'll return a diamond, but then the diamond Q goes away on the third spade, and I think it's all over, but still, it would have been nice to see these options before the board had finished...

Second board is another one where I'm not sure how I should defend although, again, I think declarer might have done better... 

All Vul. W Deal ♠ Q 7 4 ♥ A K T 7 6 4 ♦ - ♣ 8 5 3 2 ♠ A 6 ♥ 3 2 ♦ T 9 7   ♣ A Q T 9 6 4 * * * * ♠ 5 2 ♥ Q 8 5 ♦ A Q J 8 5 3 2 ♣ J ♠  K J T 9 8 3 ♥  J 9 ♦  K 6 4 ♣ K 7

W N E S 1♣ 2♥ 3♦ - 4♣ - 4♦ - - - -

I led the J of hearts, and Norman cashed two hearts, and played the heart ten. At this point, I pretty much know what's going on, and I can see that declarer is probably destined to make this contract. If I over-ruff, and play back a spade (presumably that's what the ten of hearts is asking for), he'll have no choice but to try and get rid of his losing spade quickly, and my club king is either onside, or dropping on the second round, so I ruff with the 6, letting declarer over-ruff in dummy. Declarer now took a diamond finesse, and I returned the club 7, hoping he might read the position wrong. He did, went up with the ace, and pitched a spade on the Q of clubs on the way back - one down. To be honest, I've no real idea if my "deceptive" play paid off here, or if declarer should have done better. 

Finally a hand where I found the play interesting (which may be a good indication of what stage my bridge education is at)

♠ A 7 4 3  ♥ Q 8 6 5 4 ♦ 8 7  ♣ 5 4

♠ K 8 6 5 2 ♥ A 7 3  ♦ K 9 2 ♣ J 8

W N E S - - - 1♣ 1♠ - 2♠ - - -

Sitting East, you play in 2 spades after LHO and partner both pass, RHO opens, and you overcall 1 spade, partner raises and it's passed out. the defence cashes the first 4 tricks in the minors, and then play a third diamond. When you cash the top two spades, you find out they break, and now you just have to play that heart suit for one loser.

I played A of hearts, and then when the T appeared on the second round from LHO, ducked in dummy. I think this is right, as you make any time RHO doesn't have exactly KJx, which is a holding I don't think you're ever going to be able to deal with. If RHO wins this trick with a doubleton honour, he's endplayed.

Anyway, that was tonight's match. I'm going to Edinburgh tomorrow to play a friend teams match, and then playing in a one day Congress in Dunbar (I think) on Sunday, so I might even manage to make two posts this week...

Edited to add: 

Today's lesson is, don't post after midnight. The E hand in the third board had 14 cards, and the W hand on the first board had 12 when I first posted this. This explains Phil's comment below...