Example #16 - Final showdown

This is an easy one for dedicated students of the Complete Works of Mehmet Faruk Kepekçi.

Dealer E Vul E/W Scoring Imp Lead ♥8	♠ Q7543 ♥ AQT2 ♦ 32 ♣ Q5
♠ J82 ♥ K ♦ AKJ84 ♣ KT72		♠ K9 ♥ J754 ♦ 5 ♣ AJ8643
	♠ AT6 ♥ 9863 ♦ QT976 ♣ 9

West	North	East	South
		p	p
1♦	p	3NT	p
p	p

Yet, there is another interesting aspect to this board - and it can be found in the declarer play.

North took the lead with HA and switched to a small S: 9, A, and the 2. Back came S10, to the 8, 5 and K. Declarer now cashed his 6 C tricks, and then D AK. South held on to 3 Ds, so declarer ended up with 9 tricks.
This is one of the extremely rare instances during Aruf's spell in ACBL tournaments on BBO where he declines to take a finesse which is on - so, why?

One reason might be that he was playing IMPs and knew bidding and making 3NT was going to be worth a bundle anyway. But that argument doesn't stand up, for there are loads of examples showing Aruf was not bothered by minor details like this.
A far better reason is that South happened to be a BBO ACBL tournament director, as well as a contender in the yearly online MP race. Taking the D finesse would jeopardise an otherwise cold contract and South might have become suspicious ... or rather, even more suspicious than he should have been already because of the 3NT bid.

It all goes to show that Aruf knew damn well what he was doing - after all, he hardly could be aware of the fact that BBO ACBL tournament directors were just about the last persons on Earth he should be worried about.
The wife of the gentleman sitting South happened to be another BBO ACBL tournament director. She once managed to kick all kibitzers out of an ACBL tournament because 1 player wanted to have a kibitzer removed from her table. This TD had been advised to investigate the player in question but evidently she knew better. She can read up on the facts shortly, when we publish a blog about Mrs. Jan Katz of Las Vegas (aka texx, formerly aka jann) and her online bridge buddies.