Wednesday, March 9, 2005
East-West vulnerable. South deals.
NORTH
x -K J 9
u -A 5
v-9 4 3
w -A K J 10 6
WEST EAST
x -6 x -8 3 2
u -K Q 10 9 7 4 u -J 8 6 2
v -A 10 7 6 v-Q J 8
w -8 2 w -Q 7 3
SOUTH
x -A Q 10 7 5 4
u -3
v-K 5 2
w -9 5 4
The bidding:
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
2x 3u 4x Pass
Pass Pass
When developing a long suit in which you might have a loser, make sure you lose it to the hand that poses no threat to you. That might require some maneuvering.
After South's weak two bid in spades and West's three-heart overcall, North's jump to four spades ended the auction. Had the vulnerability been reversed, East might have considered a sacrifice at five hearts.
West led the king of hearts, and it was immediately obvious to South that the diamond suit was the weak underbelly of the hand, particularly since the bidding made it very likely that West held the ace. The club suit would have to be developed for discards. But East could not be permitted to gain the lead.
The first step in declarer's campaign was to allow West's king of hearts to win the first trick! West could do no better than continue the suit, and declarer discarded a club from hand as dummy's ace won. Two rounds of trumps were drawn with the ace and queen, and the ace and king of clubs were cashed and a club was ruffed to fell the queen. Declarer returned to the table with the king of trumps to take two diamond discards and lost only one trick in each red suit to score an overtrick. Note that, with a normal club finesse, declarer would have lost three diamond tricks and a club.
& copy; 2005 Tribune Media Services
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