Both vulnerable. South deals.

Both vulnerable. South deals.
NORTH
x J 7 4
u K Q 6 4
v 8 3
w Q 8 3 2
WEST EAST
x 9 6 5 2 x 10 8
u A 10 7 3 2 u J 9 5
v K 4 v A Q J 10 9 6 2
w 10 9 w 7
SOUTH
x A K Q 3
u 8
v 7 5
w A K J 6 5 4
The bidding:
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1w Pass 1u 2v
2x Pass 3w Pass
3v Pass 3x Pass
4x Pass Pass Pass
Opening lead: King of v
The ideal trump fit is 4-4. That gives declarer the flexibility of ruffing in either hand, while retaining the trump length in the other to keep control of the hand. However, a 4-3 fit in the major suit can handle as well, as long as any early ruff is taken in the hand with the short-trump holding. The late Alphonse "Sonny" Moyse Jr. enthusiastically propagated this in the days when he was editor of "The Bridge World," so much so that it has become known as the Moysian fit.
The art of the Moysian fit lies not in getting to a 4-3 fit, but in deliberately choosing to play in it when a better fit might be available in some other suit. Consider this deal.
There is a 10-card fit available in clubs and the Moysian fit in spades is there, too. Most of the pairs reached a contract of five clubs, but the auction above occurred at one of the tables in a pair event.
East might have been wiser to make a weak jump overcall in diamonds. That might have made it more difficult to reach the ideal spot. Unsure about where to play the contract, South seized the opportunity to make a directional asking bid of three bid diamonds (with a certain stopper in diamonds, South could have bid three no trump). North took the opportunity of raising spades now, clearly on a three-card fragment, and South continued to four spades, choosing the 10-trick game contract rather that the 11-trick one.
There was nothing to the play. The third diamond could be ruffed in the North hand and, as long as trumps were no worse than 4-2, 10 tricks were there for the taking. Note that, at five clubs, declarer would have the same three red-suit losers.
& copy; 2005 Tribune Media Services
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