BRIDGE

Both vulnerable. South deals.
NORTH
x K J 9 2
u 8 7
v A
w K J 10 9 7 5
WEST EAST
x 10 4 3 x 6 5
u K 9 4 2 u 10 6
v K Q 10 9 7 v J 8 6 5 4 2
w 6 w Q 8 2
SOUTH
x A Q 8 7
u A Q J 5 3
v 3
w A 4 3
The bidding:
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1u Pass 2w Pass
2x Pass 3x Pass
4w Pass 4v Pass
4u Pass 6x Pass
Pass Pass
Opening lead: King of v
Those bridge rubrics you hear everyone quoting are all well and good and, in general, they are correct. But, in the context of the hand as a whole, a different treatment might be required.
The auction was straightforward. South's two-spade rebid showed extra strength and, once spades had been agreed, both partners cue-bid their first-round controls and North decided that there would be good play for slam.
West led the king of diamonds, won perforce in dummy. Once trumps were 3-2, declarer had to pick up either the queen of clubs or king of hearts to get home. Following the dictum of "eight ever, nine never," declarer cashed the ace and king of clubs and, when the queen failed to drop, tried the heart finesse -- down one.
Actually, as long as clubs are no worse than 3-1, there is a sure-trick line for the contract. After drawing trumps declarer should cash dummy's king of clubs and return the jack. If the queen of clubs appears, well and good; if not, declarer should take the finesse. As the cards lie, that succeeds and the slam is home. But suppose that clubs are 2-2 and West wins the queen. The defender must either return a heart into declarer's tenace or else lead a diamond, allowing declarer to ruff in hand while discarding a heart from the table. Declarer cashes the aces of clubs and hearts, enters dummy with a heart ruff and scores the rest of the tricks with good clubs.
Should East show out on the second club, the slam is still safe. Declarer rises with the ace of clubs and tucks West in with the queen, and the same endplay applies.
& copy; 2006 Tribune Media Services