North-South vulnerable. North deals.

North-South vulnerable. North deals.

NORTH

x5

uK 7 6 4

vA K 9 8 2

wA 7 3

WEST EAST

x10 8 6 3 2 x9

u5 u10 8 3 2

vJ 7 5 4 vQ 10 6

wQ J 9 wK 10 6 5 2

SOUTH

xA K Q J 7 4

uA Q J 9

v3

w8 4

The bidding:

NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST

1v Pass 1x Pass

2v Pass 2u Pass

4u Pass 4x Pass

4NT Pass 5x Pass

5NT Pass 7u Pass

Pass Pass

Opening lead: Queen of w

Pessimists make good declarers. They prepare for the worst and are pleasantly surprised when all the suits break. But when they don’t ...

Sitting North-South on this deal from a team event at the recent ACBL Summer North American Championships were Natalie Bassil, Boston, Mass., and Neil Montague, Swampscott, Mass. After the bidding reached four hearts, South showed good spades with his spade rebid. North asked for aces, and South’s five spades showed two and the queen of trumps. When North confirmed possession of all the key cards, South had no hesitation in proceeding to the grand slam.

Declarer won the opening club lead in dummy and cashed the ace and queen of hearts, revealing the trump position. Next came the ace of spades and a low spade ruffed with the king of trumps, neutralizing the 5-1 spade break. It was now a simple matter to take the marked finesse of the nine of hearts, draw trumps and claim the rest of the tricks with good spades and the ace-king of diamonds.

Note that, had declarer drawn the first two rounds of trumps with the ace and king, there would be no way to score 13 tricks.

2008 Tribune Media Services