North-South vulnerable. South deals.

North-South vulnerable. South deals.

NORTH

x3

uK 7 6

vK J 9 2

wK J 10 8 2

WEST EAST

xA K J 9 8 xQ 7 6

uJ 4 u10 9 5 2

v7 5 vA 6 4 3

w7 6 5 3 wQ 4

SOUTH

x10 5 4 2

uA Q 8 3

vQ 10 8

wA 9

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

1v 1x 2x 3x

Pass 4x 5v Pass

Pass Pass

Opening lead: King of x

Among the stars bridging the gap between the Golden Age of Bridge and the stars of today were Sammi Kehela and Eric Murray of Toronto. Born in Baghdad, Kehela honed his technique in London under the tutelage of such all-time greats as Terence Reese and Adam Meredith. His technique and Murray’s grit made them a formidable partnership. The cornerstone of their bidding methods was Acol, which is built around four-card major opening bids.

On this deal from a world championship match against Sweden, Kehela, South, made an anti-systemic opening bid of one diamond and a competitive auction quickly led to a contract of five diamonds — hardly a thing of beauty. West led the king of spades and shifted to the jack of hearts.

Declarer won in hand and led the queen of diamonds, which was allowed to hold, and continued with the eight to the jack — East ducking again. The bidding and early play suggested trumps were breaking 4-2, so South abandoned trumps in favor of a club to the ace and a club back. Since a 3-3 break or a finesse for the queen would not work on the presumed layout of East’s distribution being 3-4-4-2, Kehela played the king, dropping the queen.

Two high hearts were cashed, ending in dummy, and high clubs were run. Whether East ruffed high or low, the ace of trumps was the only other trick the defenders could take.

2009 Tribune Media Services