Neither vulnerable. East deals.

July 9, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

NORTH

xK Q 10 9 6

u5 4 2

vQ 10 8 6

WEST EAST

x7 5 3 2xJ 4

uQ J 8 3u6

vKv9 7 5

w10 6 4 3wK Q J 9 8 7 2

SOUTH

xA 8

uA K 10 9 7

vA J 4 3 2

The bidding:

EASTSOUTHWESTNORTH

3w4vPass6v

PassPassPass

Opening lead: Three of w

There are days when an expert’s life is not a happy one. Declarer, a well-known expert, went down in a contract that S.J. Simon’s Futile Willie would have wrapped up with his eyes closed.

Conventionally, South’s jump to four diamonds over the club pre-empt showed a two-suiter consisting of diamonds and a major. Although this idea, known as Leaping Michaels, was designed to cope with a major-suit weak two-bid, it can be extended to other auctions, and it was obvious to North which major South held, so the decision to jump to slam was well reasoned.

The club opening lead was won in dummy and the ten of diamonds was run to West’s king. West exited with the queen of hearts, taken in hand, and a diamond to the queen caused some heartbreak when West discarded a club.

Declarer now needed to bring in five spade tricks to avoid a heart loser. Futile Willie would play spades from the top, landing the contract when the jack drops on the second round. Our declarer was made of sterner stuff. East probably started with seven clubs, and had shown up with three diamonds and one heart, so he could not have more than two spades. That meant West had started with four spades, and was a 2-to-1 favorite to hold the jack.

Such odds had to be respected, so declarer drew the remaining trump, cashed the ace of spades and continued the suit, finessing dummy’s nine. A delighted East won with the jack — down one.

2009 Tribune Media Services