Neither vulnerable. West deals.

Neither vulnerable. West deals.

NORTH

xA 2

uA K J

v10 4

wK 10 9 8 5 2

WEST EAST

x8 7 6 5 4 xQ 10

u9 7 5 2 u8 4 3

v6 vA Q 9 7 5 3 2

wQ 7 6 w3

SOUTH

xK J 9 3

uQ 10 6

vK J 8

wA J 4

The bidding:

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

Pass 1w 3v Dbl

Pass 4u Pass 4NT

Pass 5w Pass 6NT

Pass Pass Pass

Opening lead: six of v

The ACBL North American Championships these days look more like a meeting of the League of Nations than a national championship. At the spring event in Houston, more than 20 nations were represented. On this deal, reported by Henry Bethe, Allen Tan of Singapore sat South.

East’s pre-empt and South’s negative double presented North with a problem. His hand was too good for a simple rebid of his long suit, and his suit was too weak for a jump to the five-level, so he compromised by jumping in his strong three-card heart fragment. When North showed three key cards in response to Blackwood, South settled in a small slam.

West led a diamond, East won with the ace and shifted to the queen of spades. Obviously, if the club suit could be brought in without loss, all would be well, so South set about learning as much as possible about the distribution. He won the spade in dummy and ran the ten of diamonds. West’s spade discard gave East seven diamonds. The king and jack of spades were cashed, and the count in that suit was complete. Three rounds of hearts and the ace of clubs showed East had started with 2-3-7-1 distribution, so the marked club finesse landed the slam and a near top score.

Bridge is an easy game, isn’t it?

2009 Tribune Media Services