Friday, June 19, 2009
Both vulnerable. West deals.
NORTH
xJ 2
uQ J 10
v9 7 3
wK 6 5 4 3
WEST EAST
xK 10 4 3 x9 8 7 6 5
u7 u8 3 2
vK Q 10 2 vA J 8
wQ 10 9 7 w8 2
SOUTH
xA Q
uA K 9 6 5 4
v6 5 4
wA J
The bidding:
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
Pass Pass Pass 1u
Dbl 2u Pass 4u
Pass Pass Pass
Opening lead: King of v
We continue with another deal from Eddie Kantar’s “Thinking Bridge” series, designed for players wanting to improve their game.
“West’s passed hand takeout double shows 9-11 high-card points plus heart shortness. South’s hand, though powerful, is somewhat diminished because, given the double, the king of spades appears to be with West. On the plus side, South adds three extra points for a supported six-card suit and has enough to bid game.
“West continues with a low diamond at trick two and East cashes the ace and jack before shifting to a spade. ... As South, you should not consider the spade finesse given the bidding and the clubs in dummy that can be set up easily enough. Finesses are for peasants when there is a long suit in dummy. The trick is to set up the long suit at once before depleting dummy’s entries — and don’t forget to count the suit you are establishing!
“You have seven clubs, they have six. After you play the ace of clubs and a club to the king, they have two clubs left. Ruff a club and, when East shows out, they have one club left. Enter dummy with a trump to the ten and ruff another club, setting up dummy’s last club. Now draw the final trumps by playing to dummy’s queen-jack of hearts and discard your queen of spades on dummy’s remaining club. Good work!”
2009 Tribune Media Services