BRIDGE

Both vulnerable. South deals.

NORTH

xQ J 5

uQ 9 4

v9 8 6 3

wQ 10

WEST EAST

xA 9 2 x8 7 4

u7 6 2 uJ 8 5 3

vK J 10 4 v7 5 2

w9 3 2 wJ 8 6

SOUTH

xK 10 6 3

uA K 10

vQ

wA K 7 5 4

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

1w Pass 1v Pass

2x Pass 3x Pass

3NT Pass 4NT Pass

5u Pass 6NT Pass

Pass Pass

Opening lead: ?

Readers of this column are familiar with the Rabbi’s Rule — “When the king is singleton, play the ace.” A logical extension could be: “When the queen is singleton, lead the king.” This deal is from an interclub match.

The bidding is natural. North’s four no trump was a natural slam try based on fitting honors in both black suits, and South showed his heart fragment to express a willingness to bid on. North needed no more, and an aggressive slam was reached.

The bidding suggested that South’s shape was 4-3-1-5 and West decided that the only hope to beat the slam was to set up a diamond trick before the ace of spades was dislodged. If East held the queen of diamonds, any lead would do, but what if that card was with the declaring side? The only hope was that declarer’s singleton was the queen!

Suiting the lead to the logic, West tabled the king of diamonds. Two down was a very happy result for the defenders, as the slam was not bid at the other table.

SCrt 2009 Tribune Media Services