bridge

bridge

East-West vulnerable. South deals.

NORTH

xA 10 9 2

uK 5 4

vA J 7 6 3

w4

WEST EAST

xQ 8 5 4 xK 6 3

u9 8 6 uQ 10 7 2

vQ 9 8 4 vK 10

wK 7 wQ 9 8 3

SOUTH

xJ 7

uA J 3

v5 2

wA J 10 6 5 2

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

1w Pass 1v Pass

2w Pass 2x Pass

2NT Pass 3NT Pass

Pass Pass

Opening lead: Nine of u

Every card tells a story. Reading the opening lead and applying basic knowledge of the probabilities enabled declarer to land a difficult game.

The auction is straightforward enough. After North bid the two suits in which South had no stopper, South’s third bid promised a control in the unbid suit and North, with the equivalent of an opening bid, proceeded to game.

North’s singleton club was a major drawback. Taken together with South’s low doubleton diamond, there was no immediate source of tricks. West led the nine of hearts, and declarer decided that his best shot for the contract was to go after clubs. To develop the suit, however, declarer needed at least two entries to hand, and they would have to come from hearts. Therefore, South won the first trick in dummy with the king of hearts — the opening lead strongly suggested that the queen was in the East hand.

If clubs were 3-3, it made no difference how declarer tackled the suit. But the probable split was 4-2 and in that case clubs could be developed only if a defender held an honor doubleton. So declarer led to the ace at trick two and continued with a low club. West’s king was a welcome sight. The diamond shift was won in dummy and a heart to the jack won, as expected. After forcing out the queen of clubs, nine tricks were assured.

2010 Tribune Media Services