East-West vulnerable. South deals.

February 5, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

NORTH

xA 6 3

uK 4 2

v6 4 2

wK Q 4 2

WEST EAST

xK 10 5 xJ 2

u9 7 6 3 uA J 8

vA 10 5 vK Q J 9

w10 6 5 wJ 9 8 7

SOUTH

xQ 9 8 7 4

uQ 10 5

v8 7 3

wA 3

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

Pass Pass 1w 1v

1x 2v 2x Pass

Pass Pass Pass

Opening lead: Five of v

On a few recent occasions, we have featured the intra-finesse in our columns. Most finesses involve only one card, sometimes two, in a suit. The intra-finesse is in a class of its own, occurring most often when the defenders hold specifically king, jack, ten in the key suit. It is unusual for it to occur in a part-score contract.

You might not agree with the bidding but, in the tournament game, it pays to get into the auction. With a doubleton spade East could not afford to make a takeout double of the one-club opening bid, but East overcalled in his chunky four-card minor even if only for lead-directing purposes. A competitive auction ended in South declaring two spades.

West underled the ace of diamonds, East won with the jack and continued with the king. Afraid that East held a five-card suit, West overtook with the ace and shifted to a heart. East rose with the ace, cashed the queen of diamonds and returned a heart.

Declarer’s problem was to avoid losing two trump tricks. He won the heart return in dummy and, since the auction and play seemed to mark West with the king of spades, fell back on the intra-finesse. The six of spades was run, losing to the ten. The heart return was won in the closed hand and the queen of spades was led.

The defenders were dead in the water. If West did not cover, dummy would play low. At the table, West covered and, when the ace fetched the knave from East, the contract was home free.

SCrt 2010 Tribune Media Services