bridge

bridge

North-South vulnerable. South deals.

NORTH

xK 10 5 3

uA

v9 8 5 4

wQ 4 3 2

WEST EAST

x6 2 xA J 9 8

uQ 5 3 u9 7 4

vA J 10 vQ 7 6 3

wK J 7 6 5 w9 8

SOUTH

xQ 7 4

uK J 10 8 6 2

vK 2

wA 10

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

1u Pass 1x Pass

2u Pass Pass Pass

Opening lead: Six of x

Most bridge columns feature game or slam contracts — the higher the level of the contract, the more the risk-reward. But partscores produce pretty play and are difficult to defend accurately. Your editor had the pleasure of sitting North and could watch the peripatetic Pakistani, Zia Mahmood, at work on this two-heart deal.

The auction was simple enough. When South showed a minimum opening bid with six hearts, North had nothing further to say.

West led the six of spades, covered by the ten and jack and won with the queen. The ace of clubs was followed by the ten, and West rose with the king and reverted to a spade, East winning with the eight.

East can now defeat the contract by cashing the ace of spades and shifting to a diamond, but instead the defender tried to kill dummy by returning a trump to the ace. He was given no second chance as Zia played as if the cards were made of glass.

Rather than try to discard a diamond on the queen of clubs, declarer came to hand by ruffing a low club, cashed the king of hearts and continued with the jack. West won with the queen but was trapped in an endplay. A club would resuscitate the table’s queen, giving declarer a diamond discard, and a diamond would limit declarer’s losers in that suit to one. Either way, South had eight tricks.

2011 Tribune Media Services