bridge

bridge

Neither vulnerable. South deals.

NORTH

xA 6 5

uA Q J 9

vQ J 10 9 2

wJ

WEST EAST

xJ 10 9 8 xK 4 3 2

u7 u10 8 5 4 3

v7 4 3vA 5

wA K 10 6 5 w9 3

SOUTH

xQ 7

uK 6 2

vK 8 6

wQ 8 7 4 2

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

Pass Pass 1vPass

1NT Pass 2NT Pass

3w Pass 3v Pass

3NT Pass Pass Pass

Opening lead: Jack of x

The most powerful bridge team south of the equator is probably Australia. Inspired by Tim Seres, an expatriate Austrian and one of the world’s great players, they have always been a threat in international competition. This deal is from an Australian national championship.

Going into the final 16 boards of the match, East-West was trailing by 40 IMPs. This was the first board of the final set. North-South bid aggressively to reach the no-trump game. West led the jack of spades, ducked in dummy and taken by East’s king. A spade return would have left declarer in charge with time to set up diamonds for nine tricks, but East found the killing defense of shifting to a club. West cooperated by winning with the king and shifting to a heart, taken in dummy. When declarer now tried to set up diamonds, East took the ace and reverted to clubs, allowing West to score two more tricks in the suit for a one-trick set.

In the other room the contract was a quiet one no trump scoring nine tricks for a gain of 5 IMPs on the deal. That set the stage for a 72-7 rampage on the final set to win by 25 IMPs! An average gain of 4 IMPs per board is phenomenal!

2011 Tribune Media Services