bridge

bridge

Both vulnerable. North deals.

NORTH

xA 5

uA J 10 9 7 3

v6 4 3

wA 7

WEST EAST

xQ J 10 9 7 xK 8 6 4 2

uK 8 5 2 uQ 4

vVoid vJ 8 7 5 2

w9 6 4 2 w5

SOUTH

x3

u6

vA K Q 10 9

wK Q J 10 8 3

The bidding:

NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST

1u Pass 3w Pass

4w Pass 4NT Pass

5x Pass 7NT Pass

Pass Pass

Opening lead: Queen of x

One disease that is rampant among bridge players is “flying fingers” — playing too quickly before planning a campaign. That cost North-South a bushel of points on this deal.

Although South’s jump to three clubs leaves something to be desired, why quarrel with success. Note North’s raise to four clubs. When you have a high honor in a suit in which partner has jump shifted, it is more important to show that feature than to rebid a broken six-card suit of your own. As a result, the excellent grand slam was reached in short order.

West led the queen of spades and 13 tricks looked laydown. Hardly batting an eyelid, declarer won in dummy and ran his six club tricks. East defended brilliantly by holding onto his five diamonds. Next came the ace of diamonds, and West’s spade discard was the contract’s death knell. Declarer could get to dummy with the ace of hearts for a diamond finesse, but that brought his trick total to only 12.

True, the 5-0 diamond break was less than a 4 percent chance, but there was no need to let it defeat the contract. Had declarer taken time at trick one to study the position, it might have been obvious that it was necessary to tackle diamonds before clubs! Now when the first round of diamonds reveals that East has five cards in the suit, declarer can emulate the Cheshire Cat and smile with satisfaction. The aces of hearts and clubs serve as dummy entries for two finesses for the jack of diamonds, and 13 tricks roll in.

2011 Tribune Media Services