bridge

bridge

Both vulnerable. North deals.

NORTH

xA 2

uK Q 4

vA 5 4 2

wQ J 8 4

WEST EAST

xQ 9 8 xJ 10 6 5 3

u8 3 u9 7 6 2

vJ 10 9 3 vQ 8 7 6

wA 10 9 2 wVoid

SOUTH

xK 7 4

uA J 10 5

vK

wK 7 6 5 3

The bidding:

NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST

1NT Pass 2wPass

2v Pass 3w Pass

4w Pass 4NT Pass

5x Pass 6w Pass

Pass Pass

Opening lead: Jack of v

Here’s another deal from Eddie Kantar’s award-winning series “Thinking Bridge.”

“North does well to raise clubs as there may be a slam. In my view, after the four-level, game-forcing club agreement, four diamonds, not four no trump, should be Roman Key-Card Blackwood. Four no trump is clumsy when clubs is the agreed suit and often leads to trouble when two key cards or even one key card and the queen are missing. However, all’s well that ends well.

“East should signal encouragement at trick one by playing the eight of diamonds. Sometimes the easiest hands to play are ‘one-suit problem’ deals. This is one of them. The only loser is in clubs and the only thing that can go wrong is 4-0 clubs as the contract is frigid if clubs are 3-1 or 2-2.

“Consider the two possibilities. First, East having A 10 9 2 of clubs. You should see that you cannot do anything about that, so forget it. What about West? Now we are talking. If you correctly start trumps with the king of clubs, West is helpless. Say West wins the king, remaining with 10 9 2. No problem. Dummy has the Q J 8 and you can easily pick up the remaining clubs with no loser. Playing the king of clubs at trick two is an example of asking yourself, ‘What can go wrong?’ and doing something about it.”

To find out more about “Thinking Bridge” and other Kantar writings, go to www.kantarbridge.com.

2012 Tribune Media Services