bridge

bridge

Both vulnerable. South deals.

NORTH

x10 6

uA Q 10 8 4

vK 8 4

wK J 9

WEST EAST

xK Q 9 8 xVoid

u7 3 uK J 9 5 2

vJ 10 9 5 vQ 6 3 2

w8 4 2 wA 7 6 3

SOUTH

xA J 7 5 4 3 2

u6

vA 7

wQ 10 5

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

1x Pass 2u Pass

2x Pass 3NT Pass

4x Pass Pass Pass

Opening lead: Jack of v

Pessimists have a simple philosophy on life. They prepare for the worst and, should anything else occur, they are pleasantly surprised. That is the attitude needed on this deal from a rubber-bridge game.

South had only one story to tell, and it was well told. As a result, North-South settled in an excellent spade game. All that remained was to fulfill the contract.

Declarer won the opening diamond lead in hand and took stock of the situation. The ace of clubs was the only side-suit loser, so declarer could afford to lose two trump tricks and still prevail. Obviously, there would be no problem if trumps were 2-2 or 3-1. Declarer cashes the ace of spades and concedes either one or two trump tricks. But what if spades were 4-0?

There is a safety play available and, as with most other problems in this category, the solution can be arrived at logically. If East has all four trumps, all declarer need do is to lead a spade from dummy and insert the jack, but that will fail if West has all four trumps. The solution, therefore, is simple enough. Declarer must lead a low trump toward the ten!

If West shows out, East can capture the ten with an honor. But now declarer can get to the table to lead the remaining trump and take the marked finesse. Similarly, if West holds the trumps, the defender must rise with an honor to prevent the ten from winning. When East shows out, declarer leads the ten of spades next to force out the remaining high honor, and the ace-jack are poised to extract West’s remaining trumps. Barring an unlikely ruff, all the defenders can collect are two trump tricks and a club.

2012 Tribune Media Services