bridge

bridge

Both vulnerable. South deals.

NORTH

x10 8 7

uQ J 5

vA 8 5 3

wQ 9 7

WEST EAST

xK Q xJ 9 6 5 4 3 2

uA 10 8 6 uVoid

v9 7 4 2 v10 6

w10 6 2 w8 5 4 3

SOUTH

xA

uK 9 7 4 3 2

vK Q J

wA K J

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

2w Pass 2v Pass

2u Pass 3u Pass

4w Pass 4v Pass

4x Pass 6u Pass

Pass Pass

Opening lead: King of x

When we last saw Trump Coup Tommy, he was basking in the glow of his latest triumph. As our readers know, Tommy is a rare creature — an average player who is transformed into a technical wizard as soon as he realizes he is facing a bad trump break. This is the deal that had the whole club buzzing.

The South hand is not an easy hand to bid — a powerhouse where the key suit is weak! However, since it was only a four- loser hand, we have a great deal of sympathy for the approach adopted by Tommy — an artificial two club game force followed by a cue-bidding sequence. North jumped to slam on the strength of the trump honors.

West, delighted with his trump holding and the possible spade trick to boot, knew better than to double Tommy. The king of spades was led, taken by Tommy’s ace. A low heart to the knave brought a spade discard from East and a gleam to Tommy’s eye. A spade was ruffed, followed by three rounds of diamonds, ending in dummy as East parted with another spade. Since West was known to have another diamond, Tommy ruffed the last diamond low. He then played off three rounds of clubs, ending in dummy, completing the groundwork.

Not faltering for a moment, Tommy led the remaining spade from the table and ruffed with the king of trumps! West was a gone goose. With nothing left but trumps, the defender could do no better than overruff with ace, but then was forced to lead away from the 10 8 of trumps into Tommy’s combined Q 9 tenace. Tommy lost nothing but a trump to the ace!

2012 Tribune Media Services