bridge

bridge

Neither vulnerable. South deals.

NORTH

xA Q 10 7

uA Q J 8

vK Q J 10 9

wVoid

WEST EAST

x4 2 x6 5

u7 5 uK 10 6 4

v6 4 2 vA 7 5

wA Q J 7 5 4 w9 8 6 3

SOUTH

xK J 9 8 3

u9 3 2

v8 3

wK 10 2

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

Pass Pass 1w Pass

1v 2w Dbl 3w

4x Pass 6x Pass

Pass

Opening lead: ?

This deal, reported by Philip Alder, is from the final of the Baze Senior KO Teams event at the recent ACBL Fall North American Championships held in Seattle. North-South were the LouAnn O’Rourke Team; East-West the Meltzer squad.

North’s one club opening bid was Precision, showing 16-plus points, and the one diamond response was negative. The spade slam was reached in short order. Confident that North, who did not use Blackwood, was void in clubs, West led a heart. Declarer had no alternative to the finesse. East won with the king and cashed the ace of diamonds — down one.

This was the auction in the other room:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

Pass 3w Dbl 4w

4x Pass 5w Pass

5x Pass 6x Pass

Pass Pass

Opening lead: Ace of w

Despite the club cuebid, West led the ace of clubs. Declarer ruffed, drew trumps and set up diamonds to discard all the heart losers — making six-odd!

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