BRIDGE

BRIDGE

East-West vulnerable, West deals.

NORTH

xA Q 4

uJ

vA 6 3

wK Q J 10 7 5

WEST EAST

x10 3 xK 7 5 2

uK Q 8 6 4 2 u9 7 5

v7 5 vK J 9 2

w6 4 3 wA 9

SOUTH

xJ 9 8 6

uA 10 3

vQ 10 8 4

w8 2

The bidding:

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

2u 3w 3u Pass

Pass Dbl Pass 3NT

All pass

Opening lead: King of u

Did South make the right choice when he bid no trump rather than spades? He would have no chance to make a game in spades -- can he make a game in no trump?

Declarer correctly allowed the king of hearts to hold the first trick. Seeing a discouraging signal from partner, West shifted to the seven of diamonds at trick two. South couldn’t allow East to gain the lead and put another heart through. He rose with dummy’s ace of diamonds, East signaling encouragement with the nine, and led the king of clubs. East grabbed his ace and reverted to hearts. South played the 10, West won with the queen, and the key moment for the defense had arrived. West led a diamond and the contract could no longer be defeated. The defense would have prevailed had West shifted to a spade rather than leading a diamond.

How would you apportion the blame between East and West? East was delighted when West shifted to a diamond at trick two, but he should have seen the need for a spade play from West also. Instead of playing the nine of diamonds under the ace, he should have played the discouraging two. Now West will play a spade when he wins the second heart trick and this perfect defense would have defeated the contract. In our opinion, West defended well and East gets 100 percent of the blame.

2016 Tribune Content Agency