BRIDGE

BRIDGE

North-South vulnerable, South deals.

NORTH

xA J 9 6

u9 7 5 4

vK 5 2

w10 2

WEST EAST

xK Q 8 7 5 x4 3

u2 uK J 10 8 6

vQ J 10 8 6 v7 4 3

w9 3 wA Q 7

SOUTH

x10 2

uA Q 3

vA 9

wK J 8 6 5 4

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

1NT Pass 2w Pass

2v Pass 2NT Pass

3NT All pass

Opening lead: Queen of v

This was a pivotal deal in the finals of the Indian Team Trials, held recently in Goa, India, to determine India’s representative in the World Championships. East was long-time Indian star Jaggy Shivdasani.

Note the very aggressive bidding by South. The match was very close and South went after a possible vulnerable game. South won the opening diamond lead in dummy with the king and led the 10 of clubs. Shivdasani gave this some serious thought before covering the 10 with the queen! Declarer’s king won the trick. South crossed back to dummy with a spade to the ace as West split his spade honors.

A low club was led and Shivdasani played the seven. A losing choice had been created and declarer took it when he inserted his eight. West gleefully won this with the nine and cleared the diamonds. Declarer had no chance now and finished down two. The game was bid and made at the other table when East played low on the 10 of clubs and declarer ran it.

Shivdasani gets full marks for creating this situation, but should declarer have gone for it? It comes down to deciding whether East started with ace-queen-seven of clubs or queen-nine-seven. Would an expert holding queen-nine-seven need some time to decide whether or not to cover the 10? Probably not.

Shivdasani and his victorious teammates played for India in the just completed World Championships in Poland. The results are unknown at this writing.

2016 Tribune Content Agency