BRIDGE

BRIDGE

Both vulnerable, South deals

NORTH

xK J 10 8 4

uJ 7

v4

w9 8 5 4 3

WEST EAST

x6 3 2 xVoid

uK Q 9 8 u10 6 3

vQ 8 6 2 vK J 7 5 3

wK 2 wQ J 10 7 6

SOUTH

xA Q 9 7 5

uA 5 4 2

vA 10 9

wA

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

1x Pass 4x Pass

6x All pass

Opening lead: Two of x

South’s blast to slam was a good shot as North might well have a high card outside of spades for his bid. There was no high card there today, but the 5-5 distribution made up for it.

West picked a good time to lead a trump, as there would be no chance for the defense on any other lead. South needed to ruff four cards in the dummy to get his total to 12 tricks, and he had to do it without allowing West to gain the lead to play another trump. Ducking a heart would work if East held both the king and queen, but that was against the odds. South decided to work on diamonds first.

Declarer won the opening spade lead cheaply in his hand, cashed the ace of diamonds, and led the nine of diamonds. He was hoping to discard dummy’s low heart on this play, but he had to ruff in dummy when West covered the nine with the queen. South crossed back to his hand with the ace of clubs, cashed the ace of hearts, and then led the 10 of diamonds. Had West covered this, South would have ruffed and then hoped to get lucky in hearts. When West was unable to cover the 10, South simply discarded dummy’s last heart and lost the trick to East. Knowing that East had no trump to lead, South claimed the rest of the tricks on a high crossruff. Making six after a thoughtful play!

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