Thursday, January 26, 2017
BRIDGE
North-South vulnerable, South deals
NORTH
x10 9
uA 9 5 2
vK Q 9 7 2
w9 8
WEST EAST
xK Q 2 x7 5
u7 4 3 uK Q J 10 6
v8 3 vJ 10 6
wA Q 6 5 4 wJ 10 3
SOUTH
xA J 8 6 4 3
u8
vA 5 4
wK 7 2
The bidding:
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1x Pass 1NT Pass
2x Pass 3x Pass
4x All pass
Opening lead: Four of u
Aggressive bidding saw North-South arrive in a contract that only needed the trumps and the diamonds to lie reasonably. South won the opening heart lead with dummy’s ace and passed the 10 of spades to West’s queen. West took some time to consider the defense. What would you do next?
Declarer couldn’t have much -- the ace-jack of spades, the ace of diamonds, the king of clubs, and perhaps a stray jack or two -- so West reasoned that South was likely to have a singleton heart to justify accepting the game invitation. Should that be true, the defense would need two club tricks to defeat the contract. West shifted brilliantly to the queen of clubs!
Declarer was helpless. He was surprised to win the king of clubs in his hand, but he had no winning continuation. Should he lead another club, trying for a ruff in dummy, East would win and play a second trump. Repeating the spade finesse would lose to West and the defense would take two club tricks. At the table, declarer led a trump to his ace and tried to run the diamonds for a club discard. West ruffed the third diamond and cashed two clubs. The fantastic shift had defeated the contract!
A little thought can go a long way in bridge. Sometimes an unlikely play will emerge as the best choice after some thought.
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