BRIDGE

BRIDGE

North-South vulnerable, West deals

NORTH

xK 9 5 4

uA 8 6

v10 5 4

wK J 8

WEST EAST

x6 xQ 2

uK J 10 3 2 u9 7 5 4

vA K 6 3 vQ J 9

w10 4 3 wQ 7 5 2

SOUTH

xA J 10 8 7 3

uQ

v8 7 2

wA 9 6

The bidding:

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

Pass Pass Pass 2x

Pass 2NT Pass 3w

Pass 4x All pass

Opening lead: Ace of v

A player in fourth seat, after three passes, would just pass with any hand that didn’t offer a good chance for a plus score. A weak two-bid in fourth seat shows a hand worth a minimum opening bid. North, encouraged by the excellent spade fit, bid two no trump as an asking bid, and South showed a decent hand with something in clubs. Getting to game is only half the battle -- now they have to make it.

The defense started with three rounds of diamonds ending in the East hand. The shift was to the seven of hearts -- queen, king, ace. South cashed dummy’s king of spades and led a spade to his ace, drawing the opponents’ trumps. It was time to tackle the club suit. The normal play with this combination in a suit is to cash the ace and lead low to the jack, finessing West for the queen. Before committing to that play, South took a moment to consider what he knew about the hand.

West was known to have started with the ace-king of diamonds, the king of hearts, and a singleton spade. West had passed as dealer, and South reasoned that no player with 12 high-card points and a singleton would pass as dealer. East had to have the queen of clubs! Accordingly, South crossed to dummy with a trump and led the jack of clubs, intending to run it if East played low. East covered with the queen, so declarer won with his ace and led a club to dummy’s eight, playing West for a card that he could hold, rather than a card that he couldn’t. Well done!

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