BRIDGE

BRIDGE

Neither vulnerable, West deals

NORTH

x9

uA 5 3 2

vA K Q 8 4

wQ 9 2

WEST EAST

xA J 8 7 6 4 3 xQ 2

uJ uK 10 8 4

v7 6 v10 9 5

w10 7 4 wK J 8 3

SOUTH

xK 10 5

uQ 9 7 6

vJ 3 2

wA 6 5

The bidding:

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

3x Dbl Pass 4u

All pass

Opening lead: Seven of v

North-South brushed off the pre-empt and arrived in their best contract. The bad trump split made it a tough one to play.

An opening club lead might have defeated the contract, but West had no way to know that and he tried a diamond. Declarer won this with his jack. He led a low heart to dummy’s ace, noting the fall of the jack from West, and led another trump, gently covering East’s eight with the nine. South started to run dummy’s diamonds. East ruffed the fourth diamond with the 10 and South over-ruffed with the queen.

South now made an excellent play when he led the king of spades from his hand, preventing East from gaining the lead and cashing the high trump. West won and found the club shift, but it was too late. The 10 of clubs went to the queen, king, and ace. A spade ruff in dummy was followed by the fifth diamond. East discarded, but it didn’t matter. East would have been end-played had he ruffed, but he was just postponing the inevitable when he discarded. South took out some insurance against the off-chance that East held another spade by ruffing the good diamond and then ruffing his last spade in dummy. East over-ruffed, but then had to lead a club to dummy’s nine for declarer’s 10th trick. Well played!

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