News

A bad trump break and a frozen suit combined to cause most declarers to fail in this game contract. Can you do better?

Bidding
Dealer: South
Love All

North East South West
1S NB
3S NB 4S

West led Q♥. Most declarers won, played ♠AK and then breached diamonds. East took dummy’s J♦ with K♦; West took declarer’s Q♦ with A♦; one or other won 9♦ or 10♦ subsequently. Together with the trump trick, the three diamonds lost meant the contract was down.

Experienced declarers spotted that the diamonds are frozen: if North-South play them, three losers are inevitable; if East-West lead them, this must provide one trick for the declarer. To that end, a plan was formed so that, if trumps broke badly, the diamond position could be resolved.

Winning trick 1 with K♥ in dummy, declarer leads 2♠ to A♠ in hand. When West shows out, East must win a trump trick — but not yet!

Declarer seeks to make leading diamonds East’s only choice. He wins K♠, cashes A♥ and ruffs a low heart in dummy; plays K♣ and A♣ and ruffs the last club in hand. This has eliminated both suits. Now, South plays a trump and East wins, but finds himself endplayed: if he leads a heart or a club, declarer pitches a diamond from hand and trumps in dummy, so losing only two diamonds later.

If East leads a diamond, South follows low and West must play A♦ to prevent dummy from winning. Now, North-South have Q♦ and J♦ intact, and only K♦ to lose.

Articles You May Like

Syrian rebels sweep into Aleppo after lightning assault
French markets hit by threat of government collapse
Munis improve ahead of rebound in issuance
Puerto Rico Board, FAFFA, UCC appeal court ruling that favors PREPA bondholders
Russian and Syrian warplanes seek to blunt rebel advance from Aleppo