It would be easy to assume that today's deal has been extracted from a
textbook on card play, but the truth is that
it was played by many pairs on an Internet
bridge club.
Most North-Souths reached 4,
but a few ambitious pairs climbed to 6
after auctions like the one in the bidding
diagram. North's 3
cue-bid was unrelated to clubs but showed
primary support for opener's suit and a near-maximum
for the initial pass. South's 4,
in contrast, promised complete control of
clubs (void or singleton ace), interest in
slam with long spades. North's 6
bid was a fair reflection of his working
values. Although slam is not laydown it is a
good contract. How should declarer play on
the lead of the
A?
North-South vulnerable North deals
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
Pass |
Pass |
1 |
2 |
3(1) |
Dble(2) |
4 |
5 |
6 |
End |
|
(1) Good spade raise
(2) Lead a club, please
Opening Lead: A
There is an attractive technical line: ruff, draw trumps, go to the A,
and lead a low diamond towards the queen. If
East has the
K,
the hand is over. However, if West takes the
Q
with the king and exits safely with a
diamond or a club, declarer will fall back
on the heart finesse. A priori, it is
slightly better than three chances in four
that East has both important cards or one of
them. These are excellent odds, and with no
clues from the auction, this would be the
indicated line of play. Unfortunately, it
does not work here.
There is an alternative plan that takes advantage of the information from
the bidding. Draw trumps, ruffing three of
dummy's clubs in the process. Play A, K,
and if the queen has not appeared, ruff the J
in dummy. Then play dummy's last club and
discard a diamond on it. West wins the trick
and must lead from the
K
or play yet another club, permitting
declarer to ruff in one hand and discard a
diamond loser from the other. This line
works not only when West has the
K
(as the auction suggests) but also when the Q
drops in two rounds.