Opening lead: 4
Charles Goren
Failure to establish dummy’s long suit is a common error on the part of declarers. Many a five card suit was born to blush unseen merely because it contained no high cards.
The South of today’s hand was one of the victims of this failing. North’s double of the opening club bid is sound. While it is true that North has no preparation for diamonds, nevertheless, if partner has that suit, he is at liberty to bid at the one level, and North can then bail out into one of his suits without commiting himself to an eight trick contract.
East elected to pass the double, though most modern players prefer to gave an immediate raise with hands of this type for fear that might be inconvenient to bid later. As it developed, East was in the awkward position of having to bid at the level of three in order to avoid being shut out of the auction completely.
South would have bid three spades even if East had not interfered, because he had more than a forced response, but North, having already done his full duty subsided.
WEST’S CHOICE of the trump opening was the best declarer went about playing the hand in a rather slipshod manner.
He played the ace and another club. West won and led another trump. Declarer won and ruffed the remaining club in dummy. He then got out with a heart, hoping that West would eventually lead a diamond or that the ace of diamonds would be right.”
None of these things came off, and declarer wound up losing three diamonds, a heart and a club, for down one. At no cost at all, declarer could have tried to establish a long card in the heart suit for his ninth trick. There are seven hearts out standing, and it is a moral certainty that they are divided four- three, because with all the honors adversely held, if one of the defenders held five hearts, that suit would surely have been mentioned.
The trump trick should be won in dummy and a heart led at once Three heart ruffs will establish the fifth card of the suit. This will require four entries, and dummy has them in the trump suit and the ace of clubs.
It is true declarer could have made the hand in another manner, that is by leading two low diamonds and felling the ace when the third one is trumped, but this would have been somewhat in the nature of a double dummy play, while the play for the long hearts clearly indicated.
A K 10 6
9 6 4 3 2
5 2
A 5
