Establishing a Long Suit Early Often Overcomes Bad Trump Break
by Beverly Kraft -Eric Kokish
How would you play the small slam on the lead of the
10?
North-South vulnerable South deals
 A K 8 6 3 2
 6
 A Q 4
A 7 3 |
|
| 4
A K J 8
K 8 6 5 2
K 6 4 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
|
|
|
1 |
| Pass |
2 |
Pass |
2NT |
| Pass |
3 |
Pass |
3 |
| Pass |
3 |
Pass |
4 |
| Pass |
5 |
Dble |
Rdble |
| Pass |
5 |
Pass |
6 |
| End |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: 10
North starts with a strong jump shift, then supports diamonds at his next turn. South shows first-round control of hearts and North cue-bids the A. With his “waiting” 4bid South denies the A, but when North shows that ace and East doubles, South redoubles to show second-round control of the suit. North’s 5bid is a grand slam try promising a second-round control but South realises that his K is a wasted value opposite North’s heart shortness. With no fit for North’s primary suit, and thin interior trumps, South signs off in 6.
The best technical plan is to establish spades as early as possible with the least risk while maintaining the entries to dummy to use the suit once it has been established. You could find a deal of this type in a good textbook on card play but this “real” deal was played in the French Open Team Trials; all the declarers in 6 were successful.
Win the K in hand and play the king of trumps, cross to the A, ruff a spade, play a trump to the queen. When you discover the bad break, ruff another spade in case they divide four-two. If the ruff stands up, cross to the trump ace and play high spades. As long as the player (West here) with the master trump cannot discard all his hearts before ruffing in, you will make your contract. If West started with only six cards in the majors (three hearts and three spades or four hearts and two spades), he could discard all his hearts, then ruff the first heart trick and prevent you from reaching your hand.
If West ruffs early, he cannot prevent you from discarding a club from dummy on a high heart and the A is the sure entry for the remaining spades.
On combinations of this type, the winning line often involves establishing a long suit as the first priority, then managing trumps and entries with care.
The 4 hands:
|
A K 8 6 3 2
6
A Q 4
A 7 3 |
|
| 9 7 5
Q 9 4 2
J 10 9 3
10 2 |
|
Q J 10
10 7 5 3
7
Q J 9 8 5 |
|
4
A K J 8
K 8 6 5 2
K 6 4 |
|
