Dealer East None Vul
|
 Q J 10
 8 5
 K 3
 A J 10 9 8 6 |
|
| 8 7
7 6 3 2
9 5
Q 7 5 4 2 |
|
K 9 6 3 2
Q J 10 4
A Q 10
3 |
|
A 5 4
A K 9
J 8 7 6 4 2
K |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
|
|
1 |
Pass |
| Pass |
2 |
Pass |
3NT |
| Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
|
In response to partner’s opening spade bid, West led
8, dummy’s
Q was put up, and East followed with a low spade. Evidently delighted to have obtained a free finesse, declarer permitted to the
Q win.
The board’s
J was then laid down, which won the trick when East again refused to cover with his marked
K. Let me spare you the gruesome details that then followed. Eventually South went down two tricks.
If should have been apparent to South that his best chance of making the contract was to establish dummy’s club suit. In order to cash the clubs later, an entry to dummy had to be developed in spades (for certainly the
K could not provide an entry since, based on the bidding, the diamond ace just had to be in the East hand).
At trick one, South should have overtaken the board’s
Q with the ace. At trick two, declarer’s
K would be overtaken by dummy’s ace, and the jack of clubs led. West taking the trick with his queen. Dummy’s clubs would all be high.
Whatever West returned, he could not prevent declarer from bringing home his contract, for whenever declarer regained the lead, he would simply play a low spade towards dummy’s J-10. East would make his king, but he could not stop declarer from reeaching dummy via the jack of spade.
In this manner, declarer would have won five club tricks, two hearts, and two spade. And in all systems of mathematics, both past and present, this adds up to nine tricks, which was South’s contractual obligarion in no trump.
- Don’t forget to follow us @
