| The Killing Opening Lead |
by Henry Francis (USA) |
TC.T. Hsu of China found the killing
opening lead on this deal from the China-World Champions match in the
Seniors Exhibition event..
| Board
7. Dealer South. Game All |
|
ª |
K 10 9 2 |
|
| © |
3 |
| ¨ |
K 4 3 |
| § |
K 10 9 4 3 |
| ª |
Q J 7 5 4 |
|
ª |
6 |
| © |
A K J 8 2 |
© |
Q 9 5 4 |
| ¨ |
6 |
¨ |
Q 9 8 7 2 |
| § |
8 5 |
§ |
A J 7 |
|
ª |
A 8 3 |
|
| © |
10 7 6 |
| ¨ |
A J 10 5 |
| § |
Q 6 2 |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Rohan |
Hsu |
Baratta |
Lu |
|
|
|
|
Pass |
|
1ª
|
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
|
2©
|
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
On most leads declarer easily scores
10 tricks on a crossruff. But Hsu led his singleton heart. Karl Rohan
won with the eight and led a diamond. Hsu didn't have another trump
to lead, so he ducked, hoping partner had the ace. Lu Yu Lin won with
the 10 and sent back another trump. Rohan overtook the jack with the
queen and led dummy's singleton spade. Lin leaped in with the ace and
led a third trump, devastating declarer.
Rohan led the jack of spades, covered
and ruffed. When he then ruffed a diamond, Hsu unblocked his king. Rohan
gave up a spade to Hsu's 9, and he switched to a diamond. Rohan ruffed
Lin's jack and cashed his good spades. But there was nothing he could
do about his losing club - down one. This represented a 12-IMP gain
for China because the North at the other table did not find the trump
lead and China scored up the heart game.
All in all, this was a very strange
match. Almost every time a pair at the above table took an aggressive
action, disaster followed. Board 4 is an example.
| Board
4. Dealer West. Game All |
|
ª |
K |
|
| © |
A J 8 7 3 |
| ¨ |
8 7 3 |
| § |
10 7 4 3 |
| ª |
Q J 10 6 3 |
|
ª |
8 7 5 4 2 |
| © |
Q 4 |
© |
9 6 2 |
| ¨ |
K 10 4 |
¨ |
6 5 2 |
| § |
Q 8 6 |
§ |
9 2 |
|
ª |
A 9 |
|
| © |
K 10 5 |
| ¨ |
A Q J 9 |
| § |
A K J 5 |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Rohan |
Hsu |
Baratta |
Lu |
|
Pass
|
Pass |
Pass |
2NT |
|
Pass
|
3¨(1) |
Pass |
3© |
|
Pass
|
4§(2) |
Pass |
6§ |
|
All Pass
|
|
|
|
|
(1) Transfer
(2) Five hearts and at least four clubs
Who can blame Lin for thinking a slam
was in the cards? He hoped to find somewhat better clubs in dummy. He
won the opening spade lead with the king and took the diamond finesse.
Rohan produced the king and led another spade. Declarer correctly guessed
the heart position, but he had no way to pick up trumps and was down
one for a 13-IMP loss. Fequently when they took a passive stance, they
found themselves making enough overtricks to score game.
In general China escaped most of the
worst problems and as a result scored a 24-6 victory.
