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Zia's
Question and Solution for Week 8
'How
good are you at finesses? There are those who are sure that Fate
plays games with them, while others always seem to guess well.
But
is it always guesswork?'
- ZIA
North
deals at game all. Zia is South and picks up this hand:
The
bidding is as follows:
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West
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North
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East
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South
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1
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Pass
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1NT
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Pass
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3NT
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Pass
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Pass
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Pass
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The
bidding is simple enough and the final contract is 3NT.
West
leads  5 and when dummy
appears, Zia sees that there are plenty of finesse positions:
Zia
plays low, 2, from dummy
on West's opening lead of 5,
East wins with A and
Zia follows with 3.
East returns 6, Zia
follows with 9 but West
plays 10. Zia decides
to win with dummy's K.
Zia plays A from dummy.
East and West follow with 3
and 2 as Zia plays 7.
Zia continues with K
from dummy. East and West follow with 6
and 4 while Zia discards
8. Zia plays Q
from dummy. East discards  2,
Zia plays 9 and West
follows with 5.
What
card would Zia play from dummy?
Zia's
Solution
The
full deal is as shown:
Zia's answer is 8.
With
eight top tricks, Zia will succeed if the diamond finesse wins or
he can locate  Q. But
why would Zia put faith in hopes or guesses when he can make certain
of the contract?
By
exiting with a spade, Zia can make West do his guessing for him.
After cashing three spades (at most), West will have to lead a red
suit, giving Zia his ninth trick. Zia must be careful not to cash
the fourth round of clubs, though, or he will not be able to discard
safely from his hand and dummy in the event West started with 5
spades. As it is, on the run of the spades Zia can comfortably discard
QJ from the table,
and a diamond and a club from his hand. Then, sit back and wait
to be presented with the contract.
Final
Result: NS win 9 tricks for +600
Back
Conceived
and sponsored by Orbis Investment Management Limited. To learn about
the award winning Orbis Funds, visit www.orbis.bm.
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