Misleading
As a beginner we are all taught not to underlead an ace against
a suit contract. As we get older we sometimes convince ourselves
that it's a good idea - and about once every hundred deals it is.
This comes from the first session of the Open Pairs qualifying.
Board 21. Dealer North. N/S Vul.
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ª K 6 4
© A Q 10
¨ A K 9 3
§ 8 7 3 |
ª A 3
© K 4 3 2
¨ 10 8 5 4
§ Q J 2 |
![Bridge deal](../../../Graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª Q J 10 7 5 2
© J 9 5
¨ J 7 2
§ K |
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ª 9 8
© 8 7 6
¨ Q 6
§ A 10 9 6 5 4 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Cannell |
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Carruthers |
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1NT |
Dble* |
2§ |
Pass |
Pass |
2ª |
3§ |
All Pass |
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East's double promised one suit or both majors - and any method
that lets you get two bids out of such a moth eaten collection must
have some merit.
As befits a member of the Bridge Magazine panel of experts West
led the three of spades. Declarer saw no point in putting up the
king so East won with the ten. There was nothing obvious to do,
so East switched to the king of clubs. Declarer won and played three
rounds of diamonds, disposing of his losing spade. Then he played
a club and West took the jack and queen before exiting with a heart.
Declarer put in dummy's ten and East won with the jack and returned
a spade. Declarer, who 'knew' East was endplayed into leading away
from the ace of spades or the king of hearts happily discarded a
heart and West finally took a trick with the card that the rest
of us would have led at trick one.
Seeds of Doubt
It is amazing how often a declarer can be deflected from a simple
line of play if a defender plants the wrong impression in their
mind. Here is such a case from the second qualifying session of
the Open Pairs.
Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
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ª 10 6 4
© A 5
¨ 7 6 4 3
§ Q 10 7 3 |
ª K J 9 8 2
© 10 6 4
¨ K J 5 2
§ A |
![Bridge deal](../../../Graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª A Q 7
© J 8
¨ A 10 8
§ K 6 5 4 2 |
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ª 5 3
© K Q 9 7 3 2
¨ Q 9
§ J 9 8 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
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Smith |
|
Czerniewski |
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2© |
2ª |
Pass |
3©* |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
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North led the ace of hearts and the defenders played three rounds
of the suit. In an attempt to confuse declarer North ruffed his
partner's winner. Declarer overuffed, and convinced that North was
holding Qxxx in both minors took a diamond finesse through North.
Taking three tricks gave North/South a very fine score.
Of course, declarer missed his way. After overruffing he should
play a club to the ace, a spade to dummy, ruff a club, spade to
dummy and ruff another club. Now he has eleven tricks without any
guess in diamonds.
Slammed Out
By Barry Rigal
When you are playing against the Polish superstars of Burgay, you
can't afford any accidents. My team lost by 38 IMPs in the round
of 16 but we were left kicking ourselves as we had four (count them!)
25 IMP swings away during the course of the match.
One swing was just unlucky - our opponents bid a grand slam that
needed trumps two-one with the king onside, which rolled home for
13 IMPs away instead of 17 IMP in. Two of the others will not be
spelled out in too much detail; suffice it to say that one of our
partnerships played in a cuebid (is the auction 1§
- 1ª - 2§
- 3¨ forcing?), and
one of our pairs let through 6NT despite leading the suit in which
we had the ace and king to cash. But the most painful deal from
my experience was Board 29.
Board 29. Dealer North. All Vul.
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ª A K 3
© A 7 5 4
¨ 6
§ A J 8 4 2 |
ª Q J 10 9 5 2
© Q J 10 8
¨ 10 4
§ Q |
![Bridge deal](../../../Graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª 4
© 9 3 2
¨ K 9 8 7 5 3
§ 10 9 7 |
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ª 8 7 6
© K 6
¨ A Q J 2
§ K 6 5 3 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Pszczola |
Rigal |
Kwiecien |
Stansby |
|
1§ |
Pass |
2§ |
2ª |
3© |
Pass |
4¨ |
Pass |
4ª |
Pass |
5§ |
Pass |
5¨ |
Pass |
5© |
Pass |
5ª |
Pass |
7§ |
All Pass |
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Maybe I was too pushy to look for a grand slam and maybe JoAnna
should have tried 5NT over 5ª. Anyway, in 7§ on a spade lead I won,
crossed to the king of clubs and paused for some time before deciding
to play for the ¨K to be right. I played three rounds of hearts
ruffing in dummy then ran the trumps. This was the ending:
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ª K 3
© 7
¨ 6
§ - |
ª Q J
© (?)
¨ x (x)
§ - |
![Bridge deal](../../../Graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª -
© (?)
¨ K x x (x)
§ - |
|
ª 8
© -
¨ A Q J
§ - |
Who has the thirteenth heart? If West, then two rounds of diamonds
via the finesse squeezes him. If East has the heart then cashing
the ace of spades squeezes him in the red suits.
After much agony I got it wrong, which at least
meant that the rest of the team had someone to blame.
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