Better Bridge
by
The Kibitzer
"Well, we needed a few tops" South said, when I ask about the bidding. Well, his super aggressive bold bidding, coupled with the ability to play the hand with imagination and proper technique got him his top on this board.
I had arrived at the table as North took his cards out and heard this bidding;
Neither Vul: North Deals
|
North |
East |
South |
West |
|
1§ |
P |
1ª |
P |
|
4 ª |
P |
6 ª |
All Pass |
The hands were:
|
North |
||
|
ª -K862 |
||
|
© -K9 |
||
|
¨ -AQ8 |
||
|
West |
§ -AK87 |
East |
|
ª -95 |
ª -Q7 |
|
|
© -QJT87 |
© -432 |
|
|
¨ -T742 |
¨ -KJ9 |
|
|
§ -Q3 |
§ -JT952 |
|
|
South |
||
|
ª -AJT43 |
||
|
© -A65 |
||
|
¨ -653 |
||
|
§ -64 |
Most North/South pairs go to four spades and made only five, but our declarer was in six and had to make it. He showed expert technique in his play - note the he must play the cards in almost precisely the correct order to arrive at the proper "end game".
He escaped the killing lead on a diamonds as West made the normal lead of the heart Queen, which declarer won with the King. He cashed the Spade King and lead the ª-2 and gave a sigh of relief as the Queen came up on his right-he was pretty sure he would need two-two trumps to make the hand and was going to play for the drop.
Now he crossed over to dummy and cashed the Ace and King of clubs, noting the fall of the Queen. He now ruffed the
§-7, cashed the Ace of hearts and ruffed a heart in dummy. The five card position was then:|
North |
||
|
ª -8 |
||
|
© -(void) |
||
|
¨ -AQ8 |
||
|
West |
§ -7 |
East |
|
ª -(void) |
ª -(void) |
|
|
© -J |
© -(void) |
|
|
¨ -T742 |
¨ -KJ9 |
|
|
§ -(void) |
South |
§ -JT |
|
ª -J4 |
||
|
© -(void) |
||
|
¨ -653 |
||
|
§ -(void) |
South now lead dummy's last club and when East played the ten, he causally dropped the 5 of diamonds on it. Now East had won a trick he didn't want to and had to lead into the
¨-AQ or play a club on which declarer would discard his second diamond while he trumped in dummy. Either way, he is assured of his contract. When you bid 'em up, you gotta play them tough.
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