Atlanta Duplicate Bridge Center    

6761 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Suite 200                   

Atlanta, Georgia 30360            (770) 248-0306

 

 

 Make the Contract!

Dlr: S ♠ K 6 5 3
Vul: None A 7 2
9 8 6 5 3 2
♣ —
♠ A 7 ♠ 10 8
10 5 3 K J 9 8 6 4
K 7 10 4
♣ A J 8 7 5 3 ♣ Q 10 9
♠ Q J 9 4 2
Q
A Q J
♣ K 6 4 2

South West North East
1♠ 2♣ 3♠ Pass
4♠ All pass

Opening Lead: 10
10

There are a couple of ways this auction might go. North might only bid 2♠ over the 2♣ overcall by West. Personally I like an aggressive bid here. North has a fourth spade and the void in clubs is worth an awful lot. If North only bids 2♠ I would encourage East to raise partner's overcall to 3♣. South or North might compete to 3♠ and once either one has made another move it's probable they'll land in 4♠.

Now to count: 1 spade loser, no heart losers, 1 diamond loser (very probable given the overcall by West), and four club losers. Three too many.

West will do best to start with a passive heart lead. North goes up with the ace and considers his next move. What has dummy given him that is best? Shortness in clubs is golden and the six diamonds might also come in handy for dumping some losers. After winning the A lead a small diamond from dummy and finesse the jack. When this loses to the king West will most likely lead another heart. Trump in your hand and lead the ♠Q. (you need to save the king as your transportation to the dummy). West can win the ♠A and lead another heart, his last. Trump this in hand and lead the ♠J. When both defenders follow all you need to do is play the AQ establishing those small diamonds. Now play a small club and trump it in dummy and lead those three little diamonds to throw away all your club losers.

In the end all you need to lose is the ♠A and K. Making 5!