Bridge Corner
By Gary Mitchell 

The Bidding

By way of a terrible bidding misunderstanding, you and your partner bid this to 6-NT. Heart 4 would have been a nice, sane contract. You will have an interesting discussion after the game!

The Play

You are playing 6-NT, so give it your best play. You need to combine your chances with Hearts and Spades. You need to be able to run one of those two suits without a loser. You have four Club tricks, and you can get one Diamond trick. Those five, along with the top two of one major suit, and all five of the others would give you 12 tricks. 

So, step one is to get your Diamond trick. That cannot wait. The only time you will not need a Diamond trick is if both major suit Queens are coming down singleton or doubleton. Two Queens cooperating? I cannot imagine. So, the opponents win the Diamond Ace and return a Diamond. Now play the Ace and King of Hearts. If the Queen falls, you have 12 tricks. If not, take the Spade finesse. If this loses, you will better understand why I hate bidding slams.

Questions: email me at gary@smabridge.com
Lessons: Call 152-6351.