Bridge Corner
By Gary Mitchell, Nov 03, 2006

The bidding

North has a nice hand, so instead of just jumping to 4 Hearts, North bids 2 Diamonds. When East interferes, South shows a minimum opener by passing. North now bids the Heart game.

The play
You win the opening lead and count one spade loser, one Heart loser and one Diamond loser. All looks well. So, without further ado, you lead a heart to the King, losing to the Ace. East takes a Spade trick and leads a third Spade. If you trump low, West will overtrump. If you trump high, West will discard and wait for a natural trump trick. Another game bites the dust. 
Sorry partner, there was just nothing I could do! 
Were you listening to the bidding?? Did you hear East bid 2 Spades? Why does what happened surprise you? Could you have done anything about it? 
Win the opening lead, and go to dummy with a Club. Now, lead a small trump from dummy. If East goes up with the Ace and plays two rounds of Spades, you can now trump high and still pick up the rest of the Hearts. If East plays low, win the Heart in hand and play the two top Clubs, discarding two Spades from dummy. Now, lead the Heart Queen, and you are safe.
Well done! But did you notice the terrible defense from East? East should win the Heart Ace, play the Diamond Ace, and play the six of Spades for partner to trump. When West returns a Diamond, East will trump for down one. This is truly a tough game.. 


Questions: gary@smabridge.com 

Lessons: 152-6351.