Bridge Corner
By Gary Mitchell, Nov 24, 2006

The bidding

When North rebid 1NT, he promised a balanced minimum, so South knew that North had two or three Spades. The only other thing she needed to know was how many Aces and Kings North had. Learning that the Spade King was missing, South settled into the small slam.


The play


West led the Diamond 2. Declarer saw that as long as trump split 2–2 or 3–1, there would be only one Spade loser in the hand. So, declarer won the opening lead in hand and played the Spade Ace. When East showed out, declarer was heart-broken. There were two Spade losers. No matter how you play the Spades, West gets two tricks. Or does she?

This requires a lot of luck. First, you need to get your trump length down to the same as West’s. That requires some guessing. West led what could be her fourth-best Diamond. So, on that assumption, lead your Diamond and overtake with the Ace. Trump a Diamond. A Heart to the Ace and trump another Diamond. If that lives, play your top two Hearts. Then play the Club King, and overtake the Club Queen with the Ace. If all of that works, you are home. You are down to three cards. In dummy are Q5 of Spades and a Club. In your hand are J97 of Spades. West is down to K108 of spades. Lead the last Club from dummy and trump with the Spade Jack. If West plays low, you lead a Spade toward the Queen, holding West to one Spade trick. If West overtrumps with the King, she has to lead away from her 10, and you win your 9. Wow!!

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