Sunday, February 17, 2002		Bridge

When west led the two of hearts
by Omar Sharif

NOT so long ago I commented on the difficulty of selecting a good part-score hand for the column but fortunately a neat one came along soon afterwards.

The contestants displayed good judgement on the sort of deal on which it is so easy to go wrong. Not dramatically wrong but converting a small plus score into a small minus score. Things like that add up over the tears...

West dealt with North-South game and 60 and opened One No-trump (showing 12-14 points).

After two passes South joined in with Two Spades — better judged than a double which would only have worked well if North had had the inspiration to lead a Spade.

All passed but how many times have you seen a player with a hand like East’s contesting with Two No-trumps or Three Clubs? "I couldn’t let them play in Two Spades, partner. Look at the score!"

West did well when he led the two of Hearts. East’s King lost to the Ace and declarer played off three rounds of trumps to put West on lead again.

He cashed his Queen of Hearts and followed with the Ace and another Club to his partner’s King. A low Diamond came back and declarer put in the Jack.

It would have been all too easy for West to win with his Ace but, if he had done so, declared would have the rest of the tricks and his contract. Instead West let the Jack of Diamonds win. Eventually South had to lead away from his remaining Diamond honours and so concede two more tricks.

A small plus instead of a small minus...