Bridge

North’s 3NT response showed a sound raise to game in hearts with no side-suit singleton. (With a singleton diamond, for example, he would have made a splinter bid of 4D instead.) South punted a small slam, with no further investigation, and West led the king of diamonds. Declarer won with the ace and drew trumps in two rounds. He eliminated the spade suit, by cashing the ace and king and ruffing the third round. He then played the jack of diamonds, throwing West on lead. Suppose you had been West. What would you have done next? East had played high-low in diamonds, so West knew that South’s jack of diamonds was indeed his last card in the suit. Since a diamond would give declarer in ruff-and-discard, West decided to exit in clubs. This was not the best move. South won with jack and had twelve tricks when the suit proved to be 3-2. West should have paused slightly longer- until he had worked out declarer’s shape. South was known to hold two spades, five trumps and two diamonds. He therefore held four clubs, which meant that a ruff-and-discard would be no use to him! Had West exited with a third diamond, the slam would have gone down. Declarer would be left with an unavoidable club loser.

Some players would rebid 3S without thinking. The queen of diamonds is a dubious value, however, and partner may hold only one spade. I don’t think this hand is quite strong enough for 3S and would bid only 2S.

Awards: 2S-10, 3S-7, 2NT-5, Pass-3.

David Bird — Knight Features

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