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Bridge
This is a defensive problem from the West seat, so cover the East and South cards and see how you fare. You lead the spade king against 6H. Partner plays the 8, to indicate an even number of cards in the suit, and declarer wins with the ace. At Trick 2 declarer leads the six of diamonds. Do you play the king or the four? What is the reason for your choice? At the table West followed with the four. Declarer finessed the queen successfully, returned to his hand with the ace of trumps, and ruffed his spade loser. He then crossed back to his hand with a second trump and led another diamond. When the king appeared from West, the card was allowed to hold. West was end-played and forced
to lead a club from the king or to concede a ruff-and-discard. Either
way declarer’s club loser would vanish into the night and the slam was
made. West should have played the king of diamonds at Trick 2. This
could hardly cost since if declarer held J-x-x in the suit, he would
make three diamond tricks anyway. As the play went, West could also have
discarded the diamond king on the second round of trumps. What
should you say now on those West cards? Answer From the information you have at present, your best guess as to partner’s shape is that he holds five hearts and four diamonds. You should rebid 2 H, giving ‘false preference’ to his first suit. This is partly because a 5-2 fit will play better than a 4-3 fit. The main reason is that it will give partner the opportunity to bid again if he wishes. If he were to continue with 2S, for example, you would jump to 3NT. Awards: 2H-10, Pass-6, 2NT-4. David Bird — Knight Features
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