Bridge

The deal comes from the Far East championship. How would you play 7H when West leads the ten of spades? Declarer played lazily, drawing trumps and eventually taking a losing diamond finesse. The deal is a good example of combining chances. You should aim to take two club ruffs before taking the diamond finesse, just in case the club king falls. You win the spade lead in your hand, play the ace of clubs and cross to the king of trumps. After taking one club ruff, you draw the outstanding trump with the ace and cross to the ace of spades for a second club ruff. Down comes the king! You can then cross to the ace of diamonds and throw your diamond loser on the club queen. In the junior event a young Japanese declarer received the apparently deadly lead of the diamond nine, removing an entry to dummy. He won with the ace, crossed to the ace of clubs and led a low trumps, finessing dummy’s seven! When this won, he ruffed a club, crossed to the king of trumps and ruffed another club. His bravery was rewarded by the sight of the club king falling. He could now cross to the spade ace to take a discard on the club queen.

You opened because of your good diamond suit and it is best to rebid it now. If partner continues with such as 2NT, you can bid 3 C (non-forcing) to show the nature of your hand. A rebid of 2C has a much higher limit to it in terms of points.
Awards: 2D-10, 2C-7.

David Bird — Knight Features

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