WITH
four losing cards in his hand, South did not feel he could say any
more than 4S over North’s raise to 3S. His partner advanced to the
slam and the queen of diamonds was led. Take the South cards now. How
will you play the slam? Declarer won the diamond lead, drew one round
of trumps with the ace and attempted to cash the king of diamonds. Not
the best! East ruffed the second diamond and, with the heart finesse
losing, there was then no way to make twelve tricks. ‘The diamonds
broke 6-1’, complained South. ‘Incredibly bad luck.’ Suppose
East had held a second diamond. The king of diamonds would stand up
but when declarer ruffed a third round of diamonds, East would
overruff and return his remaining trump. Declarer would still go down.
The best play is to cross to the ace of clubs at Trick 2 and lead a
second round of diamonds towards the closed hand. If East ruffs in,
you can subsequently draw trumps and ruff your one remaining diamond
lose. If instead East discards, the diamond king wins and you ruff a
diamond with the eight. East overruffs but nothing can then stop you
from ruffing your last low diamond with dummy’s seven. Note that you
cannot afford to draw one round of trumps first.
Answer
When you have a massive
trump fit for your partner the best tactics are to raise high
immediately. Make the next player guess! Here you should bid 5D. When
this bid was found at the table, North doubled on two kings and the
contract was easily made. A redouble should show diamond shortage and
an interest in taking a penalty. There is little point in looking for
a spade fit.
AWARDS: 5D - 10, 2NT
(showing a diamond fit) — 7, IS — 5, redouble — 2.
WITH
four losing cards in his hand, South did not feel he could say any
more than 4S over North’s raise to 3S. His partner advanced to the
slam and the queen of diamonds was led. Take the South cards now. How
will you play the slam? Declarer won the diamond lead, drew one round
of trumps with the ace and attempted to cash the king of diamonds. Not
the best! East ruffed the second diamond and, with the heart finesse
losing, there was then no way to make twelve tricks. ‘The diamonds
broke 6-1’, complained South. ‘Incredibly bad luck.’ Suppose
East had held a second diamond. The king of diamonds would stand up
but when declarer ruffed a third round of diamonds, East would
overruff and return his remaining trump. Declarer would still go down.
The best play is to cross to the ace of clubs at Trick 2 and lead a
second round of diamonds towards the closed hand. If East ruffs in,
you can subsequently draw trumps and ruff your one remaining diamond
lose. If instead East discards, the diamond king wins and you ruff a
diamond with the eight. East overruffs but nothing can then stop you
from ruffing your last low diamond with dummy’s seven. Note that you
cannot afford to draw one round of trumps first.
When you have a massive
trump fit for your partner the best tactics are to raise high
immediately. Make the next player guess! Here you should bid 5D. When
this bid was found at the table, North doubled on two kings and the
contract was easily made. A redouble should show diamond shortage and
an interest in taking a penalty. There is little point in looking for
a spade fit.