Bridge

North-South were playing the strong notrump and five-card majors. North therefore had to open 1C, intending to rebid 1NT unless his partner bid hearts. How would you play 6H when West leads a trump? Declarer drew trumps in two rounds and led his singleton spade towards the dummy. West could tell from South’s Blackwood bid that declarer held only one spade. Nevertheless he did not rise with the ace. To do so would have given declarer two spade tricks and made life very easy for him. If you did not foresee this move by the defence, pause again and think how you would counter it. Declarer won with the king of spades, ruffed a spade and played three rounds of clubs ending in the dummy. He then led the queen of spades, throwing a low diamond from his hand. West won with the ace and was end-played. A diamond would be into declarer’s A-Q tenace and a fourth round of spades would give a ruff-and-discard. Declarer could then ruff in the dummy and throw the queen of diamonds from his hand, claiming the balance. The technique, at the moment of the throw-in, is known as a loser-on-loser play. You lead one loser, the spade queen, and discard another loser, a low diamond. The gain comes when West is end-played.

Partner’s double of the pre-emptive opening is for take-out. 

What will you say on the West cards?

Answer
The best response is 4D, asking partner to choose trumps. He will no doubt bid a four-card major suit and you will be in a 4-4 fit. With only 8 points, you are borderline for such a strong action. However, if you guess to bid just 3S or 3H, you may be in a 4-3 fit. You may also miss a worthwhile game. In such a situation it is better to overbid slightly and be sure that you find your best fit.

AWARDS: 4D — 10, 4S/4H — 7, 3S/3H — 5, pass — 3. 

David Bird — Knight Features

HOME