Bridge
Counting out a hand is something that looks like too much hard work for 90 percent of the bridge players in the world. But the fact that you are reading this column implies that you are one of the elite – does it not?
Stick with me and I’ll see you through the calculation. The results may surprise you.
On today’s deal South found himself in a delicate four-spade contract. West cashed the ace, king and queen of diamonds before shifting to the heart two. Declarer took East’s queen with his ace, then drew trumps with the ace and queen of spades. What do you think is the right way to advance now?
Well, when South reconstructed the unseen hands, he realized that West’s raise to two hearts had strongly suggested four cards in that suit, and since East had shown out on the third diamond, West must have started life with precisely a 2-4-5-2 shape.
If East had the club queen, it would be sufficiently well protected to prevent South from getting the four club tricks he needed. So, the only hope for four club tricks was that West had a doubleton queen. Declarer continued with the club ace, then the club five (not the jack, of course), accepting the appearance of the club queen from West as no more than his due. He could now unblock the club jack and cross back over to dummy in trumps to discard his heart loser on the club 10.
Bid with the aces
South holds:
| “K 9 6 4 | |
| “8 5 | |
| “5 4 2 | |
| “K 10 3 2 |
| South | West | North | East |
| 1 “ | Dbl. | 1 “ | |
| 1 “ | Pass | 2 “ | Pass |
| ? |
Answer: Bid two spades. Your partner’s cuebid after doubling shows a hand with interest in game somewhere (probably either four spades or three no-trump) and asks you if you have any extras or a diamond stop. You have neither, so take the most regressive action possible by rebidding your suit.