December 2014 - 57

Advanced Players

My Bridge and Yours
BY FRANK STEWART

My	friends	at	the	Birmingham	Duplicate	Bridge	Club	have	kindly	invited	
me	to	give	a	lecture	and	play	in	a	pairs	
game.	With	both	sides	vulnerable,	I'm	
South,	the	dealer,	with:
♠A Q 2 ♥7 4 ♦A 8 5 3 ♣A Q 5 3.
It's	a	routine	1NT	opening.	Ages	ago,	
the	worthless	doubleton	would	have	
been	a	deterrent,	but	now	players	are	
intent	on	describing	the	hand's	overall	
strength	and	pattern	in	a	single	bid.
My	partner	raises	to	3NT,	and	everyone	passes.	West	ponders	only	briefly	
and leads the ♠4.
♠973
♥A96
♦	K	J	9	2
♣	K	4	2
♠AQ2
♥74
♦A853
♣AQ53
East puts up the ♠K,	and	I	win.	I	can	
see	the	2	and	3,	so	presumably	West	led	
from	a	four-card	suit.
I'm	happy	to	have	escaped	a	heart	
lead.	That	lets	me	test	the	clubs	before	
I	make	a	diamond	play.	When	I	take	the	
king,	ace	and	queen,	East	follows,	and	
West discards a heart.
I	have	eight	tricks:	two	spades,	a	
heart,	two	diamonds	and	three	clubs.	If	
the	game	were	IMPs,	I	would	execute	
a	safety	play	in	diamonds	to	assure	the	
contract.	I	would	lead	low	to	dummy's	
king	and	return	a	diamond,	intending	
to	play	the	8	if	East	followed	low.	But	

 frs1016@centurylink.net

at	matchpoints,	in	a	contract	every	
North-South	pair	will	reach,	I	must	
play	for	the	maximum.
The	normal	play	is	the	ace,	then	low	
to	the	jack,	but	it	occurs	to	me	that	
West	led	from	a	four-card	spade	suit	
headed	by,	at	best,	the	jack.	If	he	had	
four	hearts	-	almost	surely	including	
an	honor	-	he	might	have	led	a	heart	
instead.	If	I	assume	that	West	had	only	
three	hearts,	he	must	have	started	with	
four	diamonds.
Being	willing	to	look	foolish,	I	take	
the ♦A	and	lead	a	second	diamond.	
When	West	follows	with	the	4	and	7,	
I	call	for	the	9	from	dummy.	If	it	loses	
to	the	10,	I'll	have	some	explaining	to	
do,	but	if	I	lose	to	the	queen,	I	will	have	
broken	even.
Whether	my	logic	was	sound	or	quixotic,	I	can't	say,	but	the	full	deal	is:
♠973
♥A96
♦	K	J	9	2
♣	K	4	2
♠	J	8	6	4	 	
♠	K	10	5
♥	J	8	5	
	
♥	K	Q	10	3	2
♦ Q 10 7 4
♦6
♣76
♣	J	10	9	8
♠AQ2
♥74
♦A853
♣AQ53
When the ♦9	wins,	I	can	finesse	
with	the	jack	next	and	finish	with	10	
tricks.	I'll	have	to	admit	that	my	play	
earned	some	stares	from	the	kibitzers.	
Whether	they	were	admiring	or	suspicious,	I	don't	know.	
◾

West hands for the
December Bidding Box

Bid these hands with a partner.
The East hands are on page 52. The
North-South players are silent unless otherwise noted. Scores on page
37-39.
Problem 1. North deals. None vul.
North opens 1♠. South raises to 2♠
if possible.
♠9 8 ♥K	Q	10	3			♦J	8	5	2			♣K	6	4
Problem 2. East deals. N-S vul.
♠6 ♥A	K	10	8	5	4	2			♦8 4 ♣Q 5 2
Problem 3. South deals. E-W vul.
♠J	5			♥K	Q			♦A	K	6	3			♣K	Q	9	8	5
Problem 4. West deals. Both vul.
♠- ♥K	10	7	4		♦A	J	10	7	3	2		♣K	J	4
Problem 5. North deals. None vul.
♠A 7 ♥9 ♦K	10	8	6	5	3	2			♣A 7 6
Problem 6. East deals. E-W vul.
♠J	6			♥A 7 2 ♦9 7 2 ♣Q 8 4 3 2
Problem 7. South deals. N-S vul.
♠A 7 ♥A 4 ♦K	Q	J	10	6	3	2			♣A 6
Problem 8. West deals. Both vul.
North overcalls 1♥. South raises to
2♥ if possible.
♠5 ♥A 5 3 ♦K	10	9	6	4			♣A Q 10 8
December 2014 Bridge Bulletin

57
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2014
