August 2018 - 62

Advanced Players

My Bridge and Yours
BY FRANK STEWART

Matchpoint events are tests of skill,
but random factors can intrude - such
as what boards you play against which
opponents. If you are up against the
top seed in your section for two boards,
you should be happy to play 3NT on the
first board with nine tricks, no more
and no fewer, and to defend a prosaic
4♠ on the second with a result of minus 420 as flat as a pancake.
Reality is different. A friend of mine
swears that if he sits North-South,
and there is a slam for East-West that
requires inspired lunacy to bid and
crystal-ball play to make, he will be
opposed by the only pair in the room
capable of doing just that.
This is a deal in which I was a victim
of fate. The setting was a regional pairs
event. Both sides were vulnerable, and
I was West, the dealer, with:
♠J 6 ♥K 10 9 ♦10 6 5 ♣Q 10 9 6 2.
I passed, and North opened 1NT.
East passed, and South huddled and
bid 6♦. After I passed, North started to
think, and after a while ... he came forth
with 7♦. Everyone passed, South with
a sigh as heavy as a storm cloud.
I led the ♣10, and South was faced
with finding 13 tricks.
♠AK95
♥AJ76
♦74
♣A73
♠ 10 7 4
♥5
♦AKQJ9832
♣4

62 Bridge Bulletin August 2018

frs1016@centurylink.net

I could understand North's bid; his
wealth of prime values was seductive.
Still, to pass or perhaps try 6NT would
have been disciplined. North couldn't
be sure of 13 tricks.
South had a play for the grand slam.
He could double-finesse in spades,
winning three tricks there if I had the
queen-jack, and there were remote
squeeze chances.
South took the ♣A and drew trumps,
and East threw a heart and two clubs.
Then South didn't like his chances of
finding me with both missing spade
honors: East, void in trumps, probably
had spade length. But my partner's
heart discard brought declarer hope.
South took three more trumps, pitching two spades and a club from dummy
to reach this position:
♠AK
♥AJ76
♦-
♣-
♠ 10 7 4
♥5
♦32
♣-
East, who had started with:
♠Q 8 3 2 ♥Q 8 4 3 2 ♦- ♣K J 8 5,
could turn in his sword. If he saved two
spades and four hearts, declarer could
take the ♠A K and score his ♠10 at
the end. When East actually kept three
spades and three hearts, declarer took
the ♥A, ruffed a heart, led a spade to
dummy, ruffed a heart and won the last

two tricks with a high spade and a good
heart.
"Lead a spade," my partner remarked
to me.
"Doesn't matter," I shrugged. "Then
the ♣A is an entry, and the trump
squeeze still operates."
In fact, no lead would beat the grand
slam. We would have gotten a few
matchpoints for minus 1440 against
6NT. You can guess how many we got
for minus 2140. The full deal:
♠AK95
♥AJ76
♦74
♣A73

♠J6
♠Q832
♥ K 10 9
♥Q8432
♦ 10 6 5
♦-
♣ Q 10 9 6 2
♣KJ85
♠ 10 7 4
♥5
♦AKQJ9832
♣4
Declarers often discount the effect
of cashing out a long suit and forcing
the defenders to find discards. Having analyzed thousands of deals with
double-dummy analyzers, I am continually amazed by what miracles can
occur when declarer runs a suit. Even
if a defender is not truly squeezed, he
may face a tough guess.
◾
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2018
