May 2020 - 51

Intermediate Players

The Real Deal
BY LARRY COHEN

larryco.com

This should be a routine move
This deal comes from the round of
32 of the Spingold at the 2019 Summer
North American Bridge Championships in Las Vegas. The match featured
some of the best bridge players in the
world, though the player involved here
(who shall remain nameless to protect
the guilty) showed a lack of concentration. With only four deals left in
the match, the underdog team had a
21-IMP lead.
Both tables in the match played 6♠
doubled, and both received the lead of a
high club. What would your plan be?
♠Q76
♥Q82
♦QJ8732
♣5
♠ A K J 10 8 5 4 3
♥AJ53
♦9
♣-
At one table, declarer ruffed with
the ♠3, then played a diamond to
the queen, which was captured with
East's ace, and received a spade back.
He played low, and with the 9 coming
down from left-hand opponent (a 1-1
break), he won in dummy. When he
ruffed a diamond with the ♠K, the ♦K
fell on his left. He now played the ♠5
to the dummy. Do you see the problem? While his ♦J was good, the rest
of the diamonds weren't established.
Declarer didn't have another way back
to dummy. All of his remaining spades
were higher than dummy's! He had to
fall back on hoping for ♥K x onside,

and when that failed, down he went.
At the other table, declarer ruffed
the opening lead high and continued
approximately as our first declarer
did. The difference here was that
declarer had three dummy entries - all
in spades - and was able to set up the
entire diamond suit. The play was:
club ruffed high, diamond lost, spade
return to the queen, diamond ruffed
high, spade to dummy, diamond ruffed
high (establishing the suit), spade to
dummy, good diamonds. The swing of
18 IMPs started a last-second comeback that turned a potential upset into
an upsetting loss.
The real deal:
♠Q76
♥Q82
♦QJ8732
♣5
♠9
♠2
♥ 10 4
♥K976
♦K5
♦ A 10 6 4
♣ A K J 10 7 4 3 2
♣Q986
♠ A K J 10 8 5 4 3
♥AJ53
♦9
♣-
Note that if West goes up with the
♦K from ♦K 5 and then plays the ♠9,
the first declarer can correct the earlier mistake and throw the ♠8 under
the ♠Q, then take the ruffing finesse
in diamonds against East.
Keeping low trump for entries in
such situations should be basic, so it
was surprising to see an accomplished
player fail to do so.
◾

East hands for the
May Bidding Box

Bid these hands with a partner.
The West hands are on pg. 49. The
North-South players are silent unless
otherwise noted. Scores on pgs. 33-35.
Problem 1. North deals. None vul.
♠A Q 10 7 2 ♥Q 4 ♦A Q 2 ♣A Q 4
Problem 2. East deals. N-S vul.
♠A K J 10 9 ♥7 3 ♦J 8 5 4 ♣Q 8
Problem 3. South deals. E-W vul.
♠A Q 8 6 4 3 ♥- ♦10 6 3 ♣A K 9 5
Problem 4. West deals. Both vul.
♠K J 7 2 ♥8 ♦K Q 9 6 ♣A J 3 2
Problem 5. North deals. N-S vul.
♠7 ♥A 8 6 5 2 ♦Q ♣A K Q 10 3 2
Problem 6. East deals. E-W vul.
South opens 1♦ or overcalls 2♦ if
possible.
♠J 10 2 ♥A K 9 3 2 ♦Q J 9 ♣9 7
Problem 7. South deals. Both vul.
♠4 ♥A K J 5 3 ♦3 2 ♣J 10 9 8 6
Problem 8. West deals. None vul.
North overcalls diamonds cheaply
at the one or two level.
♠Q 4 ♥A 9 7 2 ♦10 9 ♣K Q 10 6 5
May 2020 Bridge Bulletin

51
http://www.larryco.com
May 2020

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