April 2023 - 61

Intermediate Players
The Real Deal
BY LARRY COHEN
larrycohen.com
T
his deal was (mis)defended on
the final board of a Round of
32 match in the 2022 Vanderbilt.
A well-known expert was on
a team that was leading by 4 IMPs
heading into this last deal:
 9 7 4
k J 10 8
l Q 5
' A Q J 4 2
 K 8 6
k K Q 9
l A J 8 6
' 9 7 3
South opened 1k and West reasonably
doubled. This was redoubled
by North, and East bid 2l. This
was passed around to the redoubler
(North), who bid 2k (nonforcing).
East competed with 3l and South
jumped to 4k. West led the lA and
got an encouraging signal. He continued
diamonds and declarer ruffed
East's lK.
Next came a low heart, West winning
the kQ. Now what?
The defense has two hearts and
a diamond for sure. If partner (unlikely)
has the 'K, you will set the
contract. But, if declarer has it, clubs
are running. Trying to set up a spade
trick (maybe partner has the Q),
West switched to a spade. Wrong!
This was the Real Deal:
Dlr: South  9 7 4
Vul: None k J 10 8
l Q 5
' A Q J 4 2
 K 8 6
k K Q 9
l A J 8 6
' 9 7 3
 10 5 2
k 4 3
l K 10 7 4 3 2
' 8 5
 A Q J 3
k A 7 6 5 2
l 9
' K 10 6
Declarer won the spade shift and
played more hearts, taking five clubs,
two spades and three hearts for the
contract. He threw the other spade
losers on dummy's clubs.
For West, this should have been
a matter of counting tricks. Even
if declarer had the 'K, he'd have
only five clubs, three hearts and one
spade. (Declarer couldn't have six
hearts based on both the bidding
and the play.) Surely, with six hearts
to the ace, declarer would not start
with a low heart from hand. West
should have gone passive with a club
play and never touched spades. This
would have resulted in down one and
a win of the match.
As a side note, I am surprised this
pair didn't play weak jumps after
the redouble (3lby East) - a popular
expert treatment.
At the other table, West led a club
and never played spades, so the
contract was down one. The team
benefiting from this misdefense went
on to win the event!
CHALLENGE OF THE MONTH
CHALLENGE ANSWER
continued from page 56
 8 7 6 2
k 8 6 2
l 4
' A J 8 7 2
 Q J 10 9 5
k A Q 7
l Q J 8 6
' Q
 K 4 3
k J 10 9 5
l K 9 5 3 2
' 6
 A
k K 4 3
l A 10 7
' K 10 9 5 4 3
The bidding provides a big clue
on how to tackle this problem. West
likely has five spades, and East three,
and you can use that information to
your advantage.
Win the A and play a club to the
ace. If trumps are 1-1, ruff a spade
in your hand, cash the lA, ruff a
diamond and ruff another spade.
Finally, ruff your remaining diamond
and play dummy's last spade. At this
point, East is out of spades and must
discard, but you do too, pitching a
heart. West wins the trick perforce
and must lead a heart for you or give
you a useful ruff-sluff.
If you discover trumps are 2-0
after playing a club to the ace, ruff a
spade in your hand as before but next
cash the 'K to draw the last trump.
The play is then as before: lA, diamond
ruff, spade ruff, diamond ruff
and then a spade, pitching a heart.
April 2023 | Bridge Bulletin |
61
Victory turned into defeat
http://www.larrycohen.com
April 2023

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