February 2025 - 54

Intermediate Players
Mike's Bridge Lesson
Who's to blame?
T
he following is an example of
someone spotting a molehill
and somehow turning it into a
mountain. I'll show you the bidding
and play with all four hands in view.
As the play progresses, decide if/
when someone errs. There may be
more than one error made.
Dlr: South s A 7 3
Vul: None h Q J 5
d J 10 6 5
c J 6 3
s Q 10 5
h 9 7 4 2
d Q 8
c A K Q 7
s 9 8 6 2
h 6
d 7 4 3
c 10 9 5 4 2
s K J 4
h A K 10 8 3
d A K 9 2
c 8
West North East
Pass 2h Pass
South
1h
4h
All Pass
West led the cA and followed
with the cK, ruffed by South. South
played the hA and a low heart to the
hQ, finding that West had four of
them. Discovering that trumps divide
4-1 can often be annoying. But is it a
hassle here?
South played the dJ, losing to
West's queen. West continued with
the cQ, and South ruffed. West now
has one more trump than South.
South played on diamonds. How
should West feel about his chances of
setting 4h?
West should be sure of setting 4h.
How can West tell?
West knows that South has five
hearts. West knows that South has
one club. West will learn soon enough
that South has four diamonds. That
leaves South with three spades.
Therefore, South has a spade loser no
matter which spades he has. If East
happens to have the sK, South will
have two spade losers.
West can ruff the third or fourth
diamond and can lead a trump back,
knowing that he has a spade winner
at the end. The one thing that West
must not do is lead a spade. If South
has the sK J x, a spade lead will cost
the defense a spade trick. (A club is
not a great play either, as providing
a ruff-sluff will hand the contract to
South.)
So was going down in 4h just a
case of bad luck? It's agreed that
South was unlucky. But it is not
agreed that he had to go down.
What's the answer?
When West won the dQ and led the
third round of clubs, South should
discard his spade loser. This keeps
control of the trump suit. West can't
lead more clubs because declarer can
ruff in dummy, come to the sK, and
draw trumps.
Postmortem: Look at the hands
again. Totally lost in all of this is the
fact that South can make 6d if he
guesses the diamond suit. What's
really interesting is that if North has
the dQ instead of the jack, 6d is an
excellent contract.
Hands like this one can drive you
crazy wondering how to find 6d.
I don't think many would because
South needs exceptional cards from
BY MIKE LAWRENCE
michaelslawrence.com
North to make 6d a good contract.
Looking for it might get you too high.
Still, it's useful to consider that the
4-4 diamond fit is worth one more
trick that the 5-3 heart fit.
In the bidding, North raised 1h
to 2h. Raising with 4-3-3-3 shape
is fine when you have nice support.
Don't forget to deduct one point for
the fact that you have flat shape. 2
Big Games
Now Online!
Want to see who had a Big
Game? Every eligible club
game (at least five tables, at
least 24 boards, no masterpoint
limit) over 75% is now
automatically reported and
published on the ACBL's
website.
Scan the QR code or go to
acbl.org/biggames to see
who scored big.
54 | Bridge Bulletin | February 2025
http://www.michaelslawrence.com http://www.acbl.org/biggames
February 2025

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