The Bridge Column

The “Smolen” convention, developed by the late Mike Smolen, handles all hands that are two-suited in the majors after a one no-trump opening.

The contract was cold if the trumps split 3-2, even if the ace was offside. Many 4-1 splits could also be handled. A 5-0 trump split should be against the law! The opening diamond lead went to the jack and ace as dummy shed a club. Declarer led a low heart intending to play dummy’s eight, catering to a possible singleton ace in the East hand. Should the ace be onside, it would still be onside later. West, however, played the 10 and South won with dummy’s king, learning the horrible news. A trump back to his nine lost to West’s jack, and West continued with another diamond as dummy shed another club. South captured East’s queen with the king and led another trump, won by West with the queen.

West continued with yet another diamond, won by declarer with the 10. South could cross to dummy and lead another heart, but West would win and persevere with diamonds, promoting a fourth trump trick for himself.

Instead, South ruffed his last diamond in dummy, cashed the king of clubs, and returned to his hand with the queen of spades. He cashed the ace of clubs and the king of spades before leading another club. He was able to score the eight of trumps “en passant” for his tenth trick. Beautifully played!