THIRTEEN TRICKS PAY A LUCKY BONUS

George Burns cracked, "It takes only one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is, I can't remember if it's the 13th or the 14th."

He was a bridge player and might have modified that to: It only takes one trick to get me drunk. That is the 13th in a grand slam.

In today's deal, what do you think of the auction? How does South collect a 13th and a 14th(!) trick in seven spades after West leads the diamond king?

East might have even bid five hearts. When North had enough to respond three clubs, East knew that his opponents could make at least a game. So, burning up bidding space would have been a sensible strategy -- not that it would have helped here, because South would have still rebid six spades. Then North might have signed off in seven notrump or control-bid seven hearts to try to get to seven no-trump.

It is rarely right to lead a singleton in an unbid suit against a grand slam. Partner cannot have an ace, and if he gets in to give you a ruff, the grand is already down one.

South thinks he sees 14 easy tricks via seven spades, one heart, one diamond and five clubs. So, he wins with his diamond ace and cashes the spade king, preparing to claim if they are 2-1. However, East's discard makes the declarer rethink. His first reaction is to cash the club ace and king, but here West will ruff the second. South needs to take only the club ace. Then he draws trumps ending on the board and discards the blocking club king on the heart ace.

Cheers! Copyright United Feature Syndicate (Asia Features)