Goren on Bridge

The four-heart contract by East-West would have been unbeatable. Even a diamond lead and a club shift won’t beat it. East had just the right hand to make the contract solid. South can show a profit even if four spades fails by a trick. It will show a huge profit if South can find a way to make the contract.

Declarer ruffed the second round of hearts and led a spade to dummy’s king, getting the bad news. All the news after this was going to be very good for South. A diamond to the ace dropped the queen from West. Three more rounds of diamonds, including the marked finesse against East’s 10, allowed a club discard. A club to the queen held the trick and the ace of clubs was cashed.

East’s entire hand was now known and he was down to the queen-jack-seven-four of spades. South had only lost one trick at this point and a low club from dummy gave East no winning option. East could ruff high and lead a spade into dummy’s ace-10, or ruff low and allow declarer to score a low trump from his hand. 10 tricks either way. Well played!

No bridge player wanders through life with a black cloud over his head. Bad news is often followed by good news, so think good thoughts and keep plugging when you encounter a little adversity.

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