Contract Bridge

This deal arose in the final of the 1997 world women’s team championship, which saw the U.S. defeat China by 60 International Match Points. It occurred at a point when the Chinese were holding a 12-IMP lead over the Americans.

With Mildred Breed and Tobi Sokolow North-South for the U.S., the bidding went as shown, and West, Lu Yan, led the nine of hearts. Sokolow won with dummy’s king, crossed to the diamond ace and led her singleton club. Lu put up the ace and returned a second heart to dummy’s ace.

Declarer discarded a diamond on the king of clubs and then crossruffed clubs and diamonds until Lu ruffed a diamond with the jack of spades, the defenders’ last trick. Making five, plus 450.

This result seemed likely to be repeated at the second table, where the Chinese pair of Gu Ling and Zhang Yu also reached four spades. But Marinesa Letizia upset the apple cart when she found the far more effective opening lead of a spade.

Zhang won with the ten, and, hoping to ruff two diamonds in dummy before the opponents could regain the lead and play a second trump, she cashed the diamond ace and ruffed a diamond. Zhang then played the A-K of hearts and ruffed a heart, but Letizia overruffed the five with the jack and returned her remaining trump.

With no trumps left in dummy and no way now to reach dummy’s king of clubs after it became established, Zhang eventually lost a club and two diamonds in addition to the overruff and so finished down one.

Obviously, if declarer had known the club ace was onside, she could have made her contract by leading a club toward dummy at trick two, winding up with five spades, two hearts, a diamond, a club and a diamond ruff in dummy. As it was, the trump lead presented her with a chance to go wrong, and when she did, the U.S. gained 11 IMPs.