THE ACES ON BRIDGE

“The challenge is high. The stakes are important. I think it’s manageable.” -- William H. Webster .....................

This hand arose on the last round of the 2010 European Championships for the Open Teams. Poland, a contender for the gold medal, faced Germany, which was no longer in contention.

North’s jump to four diamonds showed short diamonds and set hearts as trump, since three diamonds would have been forcing. It got South, Michael Gromoller, to a delicate slam.

The heart suit needed to be played for no losers, and even if clubs produced five tricks, one more trick would still be needed -- either from an accurate diamond guess or a diamond ruff. If all else failed, the last chance would come from the spades.

West helped by leading ace then another diamond. A low heart toward dummy garnered the queen -- one more problem solved. Declarer drew the rest of East’s trumps, then started on clubs. Gromoller was careful to cash his king and queen first, in case clubs failed to break. He had realized that he would then need to turn to spades and would need to preserve the club ace as a late entry.

His care was rewarded when clubs failed to break. Now came a successful spade finesse, then ace and another spade, ruffed. The 3-3 break saw the slam home.

If Gromoller had gone down, Poland would have taken the gold medal, rather than the silver. Israel failed in the slam against the eventual winner, Italy. Had they made the slam, they would have been second, relegating Italy to the bronze position.