NEW CANADIAN BRIDGE

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Declarer won the heart jack, led a diamond to the table and advanced the jack of spades for the king and ace. He unblocked the top diamonds, played a heart to the jack, played off the ace and the last diamond, pitching a club. Then he cashed out the spade suit to follow with a club to the queen. East had reduced to the king-jack of clubs and won the king but twelve tricks were in the bank. West had found the only lead to allow declarer to score three overtricks. The auction revealed that N-S did not have a major suit fit but but West could be certain that the contract would not be defeated since he held but one king. The heart lead was a pure guess and relegated E-W to a matchpoint zero. There was no point in choosing a minor suit as an opening salvo but a heart was simply too risky. Let West begin with the nine of spades that is unlikely to cost anything. Partner's king would never score a trick on this layout. North's raise to the nine-trick game was a good plan. He owned a solid 15 HCP but the pancake pattern was a liability intimating that a slam would be a poor proposition. Author: Dave Willis - visit his website at www.insidebridge.ca Questions on bridge can be sent with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to The New Canadian Bridge c/o Torstar Syndication Services, One Yonge St., Toronto, M5E 1E6. Copyright 2021 Torstar Syndication Services