BRIDGE with Bob Jones

Today’s deal is from the final of the Rosenblum Open Teams, held in Orlando last September. Young Michael Klukowski, from Poland, was East, on route to his fifth World Championship! His success while still in his early 20s is unprecedented.

At the other table, the South player contented himself with a three-spade opening and he played it there. West also led the king of diamonds. He shifted to the king of clubs at trick two, overtaken with the ace by East, and East continued with the jack of clubs. Declarer could not be prevented, at this point, from ruffing a club in dummy and he took 10 tricks.

At this table, West also shifted to the king of clubs at trick two. East, Klukowski, also overtook this with the ace of clubs, but he found the winning shift to a low trump. Declarer knew that he would not be allowed to ruff a club in dummy, so he went to Plan B. He cashed dummy’s ace and king of hearts, then ruffed a heart high in his hand. The king of spades was followed by a spade to dummy’s queen, but when the trumps failed to split 2-2, there was no discard available on the hearts and declarer drifted down one. Nice shift!