EVEN GOOD PLAYERS NEED SOME LUCK

Miguel de Cervantes, he of "Don Quixote" fame, claimed that "anyone who does not know how to make the most of his luck has no right to complain if it passes him by."

In my experience, the better you play anything -golf, tennis or, especially, bridge -- the luckier you will be. The ball will bounce out of the water, or it will dribble over the net, unreturnable.

In this deal, Steve Conrad of Manhasset, Long Island, played well but still needed luck to bring home his six-spade slam. What did he do after West led the heart queen?

In the auction, when South corrected from three no-trump to four spades, North re-evaluated his hand with the known eight- (or nine-) card fit. He launched Roman Key Card Blackwood, learning that his partner had two aces and the spade queen.

Declarer saw 11 tricks: five spades, two hearts, two diamonds, one club and a diamond ruff in his hand, But where was trick 12?

Conrad made the most of his lucky heart spots, getting a third trick from the suit. He drew two rounds of trumps ending on the board, cashed the top diamonds, ruffed the diamond six in his hand (a sixth trump trick) and led a heart toward the dummy, West won with his jack and shifted to a club. South won with his ace and cashed his heart king and 10, discarding clubs from the board. Luckily, no one could ruff in.

The heart lead made declarer's life much easier, but six spades could have

bridge

been made after any lead. The curious may work it out.

Copyright United Feature Syndicate (Asia Features)