BRIDGE BOUTS

TRUMP PROMOTION FROM NOWHERE

One declarer managed to go down in today’s slam from a matchpoint tournament, the defenders receiving an unexpected gift and a most undeserving one at that!

Contract: 6S by south. West leads the D2, fourth-best. Plan the play.

Analysis: It is very likely that every NS will be in slam. If the spade finesse is in, you may make all thirteen tricks.

How the play went: Declarer ruffed the diamond lead, cashed the CA and ruffed a club, the jack appearing from east. Ruffing one more diamond in dummy, declarer ruffed yet another cub in hand, this time king appearing. Declarer cashed the SA next, east showing out. Declarer ruffed a third diamond and cashed the CQ, throwing his last diamond. He cashed the H A-K and played a third heart and ruffed with the queen, hoping west would over ruff and he would claim the rest… but the shrewd player he was, west discarded a diamond and claimed the last two tricks to defeat the contract. The complete hands were:

Correct Play: Ruff the opening lead and play the SJ and pass it to west’s king. Let us say he plays back a spade. Win in dummy, cash CA, club ruff, diamond ruff, club ruff, draw trumps and claim. Even if the CK does not appear on the third round, you can cross to a heart, ruff the fourth club, draw trumps, and claim. If west returns a heart on winning the SK, you can ruff two more diamonds and come to twelve easy tricks. Draw a slanting line to each trick to appreciate the correct play.

Discussion: Why did declarer go down when he had trumps from the ace and all the way to the nine, except for the king? For one thing, he crashed the spade ten on the ace and for another he ruffed a diamond loser with the jack. Finally, he had to ruff the heart with the high trump, allowing west to discard his diamond and retain K-8 over9-5. An easy hand badly mauled.