BRIDGE

The outcome of many contracts frequently hinges upon how the defender’s cards are divided. A bad break in a suit or the unfavourable location of a particular card can undo many a reasonable contract. Nevertheless, there are times when declarer can overcome an unlucky lie of the cards by skillful play. These are the hands that appeal most to students of the game. Consider this deal where South is in six clubs. At first blush, the contract appears to depend on the location of the two missing diamond honours. The obvious approach would seem to be to draw trumps and take two diamond finesses through East, hoping he was dealt the king or queen, or both. (As can be seen, this line of play would result in the loss of the slam.) But, promising as this line of play is, it is not the right way to play the hand. Even though declarer is a 3-to-1 favourite to make the contract in this manner, he should not stake the outcome solely on the luck of the deal. He can increase his chances substantially by attempting an elimination play to counter the possibility of bad luck. So, after winning the spade lead with the ace, he trumps a spade. Two rounds of trumps are then drawn, ending in dummy. At this point, having found the clubs divided evenly, declarer can feel 100% certain of the contract. He ruffs the queen of spades and cashes the K-Q-A of hearts, discarding a diamond from his hand. He now leads the jack of diamonds and lets it ride. West wins, but has no safe return. Dummy’s remaining four cards are two diamonds and two clubs, while South has three diamonds and one club. West must lead a diamond or give declarer a ruff-anddiscard, and either way, the slam is home.

Next hand — South Dealer