Gulf News

The top independen­t bridge magazine

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The Bridge World, of which I am the associate editor, is like a Ferrari with a small Fiat in the trunk. Edited by Jeff Rubens, it aims primarily at serious duplicate players. There are reports about the top national and world championsh­ips, hands you can bid with your partner, and an expert panel answering bidding and opening-lead questions. In addition, though, there are three quizzes (two declarer play and one defence) aimed at players looking to improve. Here is one of those deals. How should South play in six diamonds after West leads the club jack? The given auction is debatable. I would have opened the South hand with a so-called gambling three no-trump, showing a solid seven- or eight-card minor with no side ace, king or void. Then North could have jumped to six diamonds. Maybe you would have opened three diamonds, but these days nonvulnera­ble pre-empts have been so devalued that this hand would be deemed too strong by many pairs. Hence Rubens’ one-diamond opening. If trumps are not 4-0, South has 12 top tricks: two spades, one heart, seven diamonds and two clubs. So, he should assume that they are 4-0. Then declarer must take four ruffs in his hand to gain seven diamond winners the hard way. The play goes: club king, club ace, club ruff, three top trumps (pitching a heart from the board), spade to the king, club ruff, spade to the ace, spade ruff, heart to the ace and the last spade to score the diamond six with a coup en passant. If East ruffs, South discards; and vice versa. Details at bridgeworl­d.com.

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