BRIDGE

Our featured four-spade game comes from a Simultaneous Pairs event. Declarer made a careless play at trick three but found a Houdiniesque recovery. Dealer South East-west Vulnerable (1) Despite the adverse vulnerability, I’d

have chanced a 2 ♥ overcall. (2) Anyone for 5 ♣ ? That diamond void is massive. 5 ♣ is one down at worst and will make if South leads a spade, or if North fails to switch to a spade when in with ♥ A. West cashed ♣ A and switched to ♠ 9, which ran round to declarer’s ♠ J. Cashing ♠ A is the indicated play at this point and, with ♠ K fortuitously dropping, declarer would lose only the two red kings and so make his contract. However, when declarer preferred (erroneously – too great a risk of a ruff) to play ♦ 2 at trick three, West was able to ruff with ♠ 3. West exited safely with ♠ 10, and declarer appeared to have thrown away his chance of making the contract. Not so – can you see how he managed to avoid losing to ♥ K?

Declarer won ♠ A drawing East’s ♠ K, crossed to ♦ A and paused to reconstruct East’s shape. Known to have started with two spades and three diamonds, and likely to have seven clubs for his vulnerable overcall at the Three-level, he had room for only one heart. Declarer cashed dummy’s

♥ A – key play – and was unconcerned East’s singleton was not ♥ K. He played a third diamond to East’s ♦ K and East, whose singleton heart exit card had been extracted, had to return a club. Declarer discarded his ♥ Q and ruffed with dummy’s last spade. What a great recovery. ANDREW ROBSON