ACES ON BRIDGE

To conclude our tournament week review, we examine the winner of the C&R Motors Best Played Hand of the Year award, where Bill Pettis found an inspired line to bring home a very difficult contract. His squad emerged with a narrow win over their more fancied opponents thanks to this deal. Pettis was playing with Frederick Allenspach against Roy Welland and Bjorn Fallenius.

Four spades would have gone for plenty, but Allenspach looked kindly on his long diamonds as a source of tricks and pushed on to the five-level. Welland started with two high spades and Pettis ruffed the second round. At trick three, he played the club ace, followed by the club queen. Welland did not cover, so Pettis discarded dummy’s last spade. Welland again refused to cover when Pettis played the club jack, so he discarded a diamond from dummy.

Fallenius ruffed the club and offered an unhelpful ruff-sluff by playing the spade jack. Pettis pitched a club from hand as he ruffed on table. West was known to hold short hearts for his double, so a heart went to the nine in declarer’s hand. Pettis next finessed the diamond queen, cashed the diamond ace, and ruffed a diamond to hand.

Next, Pettis ruffed the club 10 with the heart king as Fallenius underruffed, leaving the lead in dummy for the contract-fulfilling trump coup. Had Pettis gone down in his contract (four hearts was successful at the other table), his team would have lost the match.