Goren on Bridge

Despite the bidding, we assure you that North-South were world-class players. South, we think, should have made a negative double at his first turn. The muddle that ensued after the three notrump bid ended in a terrible contract.

The nine of spades lead showed the 10 or shortness and denied a card higher than the 10.

East ducked it to South’s king. Even four diamond tricks would only give South 11 tricks, so his only chance was to end play East to lead away from the queen of clubs. This required East to hold four clubs along with his presumed six spades, since any three clubs held by West would hold up as a stopper for the defense. Declarer led a low heart to the queen and a heart back to his ace. East’s spade discard gave South hope.

South cashed the king of diamonds and East played the eight. South needed East to hold only two diamonds so what diamond should he play East to have along with the eight? A good question, but South got it right by leading a diamond to dummy’s nine! A heart to the 10 and a diamond to the jack got South up to 11 tricks, and he skewered East by cashing the ace of diamonds, shedding a spade, and leading a heart to his king. East had to come down to four cards and three of them had to be clubs. East discarded the jack of spades and South led a low spade to East’s now singleton ace. East did his best by leading the queen of clubs, but South claimed the last three tricks. The play was brilliant. We hope South didn’t brag about the bidding. Bob Jones welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency, LLC., 16650 Westgrove Dr., Suite 175, Addison, TX 75001. Email responses may be sent to tcaeditors@tribune.com.

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