Goren on Bridge

A three-spade bid by South at his second turn would have said that he had no interest in game opposite an invitational hand. South’s pass, instead, was mildly encouraging. North aggressively jumped to game.

The defense started with three rounds of

hearts, South ruffing the third round with a low trump. East was marked with the ace of clubs, as West would have bid two hearts with three hearts to the jack plus an ace. All that was needed was to pick up the trumps without a loser. A spade to the king revealed the bad trump split and the timing of the play became crucial.

South led a club from dummy, which East won with the ace to lead another heart. South ruffed low and West saw that he could not profit from over-ruffing, so he discarded a diamond. Declarer led a spade, inserting dummy’s eight when West played low, and cashed the queen of spades. He

crossed back to his hand with the king of diamonds, drew the last outstanding trump, and claimed his contract.

Note the importance of leading a club at trick five. A diamond to the king, instead, followed by a spade to the eight and the queen of spades, might have been fatal. Now when South leads a

club toward his king, East can rise and play a heart, promoting West’s jack of spades into the

setting trick.

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