Contract Bridge

Pre- emptive bids can be devastating weapons, but they can also backfire when they push the opponents into a makable contract they might never have reached if left to their own devices.

This deal occurred in the 1988 World Top Invitational Pairs held at The Hague.

It features the eventual winners, Eric Rodwell of the U.S. and Zia Mahmood of Pakistan.

East’s opening four- heart bid left South, Rodwell, little choice but to overcall with four spades. Zia then raised to five spades, asking his partner to go on to slam with a heart control, and South obliged.

Rodwell ruffed the heart lead and drew trump in one round. His only problem was to avoid losing two diamond tricks, and he proceeded to find a way to raise his chances to nearly 100%.

He began by cashing the A- K of clubs and ruffing a club. He then ruffed a heart, ruffed his last club and ruffed dummy’s last heart.

When West showed out on the third heart, it confirmed that East had started with an eight- card suit. East had also turned up with precisely one spade and two clubs, so his distribution was known to be 1- 8-2-2.

Accordingly, Rodwell now led the jack of diamonds. West had to cover, else declarer would have 12 tricks with the aid of a diamond finesse at his next opportunity. Rodwell took the queen with dummy’s ace and had a sure thing regardless of who actually had the diamond king. He returned to his hand with a trump and led another diamond toward the ten in case West had the king.