Bridge

MANY YUANS GIVEN FOR GREAT BRIDGE

For the first time ever, the annual International Bridge Press Association award winners received big bucks -- or, more accurately, big yuans.

The Chinese company Hainan not only paid good prize money, but the players and journalists also went -- all expenses paid -- to compete in the Hainan Bridge Festival at the Mangrove Tree Resort World in Sanya last October. There were four prizes of 50,000 yuans (nearly $7,300) and one (for the junior winner) of 25,000 yuans, with 30 percent of each amount going to the reporting journalist. The awards ceremony was broadcast live on television.

This week, let’s look at some of the deals that did not get enough votes from the IBPA jury. This one was declared by Jan Hugo Lie and described by Knut Kjaernsrod, both from Norway.

In four spades, Lie won with his diamond ace and led a heart. West took the trick and returned his second heart. Declarer played a spade to his jack, which held, cashed his spade ace (getting the bad news) and continued with another spade. West won (the second defensive trick) and had to lead from his spade nine and all six clubs. What should he have done?

West should have led a low club. Declarer could not have taken the trick, drawn the last trump and cashed dummy’s hearts for diamond discards.

However, West exited with his trump. What happened then?

Lie found a great resource -- he let West take the trick! Now West had to play a club, allowing declarer into the dummy with the club queen and giving access to those three top hearts.