All Done?

Hand of the Week

Dlr:
South
VUL:
N-S
North
♠ 9 8
A 9 4
10 7 5 3
♣ A K Q 5

South
♠ K 2
K Q J 10 8 5
A K
♣ 7 4 2

West North East South
1
Pass 2♣ Pass 3
Pass 4 Pass 4NT
Pass 5 Pass 6
All Pass

The 4 bid was an artificial slam try in hearts, saying nothing about the diamond suit, so you drove to the small slam in hearts. How do you plan to make the contract after West leads a trump?

Solution

This is another taken from a local teams game where the full deal was:

Dlr:
South
VUL:
N-S
North
♠ 9 8
A 9 4
10 7 5 3
♣ A K Q 5
West
♠ A Q 5 3
6 3 2
9 6 4 2
♣ 8 3
East
♠ J 10 7 6 4
7
Q J 8
♣ J 10 9 6
South
♠ K 2
K Q J 10 8 5
A K
♣ 7 4 2

One declarer drew trumps, cashed the top clubs, and when they failed to break 3-3, he led a spade to the king. West was not troubled to cash two spade tricks. South felt he done as well as he could by combining his chance is the black suits.

At the score-up, he said “Minus 100.” And the reply was, “Minus 1430. That’s 17 away.” The declarer at the other spotted an extra chance, that the Q-J-x would fall in three rounds. After drawing trumps, he cashed the A and K, then crossed to dummy with a club to ruff the 7. As you can see, dummy’s 10 was established for the 12th trick.

Of course, if the diamond play had failed, the second declarer would have tested the clubs and only when they failed to break would he lead up to the ♠K.

The Zoom Room is available Monday through Friday, 3:30 pm-5:30 pm (Eastern).

Getting help is easier than ever with the ACBL Zoom Chat service.
Simply click the "Join Zoom Chat" button below to be taken to our dedicated zoom room.
Once there, click the "Launch Meeting" button to start your session. To hear us and vice-versa - don't forget to "Join with computer audio."

If the Zoom Room isn't available and you need answers, you can email us at membership@acbl.org.

Join Zoom Chat