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BRIDGE BITES #140
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LOUD AND CLEAR
Brian Gunnell |
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♠ T8
♥
T854
♦
T953
♣ QJ5 |
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E-W Vulnerable
South West North
East
2♣ 2♦
Pass Pass
4♠
All Pass
2♣ was artificial and
strong, and South wound up in 4♠. Looking at all four hands it is not
difficult to see how E-W can defeat this contract, but how many E-W
pairs would find the winning defense at the table? |
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♠ 542
♥
3
♦
AQJ742
♣ 732 |
Dummy
West East
Declarer |
♠ 97
♥
AJ962
♦
K6
♣ T864 |
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♠ AKQJ63
♥
KQ7
♦
8
♣ AK9 |
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On opening lead, West did not see
much future in Diamonds, so he went after a ruff or two by leading his singleton
Heart. East won her Ace and Declarer, being a shifty sort of fellow, dropped
the King in an attempt to muddy the waters for the defense. That gave East
pause for thought, as she wondered whether West had led from
♥Q73.
Eventually East decided that Declarer’s King was probably flim-flam, so she
returned a Heart for West to ruff. But which Heart?
►
The winning defense after the
ruff was, of course, for West to underlead his
♦A,
getting East in to provide a second ruff. But how was West to know that East’s
entry was the ♦K
and not the ♣A? The answer was in the Heart led back by East at Trick 2. A low
Heart would say “Return a Club” (the lower-ranking suit), and a high Heart would
say “Return a Diamond” (the higher-ranking suit, which is Diamonds as trumps are
not part of this equation). A middling Heart would indicate no preference. So,
should East return the Heart Nine?
►
No, the Nine might be ambiguous,
better to hit Partner over the head with a signal which is as loud and clear as
possible. That would be the Jack! West ruffs that and there is no mistaking
East’s intentions. The ♦A
is underled to East’s King, then a second ruff, and Declarer is down one.
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