Bridge Deal of the Week (Mar 17 2006)

Problem:
Against Expert opponents, you reach a contract of 4 hearts, with no opposition bidding. West Leads the King of Diamonds, and continues with the Queen of Diamonds (by agreement, opponents lead the King from KQ). West now switches to the Jack of clubs. How do you plan to restrict your losers to 3?

Hint:
Mirror deals, i.e. deals where hand and dummy have the same number of cards in every suit, do not play too well. You have already lost 2 diamonds, and have a potential club loser and a spade loser. If an opponent holds a singleton spade honor, or the doubleton QJ, you are home.
But the odds of the opponents holding those hards are extremely low. You have a better chance if you eliminate the side suits, and force opponents to play spades. So you win the Jack of clubs with the Ace,East playing the 9. You now draw trumps, and play the King of clubs, and give up a club, eliminating the suit. West wins this trick with the 10, and East plays the 8. You now hope that West leads a diamond which will give you a ruff and discard. Not surprisingly, West does not lead a diamond and plays the Queen of Spades instead. Who has the Jack of Spades? How do you play the Spade suit? Are you a good guesser?

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Bridge Baron deal No: 03165311814117088802575437313

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Deal Of The Week