| Deal of the Week (Jul 18, 2008) Click here for Archives |
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Problem: The Auction: West North East South 1♦ dbl pass 2♦ pass 2♠ pass 3♣ pass 3♦ pass 3♥ pass 4♣ pass 5♣ all pass This week's deal is modified from a deal that occurred in the US team trials. You are invited to take the South seat, declaring 5♣ after West opened the bidding with 1♦. West leads the ♦A, and follows it up with the ♦K and ♦Q, East ruffing with the ♣5 the third round, you overruff with the ♣9. You draw trumps next, West shows up with three of them, East discards two hearts (remember, he has already used one trump to ruff the third diamond). When you play a heart towards the ace, West follows with the jack, creating a finesse position in the suit for you. The question now is, do you finesse the ♥10, or do you play West to have QJ doubleton in hearts? Solution: West has shown six diamonds, making East a favorite to hold length in the majors. This implies that West is likely to have the singleton ♥J, and that it is right to finesse the ♥10. On further thought, if the heart finesse works, you don't need it! The correct play is to play the ♥K. If West turned out to have the QJ doubleton in hearts after all, you have successfully divined it. And if West shows out on the ♥K, you will be able to squeeze East in the majors! West has shown up with six diamonds, three clubs, and one heart - he therefore can have no more than three spades, making the squeeze a sure thing. You simply cash your last trump, pitching a heart from dummy, squeezing East in hearts and spades. If East discards the ♥Q, you cash the ♥10. If East instead discards a spade, dummy's spades become good, and you can show off by winning the last trick with the ♠2! The point of this deal is that if the finesse of the ♥10 wins, you | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Note that the contract is not 100% guaranteed - West may very well have a hand such as ♠ x ♥ QJx ♥ AKQxxx ♣ Jxx in which case the contract can never be made.
Bridge Baron's line of Play Bridge Baron deal No : N4453-50683-44732-21068-05374-52975 |
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