Town&Style

Bridge with Bland: December

This month’s column is a great example of good bidding and good card play, a combination that secured North/South’s 12-trick slam.

The bidding:

N E S W
 1C  Pass 1H Pass
3D (Splinter) Pass 4D (Ace) Pass
4NT (Hearts) Pass 5S (2/Queen) Pass
5NT Pass 6D (King) Pass
6H Pass  Pass  Pass

North was looking for the King. When South showed the King of and no King of , North signed off at six . Opening lead: King

Cover the East/West hands and see if you can make the contract.

NORTH
A
K J10 6 3
6
A J 10 7 4 2

WEST                        EAST
K Q 7 3 2               J 10 9 8
2                              ♥ 5 4
9 8 7 5 4 3 2        Q J 10
VOID                     K Q 6 5

SOUTH
6 5 4
A Q 9 8 7
A K
9 8 3

The Play
1. The King is led, Ace from North, East Jack, and South the 4.
2. Declarer realizes that keeping the suit losers to one will bring home the slam.
3. Playing the Ace of , dropping the King or Queen, or taking two finesses are both bright prospects.
4. Declarer spotted a 100 percent line. Did you?
5. Declarer led the 3 to the Ace.
6. The 5 to the Jack.
7. six to the Queen.
8. 6 to the King.
9. 6 to the Ace and King, thus eliminating
the side suits.
10. ♣ 9 was ducked to East’s King.
11. No return can prevent declarer from avoiding two ♣ losers. Any suit will give declarer sluff/ruff. A away from the Queen plays into the AJ tenace.

Slam bid and made. Well-engineered!

[tip of the day]
Q. Kenny, are splinters an absolute necessity?
A. Yes, splinters have become one of the most useful and powerful bids in bridge. Try to work hard to add the splinter bid to your arsenal.

[Do you have a good bridge tip? Email kennethmbland@yahoo.com.]

photo by Colin Miller of Strauss Peyton

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