The bridge player’s mantra: Bid like an expert. Play like a pro. South, playing in the recent May sectional, lived up to that mandate.
The bidding:
| N | E | S | W |
| 1S | Pass | ||
| 2N(Jacoby) | Pass | 3D(short) | Pass |
| 4C | Pass | 4H | Pass |
| 5D | Pass | 6S | Pass |
| Pass | Pass |
Opening lead: ♦ J
Cover the East/West hands and see if you can make the contract.
NORTH
♠ 9 7 6 5
♥ K Q
♦ A Q 2
♣ A 8 4 3
WEST EAST
♠ 4 ♠ 10 3
♥ 8 7 4 3 ♥ 10 9 6 5
♦ J 10 9 8 6 ♦ K 7 4 3
♣ 10 7 6 ♣ K Q 5
SOUTH
♠ A K Q J 8 2
♥ A J 2
♦ 5
♣ J 9 2
North made the forcing ♠ raise and cue-bid his two Aces. South, ‘bidding like a pro,’ with solid spades, the Ace of hearts, and singleton diamond, bid six spades. South was disappointed when the dummy was tabled. Some of the North/South assets had been duplicated.
The play:
The ♦ Jack was led. Declarer’s plan was to ‘play like a pro.’
1. Eleven tricks were counted.
2. Opening lead suggests ♦ King is offside.
3. No ♣ spots for two finesses.
4. Visualize card placements to allow for 12 tricks.
5. South drew trumps in two rounds.
6. ♥ 2 to dummy’s Queen.
7. Trump ♦ 2.
8. ♥ Jack to dummy’s King.
9. Trump dummy’s ♦ Queen.
10. ♥ Ace discards ♣ 3 from dummy, thus
eliminating all suits except trumps and clubs.
11. Trump 2 to dummy’s 9.
12. ♣ 4 from dummy. East, playing the ♣ queen, is end-played.
13. If East plays ♦ King, he gives declarer his 12th trick via a sluff/ruff OR if East plays a low ♣ or the ♣ King, he gives declarer the ♣ Jack for the 12th trick.
PLAYED LIKE A PRO!
[tip of the day]
Q. The ‘pros’ seem to get to good slams without the required number of high card points. What’s the secret?
A. The secret ‘pros’ use is visualizing the controls to cover their losses—an Ace here, a King there, singleton, voids, etc.
by Kenneth Bland
photo by Colin Miller of Strauss Peyton