Years ago, one of my bridge mentors, the incomparable Roger Lord III, used to say, “Never give up on a hand.” This month’s scenario illustrates Roger’s sage advice.
The bidding: S W N E 3 ♠ DBL Pass 4 ♥ * Pass Pass Pass
*With a balanced hand and North promising four ♥s, South opted to play for ten tricks in ♥ s rather than eleven tricks in ♣s
Opening lead: ♠ Ace
NORTH ♠ 7 4 ♥ K 9 7 ♦ A K J 6 ♣ K 8 7 4
WEST ♠ A K J 10 9 3 2 ♥ 8 6 5 ♦ 3 ♣ Q 2
EAST ♠ 6 5 ♥ J 4 3 2 ♦ Q 9 7 4 2
SOUTH ♠ Q 8 ♥ A Q 10 ♦ 10 8 5 ♣ A J 6 5 3
the play
1. West led the ♠ Ace, 4 from North, East the 6, and 8 from a very disappointed Declarer.
2. West shifted to the ♦ 3, Ace from Dummy, East the 7, and Declarer the 5.
3. Declarer now made the key play of another ♠, West winning the Queen with the King.
4. West switched to trump, won in Declarer’s hand with the 10.
5. Declarer drew two more rounds of trump with the Ace and the King.
6. Declarer took a deep breath and played the King and Ace of ♣s, dropping the Queen.
7. Then Declarer started running the ♣s.
8. East trumped in on the third round of ♣s with the good ♥ Jack.
9. East was down to nothing but ♦s and had to lead away from the Queen.
10. The third ♦ winner gave Declarer 10 tricks: 3 ♥s, 3 ♦s, and 4 ♣s. Unbelievable!
NOTE: Proper technique and a ‘never give up’ attitude brought home an impossible contract.
big games & scores
Oct. 6
Richard Riezman/Rod Berry 71.3% St. Louis Bridge Center
Larry White/Bob Barely 73.7% St. Louis Bridge Center
Oct. 9
Linda Leinicke/Dennis Spencer 70.42% Lee’s West County Bridge
Oct. 10
Mimi Menousek/John Gillis 72.22% Other Afternoon
tip of the day
Q| What are the parameters for takeout doubles over preempts?
A| My musts for bidding over preempts are: 1. Shape. Do not make takeouts with cards in opponent’s suit. 2. The higher the preempt, the more high card points one needs. 3. The takeout of one major promises four of the other major.