CONTRACT BRIDGE Three Lessons Provided By One Hand

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31498, 12 October 1967, Page 6

CONTRACT BRIDGE Three Lessons Provided By One Hand

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All bridge hands contain a lesson of one-sort or another, but it is rare for one to be as instructive as this deal from a Christchurch rubber bridge game. It illustrates first the improvement in value of an apparently bad hand as the bidding develops, second the Importance of selecting the trump suit, and finally the necessity of having the final contract played by the right partner.

Playing Goren, South with 23 points in high cards and good distribution, opened with the strong forcing bid of two hearts. North’s two no-trumps was the conventional negative response indicating a holding of less than 9 points. When the opener rebid three clubs, North realised that though his hand was very weak he had two cards, the king of hearts and queen of clubs, which would be of tremendous assistance to his partner, and planned his bidding to show possession of both. He chose three hearts M his secoad call, but when the opener went on to game in that suit, North

called five clubs. He reasbned that if his partner was prepared to play in game opposite a very weak hand, his two key cards entitled him to Invite a slam contract. South received the message correctly and went on to six clubs, leaving it for North to return to six hearts if he wished, The partners thus arrived at the excellent small slam in clubs, and it is difficult to see how their common-sense methods could have been improved upon by the use of any conventional bids. Short Work

Had West chosen as his opening lead the ace of spades, it would have greatly simplified the declarer’s task for the spade king would have been established. But though the opening lead was the jack of diamonds, South still made short work of the hand. After winning the first trick with his king, he drew all the opposing trumps with the ace, king and queen of clubs, then he ran off his heart suit. On the fourth and fifth rounds of hearts he discarded both of dummy’s spades, and so was able to trump one of his own spades with North’s last club. While he still had one spade left, this was his only loser and the small slam contract was fulfilled. The declarer made in all two diamond tricks, five hearts, four clubs in his own hand and one spade ruff on the table. Extra Trick

It is interesting to note that it is this last extra trick, the ruff in dummy with a spare trump, that is not available in six hearts. In this latter contract, South can make five trump tricks, four clubs and two diamonds and must lose two tricks in spades no matter what he does. The deal illustrates the advantage of

playing in a trump suit divided four with each partner. With this distribution, the opposing trumps can be drawn by either hand and ruffs taken in the otherFinally It is essential that South becomes declarer. If by some mischance North had had to play the hand, an opening lead of a spade from East would have been lethql, for West would make the first two tricks with his ace and queen and the declarer would be down before he started. Although it was obviously most improbable on this deal that the declarer would be anyone but South, there are many types of hands where it is essential for One partner to be declarer so that a particular card, in this case the spade king, is. protected when the opening lead is made.

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