Luck and skill rescue the bid

Press, 12 June 1984, Page 8

Luck and skill rescue the bid

CONTRACT BRIDGE

J.R. Wignail

During the Queen’s Birthday week-end the Christchurch Bridge Club ran the veiy popular Countrywide Building Society Congress, which attracted a number of visitors from out of town. Following the example of English events sponsored by similar organisations, it consisted of a two session pairs on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, a teams tournament in the evenings, and an open pairs on Monday. The Countrywide Pairs was won by Mrs D. Brophy and Mrs F. Sheehy, who were particularly satisfied with their auction on one of the biggest hands. North

Many partnerships reached six spades or six no-trumps, making 12 tricks in some comfort, but the winners produced an excellent sequence to the good grand slam:

The opening bid of two diamonds had several possible meanings, and the response of two hearts was more or less mandatory. Two no-trumps from the opener announced a balanced hand with 23 or 24 points. Three hearts was a transfer to three spades, and four diamonds showed the second suit. It only remained for North to use Blackwood to find out her partner held an ace before calling seven diamonds. There were no problems in the play. Five tricks in spades, four in diamonds, two top clubs and the ace of hearts added up to 12, the thirteenth coming from a heart ruff in the South hand. The runners-up in the pairs were Mrs B. Crofts and Mrs C. Mcßride. The diamond suit also featured in a key match in the Countrywide Teams. South dealt this hand with both sides vulnerable:

The event was won in some comfort by M. Sykes, P. H. Dewar, J. L. Skipper and R. D. Scott, with S. Helms, Ms E. G. Mikaera, Mrs S. Newton and W. D. Mikaera in second place. The winners overbid the North-South cards in the above deal but a little luck and a lot of skill saved the day. After a rather involved auction, Scott as South fin-

ished in six diamonds, a contract that required many things to be right. The first bit of luck came with the opening lead. West chose to start the defence with a club, allowing dummy’s queen to make the first trick. When a spade to the queen held, the declarer breathed a sigh of relief but there was still a long way to go: South led the queen of diamonds from hand, turning pale when West failed to follow. Recovering well, he played low from dummy and East won to return a diamond to the seven on the table. There was now only one chance for the contract so South played for it. He led a heart to the jack in his hand, made the king of hearts and ace of clubs, then ruffed a club in dummy. This was the situation:

After cashing the ace of hearts South returned to the ace of spades, leaving the stage set for the coup de grace. He ruffed his last club with the ace of diamonds and when he led a spade from dummy he had to make both the jack and nine of trumps. In golfing parlance, he had landed in bunker but a great recovery shot had given him a birdie.

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