THE GAME OF BTIDGE Weekly chat on contract SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR THE POST " BY " APPROCH BID"

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 50, 27 August 1938, Page 19

THE GAME OF BTIDGE Weekly chat on contract SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR THE POST " BY " APPROCH BID"

WORLD OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS

The results of the 1938 World Olym- . pic have just been announced. The ~ !,„„„:.„- „_„. world champions are. North-South Pairb.—Tore Sandgren, Stockholm, Sweden; Bertil Faxt . East-West. Pairs.-Irwin H Fisher, Baltimore, U.S.A.; Harold B. Karp. The national winners for New Zealand are: — North-South Pairs.—Mrs. H. A. Reid, Mrs. L. H. Wood, Wellington. East-West Pairs.—Mr. Nelson Mitchell, Mr. C. L. Eastgate, Auckland. Hands No. 13 and 14 in the above contest are given below with analyses of the bidding and play as set by the Olympic Committee. ( HAND No. 13. The Criss-Cross Play. ... , . North-South Par.—Four spades bid ' and made. East-West Par.—None. North, dealer. Both sides vulner- , able. ;

"The bidding is spirited because of the freakish distribution. North and South should wind up in a four-spade contract, having between them 5£ hon-our-tricks and a ten-card spade suit, Normally, there would be a good play for such a contract, but in this case North and South are victims of 'duplication of distribution.' They have .exactly the same number of cards in each suit and thus neither hand produces any ruffing power. Furthermore, the spade suit breaks 3-0 and a trump trick must be lost. Yet the contract .. = ■ can be made by a very brilliant play which, though difficult, is subject to analysis. "East should open the heart King, although his lead does not affect the result. Dummy wins with the heart Ace, and North takes his two top trumps, learning of the bad break, North next cashes the two high diamonds and the Ace of clubs, then throws East in with a heart lead. "East can take his spade, but must then lead a heart. Declarer must not trump in either hand, but should discard a diamond from one hand and a club from the other. East must lead another heart, and now a ruff-and-discard gives North his contract, since the hand which discarded the diamond is now ready to ruff, while the other hand discards the remaining losing club.

"If East wishes, he can refuse to take the heart, trick and so give North a little more trouble. In that case, howeve% . has; already gained Qne of his needed two .tricks and requires only one more A low tr is led^ thus putting East in the lead after all. Now East must lead a heart and give declarer, a ruff-and-discard for his tenth trick." v n4vn - w . \i . HAND N* 14> Leading the Right Card. North-South Par.—Defeating oppo» ents' three No-trump contract, East^West Par.—None, East, dealer. Neither side vulnefr able.

"Many good players would 'fake' « two-diamond bid on West's hand, considering it too strong-for two-heart response. ifa any case, good play en should re^ch a contract of three notrumps, since the combined hands contain six honour-tricks with at least on* hiSh card in each suit. Souths best,lead is the Queen of spades, and declarer should win in either hand and next lay down the diamond Ace. Declarer is sure of two spades and four hearts, and need win only three \diamond tricks to make hi* contract. £. club lead from South i» most undesirable, so East should take the diamond Ace as a precaution against a singleton, diamond King in the South hand. The giving up of the diamond finesse is unimportant, since East is willing to let' North win a diamond trick if he happens to have the King. ■ When the King of diamonds fails to drop,. however, East must lead the Queen of Diamonds and hope for the best. .South .wins with the diamond King, and must, now. do some careful analysis. If Jthe contract is to be defeated, only club tricks will do the job. The best hope is that North has four clubs headed by the Ace-Queen, But South must be careful to lead the right card, or the contract will not be defeated, even though North actuallydoes have such a' club holding. IX South leads a low club dummy will play low, and, although Noth will win a finesse; the] suit cannot be run, since dummy's King will, serve as a stopper, South must lead the club Jack, and then declarer, is helpless. This results in the winning of four tricks for the North-South pair, thus defeating th« contract.