Piqued

Hand of the Week

Dlr:
South
Vul:
E-W
North
♠ K Q J 9 7
K 9 8 6 3
Q 4 3
♣ —
South
♠ A 3 2
A Q J 4
A 9
♣ A 10 3 2
West North East South
1
2♣ 4♣ Pass 4
Pass 5♣ Pass 5♠
Pass 5NT Pass 7
All Pass

After North’s a splinter bid of 4♣, showing a sound game-raise in hearts with at most one club, some cuebidding and the grand slam force (5NT) resulted in a fine contract. Given that the trumps are not 4-0, how do you plan to make 7 after West leads the ♣K?

View Solution

The original declarer made something of a mess of this simple hand when the cards were distributed like this:

Dlr:
South
Vul:
E-W
North
♠ K Q J 9 7
K 9 8 6 3
Q 4 3
♣ —
West
♠ —
10 7 5
K J 7 2
♣ K Q J 9 6 4
East
♠ 10 8 6 5 4
2
10 8 6 5
♣ 8 7 5
South
♠ A 3 2
A Q J 4
A 9
♣ A 10 3 2

After ruffing the ♣K, he crossed to his hand with a trump and ruffed a second club. After drawing trumps, he claimed his contract -relying on the spades to run. Declarer had to lose a trick, however, when East pointed out that he had five spades.

I hope you saw this trap and approached the play differently. All that is needed to overcome a 5-0 spade division is a third club ruff. This is pretty straightforward. After taking the second club ruff, return to hand with a trump and ruff the third club with the K. As the focus is on overcoming a bad spade break, you return to hand with the A to draw the last trump. You make four spades, four trumps, the minor suit aces and three club ruffs for 13 tricks.

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