Spectacular Display

Dlr:
North
Vul:
N-S
North
♠ A J 10 9 8 7
Q 9
K 9 6
♣ 8 7
South
♠ K
A K
Q 10 4
♣ A K Q 10 6 5 4
West North East South
2(1) 2 3NT
All Pass

(1) A disciplined weak two-bid in a major suit.

From his days as a Junior player, Geoff Hampson has displayed a real flair for the game. Check him out on this deal from a practice match in the early Nineties against a squad of national champions. Hampson was South.

The opening lead was the J, taken by Hampson with the ace. Hampson then cashed the ♣A, stopping to think when his right-hand opponent showed out. Hampson had an easy nine tricks by playing four rounds of clubs to establish the suit, but he found a foolproof way to make an overtrick.

At trick three, Hampson led the ♠K, overtaking in dummy with the ace, followed by a slow spade. When East followed with the ♠Q, Hampson discarded the K!

East returned a heart, allowing Hampson to take five spade tricks, two hearts and three clubs. Had East returned a diamond, Hampson would have scored two overtricks. For his trouble, Hampson’s team earned 12 IMPs – the world champions at the other table went off one in 4♠.

The full deal:

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

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