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“The power will come back on right after you finally locate the flashlight.” — Murphy’s Law
Unlucky Louie’s last name should be Murphy.
“We bought a new dishwasher,” Louie told me disgustedly. “The very next week, Consumer Reports rated dishwashers. The one we bought was ‘unacceptable’; the one we considered buying but didn’t was ‘best buy.'”
| Dlr: South | ♠ A 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| Vul: Both | ♥ J 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♦ 9 7 4 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ K Q 8 6 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♠ 4 | ♠ 10 9 8 5 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♥ K Q 10 5 2 | ♥ 9 6 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♦ J 6 3 | ♦ 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♣ 9 7 4 2 | ♣ A J 10 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| ♠ K Q J 7 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♥ A 7 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♦ A K Q 10 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ — | ||||||||||||||||||
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Opening lead — ♥J
Everything happens to poor Louie. As today’s South, he landed at the excellent contract of 6♦. West led the ♥K, and Louie took the ace and drew trumps. East pitched two clubs. Louie then took the ♠ A K — and West discarded. Louie could ruff his fifth spade with dummy’s last trump, but he lost two hearts.
“All I needed was a 2-2 trump break or spades to break no worse than 4-2,” Louie groaned. “My chances were better than 90 percent.”
How would you play the slam?
If Louie’s line of play had been a product, it would have been recalled. After Louie draws trumps, he should take the king and then the ♠A. If both defenders followed suit, Louie could ruff a club and finish the spades to discard a heart from dummy. He would ruff a heart with dummy’s last trump and lose one heart at the end.
When Louie sees the spades break 5-1, he has an extra chance: He leads dummy’s ♣K for a ruffing finesse. When East’s ace covers, Louie ruffs, takes two more high spades, ruffs his last spade in dummy and discards a heart on the ♣Q. He loses one heart.
