feb1

Board 1. Dealer North. Vul None JT532 4 85 AT982 AQ76 94 A652 KQT9 Q6 AJT9743 765 - K8 J873 K2 KQJ43 Let us imagine the bidding starts like this: West North East South Pass 1 ♦ Pass 1 ♥ 1NT* ? * Unusual (by a Pass ed hand) showing spades and clubs. Wouldn't East support hearts now? The likely contract is 4 ♥ . However, after a club lead forcing East to ruff it would be very hard to enjoy the long diamonds in view of the 4-1 trump break. Making four hearts requires a double-dummy play. At the table, nobody was successful. In the early bidding there are some other possibilities like North opening a two-suited weak 2♠ opening, or East opening 1 ♦ and South overcalling 2♣, aggressively supported by North. These scenarios make it more likely that East-West would miss their heart fit and reach a diamond contract. We emphasize once again that missing the major suit fit would work in East-West's favour. The top result for East-West in the Israeli Team Championship was five diamonds, making six (by Ronnie Barr – Ron Pachtmann). Let us imagine a contract of six diamonds by East and the most challenging lead – a heart. A trump finesse would allow South to give his partner a heart ruff and set the contract. The right play is to finesse spades first. Once this finesse works, declarer doesn't need the trump finesse and he should play safely: overtake the diamond queen with the ace and then draw the last trump. 54 ירחון ההתאגדות הישראלית לברידג'