march17

English 55 Virtual European Championship - part 1 Krzysztof Martens BOARD 11 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ Q42 K9843 A65 52 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ K96 KJ102 Q9 QJ109 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A108 65 K107 A8743 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ J753 Q7 J8432 K6 Contract 3NT. Lead ♥ 4 South plays the queen. The maint point - Break the communication between the opponents . Concede the trick with the queen of hearts. This is a non-routine move. However, let’s see what will happen if you win the first trick with the ace and run the queen of clubs. South will win with the king and play a heart back to 10 and king. North will then establish the heart suit and reach the setting trick with his ace of diamonds. The result from the Closed Room - Contract 3 ♣ 130+ for EW. You ducked the first heart: +400= +7 IMP. You took the trick with the ace of hearts: one down -50 = -5 IMP. BOARD 12 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ J982 1065 1092 652 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 74 AK92 AKJ6 AK9 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ AQ5 J4 Q874 QJ104 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ K1063 Q873 53 873 Contract 6NT. Lead ♦10. The main point - Combine as many chances as possible. Win the diamond lead in the West hand and play ♥2 to the jack, hoping that North holds the queen. If South wins with the queen of hearts, win the return and cash two heart tricks in case the ♥10 drops. Finally, you will finesse the spade king or play for a heart-spade squeeze. The fall of the cards in the suits outside spades will often give you a clue as to which option to try. Closed Room - Contract 6 ♦, +920 for EW. You played well: +990 = +2 IMP. Wrong declarer’s play: -50 = -14 IMP. Krzysztof Martens published 12 books – high level bridge, You can find all in website www.martensuniversity.com