Goren Bridge
Bob Jones
| Dlr: North | ♠ A J 9 7 | |||||||||||||
| Vul: Both | ♥ A 9 4 3 | |||||||||||||
| ♦ A J 9 8 | ||||||||||||||
| ♣ 7 | ||||||||||||||
| ♠ Q 10 6 | ♠ 5 3 | |||||||||||||
| ♥ K Q J 7 | ♥ 10 6 | |||||||||||||
| ♦ 10 4 | ♦ K Q 7 2 | |||||||||||||
| ♣ K J 10 8 | ♣ 9 6 5 3 2 | |||||||||||||
| ♠ K 8 4 2 | ||||||||||||||
| ♥ 8 5 2 | ||||||||||||||
| ♦ 6 5 3 | ||||||||||||||
| ♣ A Q 4 | ||||||||||||||
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Opening lead: ♥K
The bidding seemed easy enough, but the final contract was rocky. Two hearts and a diamond or two to lose, not to mention the big hole in the trump suit.
South ducked the opening ♥K lead and won the ♥Q continuation, noting the fall of the 10 from East. A spade to the king and a spade to the jack went well, and the ♠A drew the last trump. A heart to the eight and jack was followed by a heart to dummy’s nine, leaving this position:
| Dlr: North | ♠ 9 | |
| Vul: Both | ♥ — | |
| ♦ A J 9 8 | ||
| ♣ 7 | ||
| ♠ — | ♠ — | |
| ♥ — | ♥ — | |
| ♦ 10 4 | ♦ K Q 7 2 | |
| ♣ K J 10 8 | ♣ 9 6 | |
| ♠ 8 | ||
| ♥ — | ||
| ♦ 6 5 | ||
| ♣ A Q 4 |
A club finesse, if successful, will make the contract. Can you see anything else? The winning line is to lead the ♦J from the dummy to East’s queen and win the club shift with the ace. When another diamond fetches the 10 from West, win the♦A and take the ruffing finesse against East’s king!
What’s that you say? You didn’t even consider leading the ♦J in this position? Neither did we.