West | North | East | South |
1♥ | |||
Pass | 2♥ | Pass | 4♥ |
All Pass |
The following deal, played by Andrzej Wilkosz of Poland was judged to be the best effort at the now-defunct International Team Tournament in Amsterdam more than 30 years ago. It was reported by the late Hugh Kelsey.
Wilkosz received the lead of the ♥3. Winning in hand with the ace, he played a spade. West took the ace and continued with a heart to dummy’s 8. Declarer cashed the ♠K and ruffed a spade with the ♥Q, West discarding a diamond. A diamond was played to dummy’s queen and East’s ace, and Wilkosz won the diamond return in hand. This was the position:
Wilkosz led the ♣5 from hand, putting in dummy’s 9 when West played the 4. East won the trick with the ♣Q but had no good return. A spade return would have been ruffed high, establishing a long spade in dummy. A diamond return would have conceded a ruff and discard, and a club return would have been ducked to dummy’s jack.
Note that as well as declarer played, West could have defeated the contract by discarding a club instead of a diamond on the third round of spades. The endplay against East then would not have worked – when East got in with a club honor, he would have been able to give his partner a ruff.
The full deal: