| Dlr: South |
♠ 6 5 |
|
| Vul: N-S |
♥ K Q J 1 0 2 |
|
|
♦7 5 2 |
|
|
♣ 5 4 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
♠ A K Q J 10 4 |
|
|
♥ 6 3 |
|
|
♦ A K 6 |
|
|
♣ A K |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
|
|
|
1♠ |
| 2NT (1) |
3♥ |
Pass |
4NT (2) |
| Pass |
5♣ (3) |
Pass |
6♠ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
(1) At least five cards in each minor
(2) Roman Key Card Blackwood for hearts
(3) One key card
Against your slam, West leads the ♦Q. Do you see a way to 12 tricks?
Solution
Declarer could count 11 winners after dummy appeared. He saw that the only chance for the contract was for East to have the ♥A and at most two diamonds and three clubs, almost certain on the bidding. After winning the first trick with the ♦K, declarer drew five rounds of trumps, throwing a diamond and two hearts from dummy. Next, he cashed the ♣A and ♣K before leading a heart to dummy’s jack. East correctly withheld the ♥A and now the importance of keeping a club in dummy became clear when declarer ruffed it, thereby removing East’s last minor-suit card. Declarer continued by cashing the ♦A (in case West had started with 0=3=5=5 shape), reducing everyone to two cards. Dummy had the ♥K Q and East the A-9. When declarer played a heart to the king, East could take the ace at his leisure, but dummy would make a heart for declarer’s vital 12th trick.
East was about to say something about the folly of West’s overcall, but West spoke first: “I should have followed Terence Reese’s advice of not bidding on my hand type as there was little chance our side would play the hand. All it did was to give declarer a clear roadmap on how to make 12 tricks. Sorry.” The full deal:
| Dlr: South |
♠ 6 5 |
|
| Vul: N-S |
♥ K Q J 10 2 |
|
|
♦ 7 5 2 |
|
|
♣ 5 4 2 |
|
| ♠ — |
|
♠ 9 8 7 3 2 |
| ♥ 7 5 |
|
♥ A 9 8 4 |
| ♦ Q J 10 9 8 4 |
|
♦ 3 |
| ♣ Q J 10 9 6 |
|
♣ 8 7 3 |
|
♠ A K Q J 10 4 |
|
|
♥ 6 3 |
|
|
♦ A K 6 |
|
|
♣ A K |
|
