kantarbridge.com
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North |
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♠ A K 9 3 |
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♥ 9 |
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♦ K 10 9 6 2 |
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♣ A J 10 |
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South |
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♠ J 10 2 |
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♥ K 7 3 2 |
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♦ A Q J 8 |
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♣ Q 9 |
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You open 1♦, partner responds 1♠, East joins in with 2♥, you make a support double showing three spades (a raise to 2♠ shows four) and suddenly you find yourself playing 6♦!
West leads the ♥5, East wins the ♥A and returns the ♥Q, West following with a higher heart. How do you proceed? Both follow to the first diamond.
You have no convenient discard from dummy on the ♥K, so do yourself a favor and ruff the second heart, noticing West’s heart higher than the ♥5 indicating three hearts.
The play now revolves around the best way to tackle the black suits for no losers. Clearly, if either finesse works you make your slam, but which one to take? Surely you are not going to fall for that question any longer.
Start by drawing two rounds of trumps and leading the ♠J hoping for a cover. West may cover hoping partner has the 10. If the jack isn’t covered, win the ace and cash the king hoping to drop the queen. If you do, you won’t need the club finesse. If you have no luck in spades, return to your hand with a trump and run the ♣Q, your last chance.
Congrats. You didn’t put all of your eggs in either the spade queen or the ♣K finesse basket. You worked with spades hoping to drop the queen not to mention giving West a chance to err by covering the ♠J. And all the while you had the club finesse in reserve.
Did you notice the lead of the ♥5 from the 865 in an unsupported suit? Had West supported hearts, the H8 would have been the proper lead. After supporting, the lead of the H8 should not be confused with a doubleton.
Not everyone plays support doubles, but if you do and don’t double 2♥ or raise to 2♠, the inference is that you have fewer than three spades.
Tip: Pay attention to the spot card that is led so when a second card is played in the suit you will know whether it is higher or lower than the first.
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♠ A K 9 3 |
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♥ 9 |
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♦ K 10 9 6 2 |
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♣ A J 10 |
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| ♠ 8 7 5 4 |
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♠ Q 6 |
| ♥ 8 6 5 |
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♥ A Q J 10 4 |
| ♦ 7 4 3 |
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♦ 5 |
| ♣ 8 6 4 |
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♣ K 7 5 3 2 |
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♠ J 10 2 |
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♥ K 7 3 2 |
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♦ A Q J 8 |
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♣ Q 9 |
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