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In the final of the Senior Knockout Teams at the Fall NABC, Eric Rodwell earned a swing for his team with a good deceptive play.
| Dlr: South | ♠ A 7 5 | |||||||||
| Vul: None | ♥ 4 3 | |||||||||
| ♦ A Q 9 8 | ||||||||||
| ♣ Q J 8 2 | ||||||||||
| ♠ 2 | ♠ K 10 8 3 | |||||||||
| ♥ J 8 7 6 5 | ♥ Q 10 9 2 | |||||||||
| ♦ K 6 5 2 | ♦ 7 | |||||||||
| ♣ A 7 6 | ♣ K 5 4 3 | |||||||||
| ♠ Q J 9 6 4 | ||||||||||
| ♥ A K | ||||||||||
| ♦ J 10 4 3 | ||||||||||
| ♣ 10 9 | ||||||||||
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Opening lead — ♥6
At both tables, South played at 4♠. When Rodwell was East, South’s opening bid of 1♠ was limited in strength, so North simply jumped to game. West led a heart, and South took the king and led the ♠J: deuce, five … and Rodwell followed with the eight.
South could have led a low spade next, planning to insert dummy’s seven as a safety play for one trump loser if West played the three. But South didn’t know he could afford to play safe; East might have held the ♦K.
Trump Tricks
It looked as if East had the bare eight or doubleton 10-8 anyway, so South led the queen next. Rodwell was sure of two trump tricks. Down one.
At the other table, the pro sitting East missed the textbook falsecard: He won the first spade with his king. Later, South picked up the trumps and made his game when the diamond finesse won.
Daily Question
You hold: ♠A 7 5 ♥4 3 ♦A Q 9 8 ♣Q J 8 2.
Your partner opens 1♣, you respond 1♦ and he bids 1♥. What do you say?