Goren Bridge
Bob Jones
| Dlr: South | ♠ A K 9 8 3 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vul: E-W | ♥ 8 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♦ A K J | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ K J | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♠ J 10 7 4 | ♠ 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♥ K Q J 9 | ♥ 7 6 5 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♦ 8 3 | ♦ 10 9 7 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ 10 9 2 | ♣ 8 7 4 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♠ Q 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♥ A 10 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♦ Q 5 4 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♣ A Q 6 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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*New minor forcing
Opening lead: ♥K
North would have bid 3♠ at his second turn if he intended an invitational sequence. Bidding the “new minor” first made the 3♠ bid forcing. North-South were playing Key Card Blackwood. North held the ♠K, so he read South’s 5♠ response as showing two aces plus the queen of trumps, spades on this auction. North made the inspired decision to bid the grand slam in notrump, where a bad trump split might be overcome.
South won the opening heart lead in hand with the ace. He saw that a 3-2 split in spades would see him home, but like any good declarer, he was in no rush to start playing on spades. He crossed to dummy with the ♦A and cashed the ♦K J and the ♣K J, before returning to his hand with the ♠Q.
He discarded dummy’s heart on the ♦Q and two spades on the ♣A Q. This left a three-card position with North holding the ♠A K 9 and South holding the ♠6 and the ♥10 4. West could not keep the ♥Q and three spades, so he discarded the ♥Q, hoping that his partner held the 10. No luck for him as South, took the last three tricks with the ♥10 and the ♠A K. Well played!