Hidden Suit Establishment
Declarer in six diamonds below seemed to do everything right: he counted his tricks, he accurately drew trumps but he still went down.
| Game All, Dealer East | ♠ J10972 | ||
| ♥ J5 | |||
| ♦ 10 | |||
| ♣ AK875 | |||
| ♠ AQ8 | ♠ K | ||
| ♥ K10643 | ♥ A9 | ||
| ♦ AK54 | ♦ Q9832 | ||
| ♣ 10 | ♣ QJ932 | ||
| ♠ 6543 | |||
| ♥ Q872 | |||
| ♦ J76 | |||
| ♣ 64 | |||
At the table South led a club to the ace to ace in response to his partner's double of a control bid during the auction. North switched to a trump. East counted five major winners and therefore needed seven tricks from trumps; they would be the five in hand and two club ruffs in dummy. Accordingly he cashed ace and king - he couldn't afford to ruff with either if the knave was out – then set about ruffing his clubs. Unfortunately South was able to score the diamond knave and that was that.
East thought it unfortunate; if trumps had been 2-2 or clubs 4-3, or the long trump been with the long club, he'd have been fine. But…
Invariably wherever you find a ruffing plan there's always a suit establishment alternative lurking (and, of course, vice versa). Here it was to establish hearts, but there are some transportation problems to surmount. Win the ♦Q, ♠K and ♥A and play a diamond to dummy's ace-king. If trumps are indeed 2-2 you can claim but if either defender holds three, play the spade ace throwing a heart and ruff a heart – the second round. Come back to the last top trump and ruff the hearts good. When you trump a club back to West, that hand is high.
Dates for your diary:
Suffolk Mid Anglia Pairs; Stoke-by-Nayland, Sunday 21st January 2:00pm. £9 per player including tea for a two session event. Entries to Jyl Marsh Tel. 01206 322546
Sudbury and Colchester Swiss Teams Congress 2007; Sunday 4th March 2007 1.45pm for 2.00pm Start. Leavenheath Village Hall, Wright's Way, Leavenheath CO6 4NR. £40.00 per team, including Tea. Entries Mrs Beryl Simpson, 13, Sweet Briar Close, Leavenheath, Suffolk CO6 4NP. Telephone 01206 263945
Suffolk Club Teams of Four; Stoke-by-Nayland, Sunday 18th March 2:00pm. £9 per player including tea. Clubs are invited to enter as many teams as they wish. Entries, Jyl Marsh as before.
Published Saturday 20.Jan.2007