Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Easier for me to see

I played bridge online last night with Kate. I was West on this deal (rotated):

J 10 7
A 7 6
K Q 6 5
J 9 3
K 5 4 9 4 3
K 4 2 10 9 8 3
J 8 4 2 10
8 7 6 4 A K Q 10 2
A Q 8 5 2
Q J 5
A 9 7 3
5


South opened 1, North bid 2 and South raised to 3. North rebid 3 and South raised to 4.

I led the 2 to the 6, 8 and jack. Declarer led a diamond to the king to advance the J, won by my K.

I could see there was no point in giving partner a diamond ruff (I had a natural trick in that suit), or so I thought. I shifted to a high club, declarer ruffed the second one and drew two more rounds of trumps. On the third spade, I discarded a low club. Here are the cards that were left:

---
A 7
K 6 5
J
--- ---
K 4 10 9 3
J 8 4 ---
8 A K 2
8
Q 5
A 9 7
---

Declarer led the 7 to my 8 and dummy's king. Do you see how declarer can make the contract? I could, but it was easier as a defender. If South leads a diamond to his ace, he can cash the last trump and I have to discard my 8. Now, declarer can exit with a diamond and I'm endplayed in the heart suit.

Declarer didn't do that and was set one trick. I was surprised later to run it through Deep Finesse and find that when I was in with the K, a diamond return is the only play to guarantee setting the contract at that point.

For plus 100, we won 1.69 IMPs. Out of the 71 pairs who played North-South, only six bid and made 4. On opening lead, a diamond lead (or a club lead and a diamond shift) is the only way to legitimately set it.

You can see all the results if you click here.

6 comments:

  1. I don't even know if that's ENGLISH Mojo! What the heck are you talking about? Eh, never mind. Good post. (I assume)lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. As the cards were, declarer can endplay in you in diamonds OR hearts. Naturally, if east has the king, he needs to play it the way you say.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ROFLLLLLLLLLL Thanks Mojo BABY!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I sent Josie a utube type thing with the e-trade baby doing the talking. I won't tell you what the baby said to her (some things are better left untold, lol).

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Warren: Yes. Thanks for the comment.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Seeing as how you leafed well enough alone, I'm gonna do the same.

    ReplyDelete