BRIDGE

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022

1. You are declarer with the West hand at Six Spades, and North leads the jack of clubs. How would you play the hand? (Assume the missing trumps divide 2-2 or 3-1.)

2. You are declarer with the West hand at Three Notrump, and North leads the king of clubs, South discarding a heart. How would you play the hand to guarantee a favourable outcome?

1. This is a case where you can assure the contract regardless of how the opposing cards are divided. Win the club lead with the ace, draw trump and cash the A-K-Q of diamonds, discarding your club loser. Then ruff dummy’s queen of clubs and lead the three of hearts.

You can’t fail to make the slam if the opposing hearts are divided 3-2, so all your attention should be focused on protecting against a 4-1 (or 5-0) split. Accordingly, you proceed as follows:

If North follows low or shows out on the three, play the heart 10 from dummy. If South wins with the jack or queen, he cannot avoid making a losing return. Whatever his holding, he must hand you a ruff-and-discard or lead a heart. If he started with, say, Q-J-9-6 and he returns the six, you play your eight to assure the contract. If he returns the nine, jack or queen of hearts, you play low, win with dummy’s ace and again make the contract by leading toward your K-8.

If, on your lead of the three of hearts, North plays the jack or queen, you can assure the slam by letting him hold the trick or by winning the jack or queen with the ace and returning the heart deuce from dummy, planning to finesse the eight if South follows low.

2. Play your eight of clubs on the king. If North shifts to any other suit, you automatically acquire an entry to dummy that assures the contract.

If North continues with the A-Q of clubs, you play your 10-9! North still can’t lead another suit or you’d make four notrump, so he’s forced to lead his seven of clubs – on which you play your carefully preserved six! North is then at the end of his rope; whatever he leads, you win the remaining tricks.

If you were to play your six of clubs on the ace, king or queen, you could not be sure of making more than eight tricks and might go down one against best defence.