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Daily Bridge in New Zealand

 

Jan’s Day: Exciting Slam Leads

 

We gave you one lead problem overnight. Today, we have two slams as reported by Jan where the lead was or could have been crucial. This is what we left you with yesterday:

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North Deals
None Vul
   
Q 10 7
J 9 6 4 3
7 6
J 7 4
 
N
W   E
S
   
West North East South
  1  Pass 2 
Pass 4  Pass 4 NT
Pass 5  Pass 7 NT
All pass      

 

5Heart-small shows 2 aces. South seems pretty confident. Can you give them cause for regret?

 

A Nerve-Wracking business

jan cormack 2021  1.jpg
Jan Cormack

“Leading against slam contracts most certainly is nerve-wracking at the best of times. See how your nervous system copes with the following deals.

Your hand is:

 

West Deals
None Vul
   
K 7 5
9 4 3
7 3 2
A Q J 4
 
N
W   E
S
   
West North East South
Pass 1  Pass 1 
Pass 3  Pass 3 NT
Pass 4  Pass 5 
Pass 5  Pass 6 
Pass 6  Dbl Pass
Pass Rdbl All pass  

 

You are looking at 10 hcp and yet it is your partner who has doubled the final contract! Even more astounding, North has redoubled! What is going on?

After agonising over several possibilities, any of which could be right on this auction, you decide finally on Club-smallA. Dummy appears:

 

West Deals
None Vul
A J 9 4
K Q 8
Q J 10 6 5 4
K 7 5
9 4 3
7 3 2
A Q J 4
 
N
W   E
S
   

 

without a single club. Your heart sinks but you have just found the only lead to beat the slam!

 

West Deals
None Vul
A J 9 4
K Q 8
Q J 10 6 5 4
K 7 5
9 4 3
7 3 2
A Q J 4
 
N
W   E
S
 
3 2
J 6 2
A 9 8
K 10 7 3 2
 
Q 10 8 6
A 10 7 5
K
9 8 6 5
6 ×× by South

 

Club-smallA is ruffed in dummy and a low diamond is led. Your partner comes to the rescue with Diamond-smallA, felling declarer’s king. What a relief. Your partner now plays Club-smallK, tapping the dummy again and enabling your Spade-smallK to be the setting trick.

You found the only lead to beat the slam and no longer would have to explain your opening lead and the auction to your teammates.”

 Apologies, Jan, I must comment. Life in 1987 may have been different but in 2021 if that 3Club-small bid had not been alerted and subsequently 6Spade-smallxx had made, then I suspect the opposition would like to know whether North-South had an agreement as to whether 3Club-small was natural or a splinter. South seems to have treated the bid as natural with North always intent on playing spades. A system card should reveal the true meaning and whether an infraction causing damage had occurred. 

Back though in 1987, East-West had no cause to complain! Apologies for the interruption..

“You now have to find a lead from the following West hand:

 

North Deals
None Vul
   
Q 10 7
J 9 6 4 3
7 6
J 7 4
 
N
W   E
S
   
West North East South
  1  Pass 2 
Pass 4  Pass 4 NT
Pass 5  Pass 7 NT
All pass      

 

Nothing really appeals. Finally, you decide to “put it” to declarer at trick 1 and lead Spade-small7! This was the full deal:

 

North Deals
None Vul
A K J 9 6 4 3 2
7
A 10 6 3
Q 10 7
J 9 6 4 3
7 6
J 7 4
 
N
W   E
S
 
8 5
Q 10 5
J 8 5 3 2
K 9 2
 
A K 8 2
A K Q 10 9 4
Q 8 5
West North East South
  1  Pass 2 
Pass 4  Pass 4 NT
Pass 5  Pass 7 NT
All pass      

creativity.jpg

 

Will you have

egg on your face 3.jpg?

When South went into a huddle at trick 1, you realised that they were probably void in spades and that your lead was the only one to let 7NT make! Finally, declarer calls for the Spade-smallA and you are put out of your misery!

Either a natural heart or a club lead would have beaten the slam the easy way.”

A diamond lead from West is fine for the defence too even if East plays Diamond-smallJ as declarer can only take 6 diamond tricks and 5 tricks in other suits before surrendering the lead.(You, West just have to keep Spade-smallQT7!)

The spade is certainly an inventive lead. No-one leads away from Qxx against dummy’s long suit in a slam contract,do they?smile Even when it was wrong, it proved to be right!

 

For the Less Experienced… and others

On the cusp

 

     
East Deals
N-S Vul
 
N
W   E
S
 
K 6
K 7
A J 10 8 4
K J 10 4
West North East South
    1  1 
Dbl 3  ?  

 

You are playing Acol where a 1NT opening is 12-14 hcp. Double indicates 4 hearts. North’s 3Spade-small call is pre-emptive rather than constructive. What now?

Richard Solomon

 

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