NORTH
; A K Q 7 3
k J 10 2
l 7 3
' K 8 5
WEST EAST
; 9 ; J 10 8 4
k Q 8 5 k K 9 7 4
l J 8 6 5 l A K 4
' J 10 7 6 2 ' Q 4
SOUTH
; 6 5 2
k A 6 3
l Q 10 9 2
' A 9 3
Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: East
The bidding:
South West North East
1 l
Pass 2 l 2 ; Pass
2 NT Pass 3 NT All pass
Opening Lead: Diamond five
"'Oh, my friends, be warned by me, That breakfast, dinner, lunch, and tea Are all the human frame requires ...' With that the wretched child expires."
-- Hilaire Belloc
Perhaps West should have been warned off a diamond lead against three no-trump. But he chose the diamond five, East playing the king, ace, and another diamond to declarer's queen, while dummy shed a club. Declarer knew West had four diamonds for his raise, meaning East's hand had to be 4=4=3=2 precisely. Spades would not be breaking.
One option for a ninth trick was to endplay East to lead away from the heart king-queen. However, that could always be done later by eliminating the black suits, then leading the heart jack and ducking East's honor. Declarer preferred to start on spades. In order to preserve a fast entry to dummy, he led a spade to the ace and then ducked the second round. East won as West shed a club. He then shifted to a low heart.
Some Easts might have been capable of leading low from the king-queen here, having foreseen the endplay. However, few would have been that inspired when they had a safe spade exit. Declarer went up with the heart ace and played to squeeze West instead. Three more rounds of spades followed, declarer shedding two hearts from hand. West could afford another club discard and a heart pitch, but the fifth spade set up a triple squeeze on him. A minor-suit discard would have been immediately fatal, so West let go of the heart queen. Declarer then knocked out East's heart king for his contract.
Had East switched to the club queen, declarer would have had to win in dummy and run spades to achieve a parallel ending.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
; A K Q 7 3
k J 10 2
l 7 3
' K 8 5
South West North East
1 ; Pass 2 ' Pass
?
ANSWER: Even if you play that two spades shows six cards, you might make that call with such a good holding, in lieu of two no-trump with a small doubleton in an unbid suit. I would certainly bid two spades, which could be this sort of hand for me routinely. A raise to three clubs with a balanced hand is a call that should be your last resort.
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