2 weeks Ago
Good bidding saw North-South reach an excellent slam. The only possible problem was a poor split in the diamond suit, but that would be no problem for a good declarer. South won the opening spade lead with dummy’s ace and drew the trumps in three rounds.
He ruffed his remaining spade in dummy to eliminate the spades, and then eliminated the clubs by cashing the ace and king of clubs before leading a club to dummy’s queen. West following suit to all three clubs meant that East was the only opponent who could hold four or more diamonds. South led the seven of diamonds from dummy, planning to run it if East played low.
Should this lose to a singleton honour in the West hand, West would have to yield a ruff-sluff and present declarer with his twelfth trick. Should West be able to play another diamond, the diamonds were splitting reasonably and South could claim. East, however, played the 10 of diamonds on the seven, so South won with his king and led a diamond to dummy’s eight.
East won with the jack but had the Hobson’s choice of leading a diamond from his queen or giving a ruff-sluff. 12 tricks either way after a well-played deal! Published - April 25, 2025 12:12 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit The Hindu Sunday Magazine.
