BRIDGE

A single heart

Andrew Robson

I RARELY come across an end-position as beautiful as the one that occurred on this week's deal. The indicated line of play will force West to come down to just one V. The success of your optimistic slam ven- ture will then depend on whether you can guess — at trick 12 — whether his remain- ing V is VJ or 'K. You may wish to cover up the East-West cards and try to decide for yourself.

Dealer West 4 Q 10 • J 8

♦ A J 9 8 2 • 0 7 6 5

North-South Vulnerable 4 A K J 2 M Q 4 3 2

♦ 6 • K J 4 3

4 8 4

✓ K 9 7 6

♦ 10 7 4 3 4 10 9 8 4 9 7 6 5 3 111, A 10 5

♦ K Q 5 • A 2

N W E S

South West pass 14 pass 54 pass pass pass South's 54 bid invited slam and North went on to 64 holding such good trumps. West cashed •A and switched to 410. Declarer rose with dummy's 4K and cashed 4A, breathing a sigh of relief when West's 40 dropped. He then cashed 4J, crossed to 47 (both opponents discarding two •s on the extra trumps), and cashed •KQ (discarding Vs from dummy). In order to wring the final, crucial discard from the opposition, he led his last trump, 49. After much soul-searching, West discarded 48 (and now 43 could be dis- carded from dummy to leave VQ4 and 4ICJ4). It was clear from his failure to discard a single 4 that West's last four cards were +Qxx and one V. For the contract to succeed, it needed to be either VJ or VK But which?

Declarer cashed 4►A, led +2 to 4J, the finesse against +Q succeeding (as expected); he then cashed 4K discarding V5, and had now reached the critical point. Well — which V honour does West hold? And why? Think hack to the bidding. West dealt and passed — yet he has turned up •AJ, 4Q and 4Q. If he also held MK, he would have 12 points and would have opened the bidding. Play him to have In left. Lead VQ from dummy in order to 'pin' V.T. Say East covers with WK: win VA and, when West's VJ does indeed appear, table the master V10.

The Bidding North East

11► pass 34 pass 64 pass