BRIDGE
Vanishing trick
Andrew Robson
The stakes are high at London's TGR club — occasionally they are as high as £200 a hundred. Before you rush to join them, watch the technique of Gunnar Hallberg, one of the regular players at the 'Big Table'.
Dealer south Neither side vulnerable
4K • K 3 2
4J 9 6
• Q 109 • 8 6 # J 7 6 8
♦ A K J +A 9 8 7 5 5 4 Q 8 5 3 • 7 • Q 109 2 4K 104 3
2
N W E
S
4 A 107 4 2
• A J 6 5 4 • 4 3 +Q The Bidding South West North East 14 pass 2• pass 2V pass 340 pass 3V pass 6• pass pass pass Although 6V is a fair contract looking at just North and South's hand, West appears to have two certain trump tricks and declarer has problems elsewhere. Even a contract of 4V looks tricky yet Hallberg managed to actually make his slam. How would you plan the play on the 42 open- ing lead? Declarer won West's lead with dummy's +A and trumped a 4. He crossed to 4K and trumped a third 4. He cashed 4A, trumped a 4 and cashed dummy's •A and •K. He trumped the fourth + and led a fourth 4. West was down to his four •s, so he trumped with • 8. Brilliantly Hallberg refused to over- ruff, discarding a Having won the trick, West led •9; declarer was able to win •J in hand, lead the fifth 4, trumping it with dummy's •K and make the 13th trick with his •A. An alternative but equally elegant way for him to make his slam would have been to overtrump West's •8 with •K and lead a ♦ from dummy, discarding his fifth 4. West would have been forced to trump his partner's winning ♦ and lead a trump into declarer's •AJ at trick 12.
West was left to rue that his 42 opening lead, implying four cards, enabled declarer to trump dummy's +s with little risk of being overtrumped.
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