BRIDGE
Well played
Andrew Robson
GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY claims that the brain is more receptive when it can compartmentalise and organise. So forgive me for categorising declarer's technique on this week's deal as a combination of 'Dummy Reversal' and 'Strip Squeeze and Endplay'. If such jargon serves only to con- fuse then let us say that declarer played the hand beautifully and leave it at that. Here is the hand: Deafer North East West Vulnerable The Bidding South West North East 1NT pass 3, pass 41, pass 4NT pass 511 pass 6V pass pass pass West led a neutral trump and declarer played low from dummy and won Q. He figured that if he trumped all three of dummy's small clubs in his hand, he would be able to score six trump tricks. This method of trumping enough times in your own hand (the long trump hand) to make it into the short trump hand, and then to draw the opposing trumps with dummy's trumps is known as a dummy reversal. He led 4J to 4A and trumped 43. He crossed to V10, both opponents following, and trumped 47 with K. He crossed to • K and trumped 49 with VA, West dis- carding 42. He led 44 to dummy's 4A and drew the last opposing trump with dummy's VJ, discarding •8 from his hand and watching West discard a slightly reluc- tant 410.
The dummy reversal completed, he care- fully led •10 from dummy to his •Q and observed East discard. Left with the losing 40 and *A9 in his hand and knowing that West held *J7 and had been strip squeezed down to just one 4, he exited with 40. West's 4 was the king and he was endplayed with it to lead into declarer's *A9. Brilliant.
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