Bridge - The Scotsman 05/07/2012

By Liz McGowan
Published on 05/07/2012 00:00

This 4H contract from the European championships is a little unlucky, in that there are two trump losers. If North leads an unhelpful diamond or a spade, declarer needs to play clubs for just one loser.

The club suit offers interesting possibilities. If North had KQx he might lead the king. There is no chance if South has KQx – and KQ doubleton is well against the odds. If the honours are split you can succeed provided you can guess which opponent has the doubleton. Say North has the doubleton king: a low club to the ten loses to the queen, but on the next round North’s king drops under the ace and the jack becomes a winner.

If South has the doubleton king there are two ways to succeed. You might lead low from dummy towards your Jxxxx – if South takes the king you can finesse against North’s remaining Qx; if he ducks, your jack loses to the queen and you drop the king next time. Alternatively, you can lead the jack from hand: if North covers with the queen win the ace and play low to South’s king, establishing the ten; if North plays low run the jack to the king, then finesse the ten next time.

Here, with no helpful competitive bidding, North appeared to have length in every suit, so most declarers played her for the doubleton club honour and went down. Scotland’s Yvonne Wiseman was one of the few to make 4H.