Bridge - The Scotsman 18/02/2012

Some of our more optimistic contracts require cards to be well placed. We should look for ways to improve our chances when the cards lie badly.

East opened a strong no-trump, and South tried to jam the auction with a weak jump overcall. West’s 3H was forcing, and East thought his good controls merited a cuebid even with his minimum balanced distribution. West went past game to show his spade control, so East was obliged to cuebid in diamonds. Now West bid the thin slam. North led the nine of clubs, taken with the ace. What now?

There are 11 obvious winners. A twelfth will be easy if North has the king of spades – just lead towards dummy’s queen – but it seems more likely that South has the king due to his overcall. Is there any way of coping when South has the key card? You might play him for the doubleton king by cashing the ace, then playing low from both hands, but that is a bit scary, and you would probably prefer to gather more information before taking the risk.

Start by eliminating the side suits. Ruff a club high at trick two before playing the ace of hearts, then a low heart to the queen. When hearts are kind enough to break 2-2 you can ruff dummy’s last club, noting that North shows out, which confirms that South has seven clubs. Next, cash your diamond winners, discarding a spade from hand. When South shows out on the third round his distribution is known to be 2-2-2-7. You can play the ace of spades, then a spade to the queen with complete confidence: either North has the king, in which case the queen will score, or South has the doubleton king. In the latter case he can beat dummy’s queen, but then has to play a club, allowing you to discard a spade from one hand while ruffing in the other.