Bridge - The Scotsman 10/11/12

Declarer can sometimes achieve surprising things when the auction tells him where the high cards are.

South opened a weak no-trump. West knew that someone would pull his double, but what else could he do? He doubled North’s rescue to 2D, but East lacked the wherewithal to defend in his doubleton, and pulled to 3C. West should probably pass that, but it was only natural to try 3NT. North led the queen of diamonds to South’s ace, and the five of diamonds was returned. How would you plan the play?

You have six sure tricks. If clubs break 2-2 you make three more by overtaking your eight on the fourth round. If clubs are 3-1 you will lose a club and must look elsewhere for a ninth trick. The lead tells you that North has three points in diamonds, so South needs all the remaining high cards to make up his opening bid. You hold up your king of diamonds till the third round to be sure that South has no diamonds left, then play the ace of clubs. Bad news – North discards a diamond. Can you cope with this unlucky break?

The deal comes from the 1952 Scottish Trials. Most declarers played king and another club, giving South two tricks. South was endplayed into leading a spade to the jack, and declarer cashed his fifth club, but he had to lose a heart for one down. Sammy Stein, renowned for his speed of play, immediately spotted a winning line. Rather than cash the king of clubs he led the ten to South’s jack, endplaying him for the first time. If South leads a spade, declarer wins in dummy, finesses clubs, cashes all his black winners, then runs the ten of hearts for a second endplay; if he leads a heart, declarer wins the queen, finesses clubs and plays ace and another heart for a second endplay; and, if he leads a club, declarer finesses, cashes clubs and plays ace, king and another spade for the endplay.