North was planning to bid on over four spades and he cue bid four hearts, falsely, in an effort to deter a possible heart lead against the final contract. South’s five-club response to Blackwood showed four key cards, among the four aces and the king of spades, and North gambled out the slam.
South won the opening club lead with his ace, cashed the ace of spades, and then led the seven of diamonds. He was hoping to set up dummy’s diamond suit. West, however, hopped up with his ace and led another diamond, which East ruffed for down one. South was unlucky to find a 3-0 trump split and a 5-1 diamond split, but despite that, his play on this deal was quite poor. Can you spot the winning line?
After winning the opening lead, South should have cashed his other high club to shed a heart from dummy. He could ruff a club high in dummy, return to his hand with a spade, and ruff his last club high. A heart to his ace would be followed by a heart ruff in dummy, and South could then draw trumps and concede a diamond to the opponents to make his contract. South was one of America’s leading players. It is rare to see a top player “lose the plot” like this. He must have been having a bad day.
Published - October 03, 2024 09:01 am IST
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