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Two Expert Pushes
On the road to victory in the
Open BAM in San Francisco
(2007) we played these back-to-back deals against one of the best
teams in the event.
David & I faced Chinese
World Champions Fu-Zhao on this layout:
|
|
|
North
(Zhao) |
|
|
♠
|
10
9 |
|
♥
|
A
10 8 5 |
|
♦
|
A
7 5 |
|
♣ |
A
K Q 6 |
|
|
|
|
West
(LC)
|
|
|
East
(David)
|
|
♠
|
J
7 6 4 2 |
♠
|
3 |
|
♥
|
9 |
♥ |
J
7 6 4 |
|
♦
|
Q
J 10 4 |
♦ |
K
9 6 3 2 |
|
♣
|
7
5 2 |
♣ |
9
4 3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
South
(Fu) |
|
♠
|
A
K Q 8 5 |
|
♥
|
K
Q 3 2 |
|
♦
|
6 |
| ♣ |
J
10 8 |
Fu-Zhao bid the North-South cards effectively to
the proper contract (at BAM
scoring) of 7♥
.
If hearts were 3-2, declarer would take his 12
top tricks and then a ruff for the 13th. How would declarer cope
with the bad breaks?
He won the diamond lead and played a heart to
the king. My nine would have been the proper falsecard from ♥J9xx
(giving declarer an option to pick up 4-1 hearts on either side).
Undeterred, Fu continued with a low heart to dummy's ace (I guess
he didn't think I had falsecarded). Another heart from dummy
allowed him to pick up the trumps. However, he had only his 12 top
tricks. He couldn't ruff a spade in dummy and there was no
squeeze, down one.
What happened at the other table? At IMPs, maybe
the best spot is 7♣!
Although both 7♣
and 7♥
could make double-dummy, it was no surprise that our teammates
(Martel-Stansby) also reached the top-scoring (and proper BAM)
contract of 7♥.
The play was card-for-card the same at both tables for a push at
down one.
-----------------
On the second deal of the round there was more
"expert bridge."
|
|
|
North |
|
|
♠
|
9
5 4 3 |
|
♥
|
A
K 5 4 |
|
♦
|
8
6 4 2 |
|
♣ |
J |
|
|
|
|
West
|
|
|
East
|
|
♠
|
Q
J 8 2 |
♠
|
K
10 6 |
|
♥
|
9 |
♥ |
Q
10 6 |
|
♦
|
A
J 7 5 |
♦ |
10
9 3 |
|
♣
|
K
5 3 2 |
♣ |
Q
10 7 6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
South |
|
♠
|
A
7 |
|
♥
|
J
8 7 3 2 |
|
♦
|
K
Q |
| ♣ |
A
9 8 4 |
Again, both North-South pairs bid to the top
contact, 4♥.
At both tables, South opened 1♥,
West made a takeout double, and North showed a limit raise.
Declarer has to lose a spade, diamond and a
trump trick. What about his three little clubs in hand? If he
ruffs all of them in dummy, that entails using up one of dummy's
heart honors. That opens up the possibility of East winning two
trumps tricks.
However, good technique and timing saw both
declarers through. The S♠
lead was ducked and the next spade was taken with the ace. Next
came the ♦K
to West's ace. West shifted to a trump won in dummy.
Declarer cashed his other high diamond (the way
to prepare for a crossruff). Now came the ♣A
and a club ruff. A spade was ruffed in hand followed by another
club ruff in dummy. With the lead in dummy, this was the end
position:
|
|
|
North |
|
|
♠
|
9 |
|
♥
|
K |
|
♦
|
8
6 |
|
♣ |
-- |
|
|
|
|
West
|
|
|
East
|
|
♠
|
J |
♠
|
-- |
|
♥
|
-- |
♥ |
Q
10 |
|
♦
|
J
7 |
♦ |
10 |
|
♣
|
K |
♣ |
Q |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
South |
|
♠
|
-- |
|
♥
|
J
8 7 |
|
♦
|
-- |
| ♣ |
9 |
The timing was just right. Dummy played a
diamond and declarer ruffed in hand. Now a club ruff with the ♥K
left the lead in dummy at trick 12. East has the ♥Q10,
declarer the ♥J8,
but whatever suit dummy played, East would have to ruff high or
low and get only one trump trick.
A well-played (really well-timed) push at 620.
For the round, each team scored 1.0 out of 2.0.
For a complete explanation of Board-A-Match scoring, click
here.
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