Author: Larry Cohen
Date of publish: 11/01/2012
Level: Intermediate to Advanced
This deal was played in the 2012 U.S. Team Trials by Chris Willenken:
He chose to open 1
, dealer at favorable vulnerability holding:
Q
K 9 6 3 2
A K Q 10 8 4
10
Apparently, he considered the hand good enough to reverse (planning to bid hearts twice). LHO passed and partner made the surprising (but pleasing) response of 1
! RHO preempted to 2
and Chris chose to cue-bid 3
. LHO bid 4
and Chris's partner, Michael Rosenberg, bid 5
. Right or wrong, Chris chose to pass, thus buying it in 5
.
The
7 was led (3rd and 5th best leads) and he saw:
8
A J 7 4
9 6 5 2
J 8 4 3
|
|
Q
K 9 6 3 2
A K Q 10 8 4
10
|
East won the
A and played the
K then a low club. How should declarer play?
This deal is all about the heart suit. If they are 2-2, declarer can draw trump and then lay down the top hearts to make 11 tricks. But, might hearts be 3-1? Why not try to get a count on the hand. How?
The first move is to carefully trump the club carefully with the
10 (to preserve the
8 and
4 for crossing to dummy).
Next come the trumps. On the
A, East plays the jack. Chris now crossed (sorry--couldn't resist that!) with the
8 to the 9 (RHO showing out) and ruffed a 3rd round of clubs high (all following). Now came the the
4 to the
5 to ruff a 4th round of clubs. RHO showed out.
Since the lead was a 3rd/5th best
7, declarer knew spades were 4-7 (West would have led a low one from a 5-card suit). So, RHO has 7 spades, 1 diamonds, 3 clubs and therefore 2 hearts. There is no reason to take any heart finesses. Declarer laid down the top hearts and this was the full layout:
Vul: E-W Dlr: South |
8
A J 7 4
9 6 5 2
J 8 4 3
|
|
K 9 7 3
8 5
7 3
A 9 7 5 2
|
|
A J 10 6 5 4 2
Q 10
J
K Q 6
|
|
Q
K 9 6 3 2
A K Q 10 8 4
10
|
|
At many tables in the Round Robin, declarer (in hearts, so unable to get a complete count), played the preempter for short hearts and lost a heart trick by playing low to the
K and then finessing the
J. Willenken's team won 7 IMPs for +400 when his teammates played in 5
(bid against North-South's 5
). The defense was accurate, carefully cashing out for down 1 (-100 E-W).