Our esteemed colleague the late Ted Horning once wrote that if bridge were
like baseball and he were coaching the Canadian team, he would bring in Sami
Kehela as his designated declarer when the going got tough. As we bid farewell
to the 20th Century, we would like to share with you a deal that Ted reported in
his column "Canadian Bridge" many years ago. North was Eric Murray, South Sami
Kehela.
Both sides vulnerable
East deals
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
EM |
|
SK |
|
|
1 |
1 |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3 |
Pass |
3 |
Pass |
4 |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
|
Opening Lead:
K
Although there appear to be two spades and two clubs to lose Kehela proved
that this was not the case.
Declarer took the lead of the
K
with dummy's ace and called for a spade. When East followed low declarer won the
king, cashed the A
and led a second trump. East won perforce and returned a heart as declarer
discarded a club. East covered dummy's Q
and declarer ruffed away the king. A third round of spades put West on play. If
he returned a diamond, declarer could discard his losing club, and if he
returned a club declarer's nine would come into play.
Could East put up a better fight? Say that he goes in with the
A
immediately to play a second round. Declarer wins the king, cashes the A,
and plays the
Q.
East can win the
A
and return the suit but declarer is in dummy to play the Q,
ruffing out the king. Now a third spade, forcing West to put declarer in dummy
with a red card or play a club into declarer's tenace. If instead East ducks
Q,
he must win the second club and play a red suit (say a heart to dummy's queen).
Declarer ruffs out the K,
and a third spade again endplays West.
And if East wins the first trump to play a second heart (best), declarer
discards the blocking A,
ruffs out the K,
cashes the K,
and leads the
Q.
East ducks, wins the second club and plays a heart but when West wins his second
trump trick (now or on the next trick), he will again have to play a minor suit
to his disadvantage. This variation would have been the most spectacular and you
can be sure that Canada's Designated Declarer would have been equal to the task.
The four hands were:
Q J 3
K J
8 5 4 3
10 6 3 2 |
|
A 2
10 9 8 6 5 3
K 9 6
A 8 |
|