How would you
play the small slam on the lead of the
10?
North-South vulnerable South deals
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
|
|
1 |
Pass |
2 |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3 |
Pass |
3 |
Pass |
3 |
Pass |
4 |
Pass |
5 |
Dble |
Rdble |
Pass |
5 |
Pass |
6 |
End |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:
10
North starts with a strong jump shift, then supports diamonds at his next
turn. South shows first-round control of
hearts and North cue-bids the
A.
With his "waiting" 4 bid South denies the
A,
but when North shows that ace and East
doubles, South redoubles to show second-round
control of the suit. North's 5
bid is a grand slam try promising a second-round
control but South realises that his
K
is a wasted value opposite North's heart
shortness. With no fit for North's primary
suit, and thin interior trumps, South signs
off in 6.
The best technical plan is to establish spades as early as possible with
the least risk while maintaining the entries
to dummy to use the suit once it has been
established. You could find a deal of this
type in a good textbook on card play but
this "real" deal was played in the French
Open Team Trials; all the declarers in 6 were successful.
Win the
K
in hand and play the king of trumps, cross
to the
A,
ruff a spade, play a trump to the queen.
When you discover the bad break, ruff
another spade in case they divide four-two.
If the ruff stands up, cross to the trump
ace and play high spades. As long as the
player (West here) with the master trump
cannot discard all his hearts before ruffing
in, you will make your contract. If West
started with only six cards in the majors (three
hearts and three spades or four hearts and
two spades), he could discard all his hearts,
then ruff the first heart trick and prevent
you from reaching your hand.
If West ruffs early, he cannot prevent you from discarding a club from
dummy on a high heart and the
A
is the sure entry for the remaining spades.
On combinations of this type, the winning line often involves establishing
a long suit as the first priority, then
managing trumps and entries with care.
Las
4 manos: