NORTH
SPADES K 8 6 4
HEARTS K 8 7 3 2
DIAMONDS 3
CLUBS K Q 7
WEST EAST
SPADES 5 SPADES Q J 10 9
HEARTS Q 9 6 HEARTS A 5 4
DIAMONDS K 10 8 7 6 5 DIAMONDS J
CLUBS 6 5 4 CLUBS A 9 8 3 2
SOUTH
SPADES A 7 3 2
HEARTS J 10
DIAMONDS A Q 9 4 2
CLUBS J 10
Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: East
The bidding:
South West North East
1 CLUBS
1 DIAMONDS Pass 1 HEARTS Pass
4 SPADES Dbl. All pass
Opening Lead: Club four
The dust of exploded beliefs may make a fine sunset.
-- Geoffrey Madan
Since the world junior teams are taking place now in Croatia, this week's deals focus on the junior event from 2003, won by the U.S. When the U.S. took on the Norwegians, the match was close until the end. However, an explosion of penalty doubles set the seal on an impressive American finish. Here, although Norway did well in one room, the board then blew up in their faces in the other.
Both tables played four spades doubled. In the closed room, the Norwegian West led a club to the seven, eight and jack. Declarer established another club trick by returning a club to the queen and ace. East now laid down the heart ace, but that helped South set up the hearts and escape for down one.
In the other room, West also led the club four, but this time East, John Kranyak, took the ace and decided to go for bigger game. He returned a deceptive spade nine to declarer's ace, and declarer then cashed two clubs, discarding a heart.
When declarer decided to finesse in diamonds, the roof fell in. West won his king and played back the heart queen to the king and East's ace. East then switched back to a trump to dummy's king. The best declarer could do now was to let the heart eight run to North's nine, to emerge three down. Team U.S. scored 800 and 12 IMPs.
Had declarer ruffed the second heart in hand and tried to ruff a diamond in dummy, East would have overruffed and drawn trumps to collect 1,100!
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
SPADES 8 6 2
HEARTS 10 7 4 3
DIAMONDS A 4
CLUBS K J 8 7
South West North East
1 DIAMONDS Pass 1 NT
All pass
ANSWER: In Larry Cohen's book on opening leads (Larry Cohen Teaches Opening Leads), he suggests that you should lead a heart rather than a club, even though clubs is your best suit. Try to lead up to declarer's weakness, not his strength; you can infer declarer rates to have club length rather than strength, hence hearts is safer. Some would lead the seven instead of the three; I'm ambivalent on that issue.
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, email him at
bobbywolff@mindspring.com
ActiveStyle on 08/24/2015