I think several players
sitting East were disappointed at the result on the following hand although any
mistake they might have made was punished in the most severe fashion.
You might look twice at that 4♠ bid from West but it seems right to me, being a good two way bet. (Indeed 4♠ is cold even without the ace of clubs opposite and bidding to a high level puts maximum pressure on the opposition.) As it happens North has an easy ‘sacrifice’ although it usually turned out to exceed his wildest expectations. What would you lead from that East hand? The king of spades seems the obvious choice but how do you continue when in with the ace of trumps at trick two? A black suit enables declarer to draw trumps and discard a diamond loser on the hearts and a heart switch from East achieves the same end, and although a diamond switch looks dangerous I think it is the right play. Even if declarer has the king he will still not be making unless he has the king of hearts and West must hold one good card at least. Anyway 5♣ doubled and making was fairly commonplace but it is interesting to note that in a curious and similar fashion North/South have to be fairly quick if they hope to defeat 5♠, for at some stage South has to switch to a heart from his AJxx holding.
You might look twice at that 4♠ bid from West but it seems right to me, being a good two way bet. (Indeed 4♠ is cold even without the ace of clubs opposite and bidding to a high level puts maximum pressure on the opposition.) As it happens North has an easy ‘sacrifice’ although it usually turned out to exceed his wildest expectations. What would you lead from that East hand? The king of spades seems the obvious choice but how do you continue when in with the ace of trumps at trick two? A black suit enables declarer to draw trumps and discard a diamond loser on the hearts and a heart switch from East achieves the same end, and although a diamond switch looks dangerous I think it is the right play. Even if declarer has the king he will still not be making unless he has the king of hearts and West must hold one good card at least. Anyway 5♣ doubled and making was fairly commonplace but it is interesting to note that in a curious and similar fashion North/South have to be fairly quick if they hope to defeat 5♠, for at some stage South has to switch to a heart from his AJxx holding.
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