Dead Clever

15^th August – Board 5: North/South Game. Dealer North.

There is a lot more to defence than sometimes meets the eye and the hand below was a case in point. What maybe looked simple in reality merited a great deal of thought.

	North: S Q J 10 H K Q 8 5 D Q 10 8 3 C 7 6
West: S 6 5 3 2 H 6 D 9 7 2 C A K J 4 2		East: S K 8 4 H J 2 D A K 5 4 C Q 9 8 3
	South: S A 9 7 H A 10 9 7 4 3 D J 6 C 10 5

West	North	East	South
	No	1NT	End

South might wade in with a 2H overcall – more of that later – but let us suppose he doesn’t. South will lead the ten of hearts and North will win with the queen. When he next cashes the king and the jack appears from declarer the heart position is obvious to South and he should play the nine to show interest in spades – a McKenney signal of sorts. Furthermore on the eight he should play the seven and on the five he should play the four, deliberately blocking the suit and forcing partner to switch to a spade. With the position as it is in that suit declarer will suffer a three trick defeat. If South had needed a diamond switch he would have played the seven under the eight and the three under the five. So those who defend properly get +150 while those who overcall in hearts will score +140, with four top losers. So in teams it matters not one jot while in pairs it makes all the difference between a top and a bottom.