Dog With A Bone

31st October – Board 7: Game All. Dealer South.

One of the most depressing things that can happen at the bridge table is to push the opponents into what turns out to be a makeable game/slam when, if left to themselves, they would have given up long before. That might have happened on the hand below and I believe it actually did at least once.

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

West	North	East	South
			1D
Dbl	1H	2S	3D
3S	No	No	4C
No	4D	End

The auction shown above does not seem so far-fetched but if E/W make the mistake of bidding game then South, like a dog with a bone, might take the ‘save’. But what a save it turns out to be! North’s hand is a goldmine with its three trumps and queen of clubs and the contract depends on little more than the trump finesse working. There is a small point of interest in the play though. If West starts off with a top heart and switches to a spade then declarer will win and play a club to the queen. Should that lose however it would be unrealistic to subsequently take the diamond finesse because West must have the king to account for all his bidding and declarer must hope it is a singleton.