Romping Home

4^th September – Board 2: North/South Game. Dealer East.

Even the simplest of hands contain points of interest and the one shown below has more than its fair share.

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

West	North	East	South
		2NT	No
3NT	End

East is a little heavy for 2NT it is true but those pointed suit holdings are not attractive and I guess you have to be maximum for your bid once in a while! Now I am a huge fan of Stayman but it would be a big mistake to use it on that West hand, with such relatively poor hearts and enough points to make the no-trump game virtually unassailable. South will lead a spade most likely and declarer has to overcome the first hurdle by winning with the ace in hand, not the queen which would cause a blockage in the diamond suit. Now he should play the ace of clubs and when an honour appears from South he should continue with a low card to the nine. Had South shown out he would have manufactured a finesse position against the remaining honour. As it happens the suit breaks evenly and declarer will romp home with two spades, one heart, four diamonds and four clubs. As an aside if declarer had mistakenly won the first trick with the queen then notice how South must keep all his diamonds on the run of the clubs, paying homage to the advice that it is important as a defender to keep as many card s in a suit as you can see in dummy or can infer for declarer.