Henderson Daily Dispatch

CONTRACT BRIDGE

FATE WAS KIND

The other evening fate was very kind to Mrs. Parsons Harison, Brooklyn, in handing East and West their cards. They alone were vulnerable.

A87648 K1054 96 87 None AQJ QJ AQJ 09632 10 752 KQJ QA654 10 98 AK10952 987 K843 82

Bidding went: West, 2-Clubs; North, 2-Spades; East, 3-Clubs; South, 3-Spades; West, 6-Clubs; North, doubled.

Mrs. Harison, sitting West, had correctly counted upon her partner's voluntary support as showing possession of the Ace of clubs. She calculated that there were better than even chances for East to hold either or both red Kings, and in case East held neither of them the odds were 3 to 1 against both of them being held by North. What West admitted afterwards she had not taken into consideration were the difficulties of entering dummy often enough to take the necessary finesses in both hearts and diamonds.

The opening lead was the Ace of spades. Declarer took care to ruff with the 9 also to lead the K of clubs for her second trick and to overtake her Q of clubs with dummy's Ace for the third trick. She had to preserve the 3 in her hand for future entry to dummy.

The 7 of diamonds was led. Declarer’s 10 held the trick, but that did not mean certainly that North might not hold the missing K, to spring it next time and ruin things. The 3 of clubs was led and overtaken with dummy's 5. Another diamond was led and the J held. Declarer then led the Ace of diamonds taking out dummy's last diamond.

Of course West now could have led off the Ace of hearts, then given the defenders a heart trick with the K, regardless of which defender held that missing honor, but there was a very slight chance that there might be a grand slam in the hand, provided dummy led the hearts. The Q of diamonds was ruffed with dummy's last club, and a heart was led through South. West lost the finesse of her J, but she had the satisfaction of noting that had South held the K-X, instead of the X-X, that a grand slam would have been made.

North led back a spade. That was the tenth trick and the balance of tricks belonged to declarer's two trumps and A-Q of hearts, giving her a small slam doubled when vulnerable, netting for that last hand 1,790 points.

It would have been foolhardy for West to have redoubled, but she joked North about what a score would have resulted, but both North and South stated that a redouble would have caused the hand to be played at 6-Spades, at a cost of only 500 points.