Thinking bridge - NABC Fall 2007

By Eddie Kantar

Dlr - South Vul= None	♠ J 10 5 ♥ A J 3 ♦ 8 6 4 ♣ 8 5 3 2		Bidding commentary: After North cuebids the ♥A, South decides to give up on a grand slam as it is tough to discover if partner has both black queens. Defensive commentary: In spite of the heart cue bid, East’s powerful Heart sequence warrants heart lead. . Play commentary: With a certain club loser, South needs to find East with the ♠Q, so the ♠J is led from dummy at trick two. Defensive commentary #2: As East in second seat, do not cover the jack! When dummy has two equal honors, cover the second equal, not the first. Notice the difference. If the jack is covered, declarer wins, crosses back to the 10, sees West show out and leads a low spade to the 8. You take zero spade tricks. If you duck the jack, but cover the 10, declarer wins, partner shows out, but declarer cannot get back to dummy to finesse you out of your ♠9 4. Success! You wind up with a spade and a club trick. As second hand, when dummy has a number of equal honors, cover the last equal. This is an important defensive principle
♠ 6 ♥ K Q 10 8 ♦ 7 5 3 2 ♣ Q 7 6 4		♠ Q 9 4 2 ♥ 9 7 6 5 4 ♦ 10 9 ♣ J 10
	♠ A K 8 7 3 ♥ 2 ♦ A K Q J ♣ A K 9
West North East South 2Club Pass 2Diamond Pass 2Spade Pass 3Spade Pass 4Club Pass 4Heart Pass 6Spade All Pass Opening lead::-- ♥ K