Overdone Safety

Pages: Page 4 of 4

Dealer: East
Vuln: E-W
Scoring: Pairs
  1. spade10 6 2
  2. heartK Q 10
  3. diamondK Q J 6
  4. clubA K 8
  1. spadeK Q J 9 7 5 3
  2. heart5 3
  3. diamondA 2
  4. club6 3
club diamond heart spade NT
N 3 3 3 - -
S 3 3 3 - -
E - - - 2 -
W - - - 2 -
Green square in centre
  1. spadeA
  2. heart8 6 4 2
  3. diamond10 8 5 3
  4. club10 7 5 4

Contract: 4heart
Declarer: South
Lead: spadeK
  1. spade8 4
  2. heartA J 9 7
  3. diamond9 7 4
  4. clubQ J 9 2
Double dummy analyser: makeable contracts
West North East South
Pass Pass
3spade Dble Pass 4heart
Pass Pass Pass
West's failure to lead a minor suit might indicate the lack of a singleton, so after seeing him follow to two top trumps he can be counted for a 7-2-2-2 shape. It's then straightforward to cash the minor suit winners and make the last two tricks on a cross-ruff. +420. Our paltry +100 from defending 3spade undoubled was not a winning score, and abuse from Bowyer is inevitable.
STOP PRESS: It shows what a sad life I lead ... on the way to work I started to think about the normal defence to 4heart. spadeK lead, diamond switch, spadeQJ .. what happens if East ditches diamonds on these? Answer: declarer cannot reach an ending to cross-ruff the last two tricks because dummy's diamondKQ don't stand up - East ruffs. 4heart is therefore beatable, and maybe passing 3spade wasn't so bad after all..
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