| August Challenge |
Here is another challenge for the more experienced:
( Apologies to readers of Great Bentley Parish Magazine for a typo in their challenge )
NORTH
ª A Q 7 4
© 9 7 6
¨ K 7 5
§ K Q 3
SOUTH W N E S
ª J 10 9 3 2 1NT 2♠
© K J 10 Pass 4♠ Pass Pass
¨ A J 10
§ A 7 West leads a small club. Plan the play.
Answer:
You know from the bidding that East has all the defenders' points.
Win the first trick with the A♣ then play spades in the order Ace, Queen, 7 until East takes their King. Then win the return and take all the finesses through the South hand. |
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| June Challenge |
Here is a challenge for the more experienced:
NORTH W N E S
ªJ 9 Pass Pass Pass 1¨
© A 8 4 3 1 © 2 § Pass 2©*
¨ 9 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3NT
§A J 10 7 3 Pass Pass Pass
SOUTH
ª A Q 7
© 10 7 6
¨ AQ J 5
§ K Q 2
* DAB – asking for a heart stop for No Trumps
East leads a small © to West’s Jack which wins.
West continues with the K©.
What is your best chance of making your contract?
Answer:
You can see 8 top tricks but how will you get your extra trick?
West's overcall suggests they have all the remaining points so neither finesse will work.
The answer is to end-play West. This means putting West on lead when they have no choice but to lead a spade or a diamond thus effectively taking your finesse for you.
The obvious line is to play off all the clubs then exit with a heart. You need to be careful though because by the time you have played 5 clubs and West has played 5 hearts South will only have three cards left. With only three cards left South cant keep both AQ Spades and AQ Diamonds.
Therefore it is a better chance to cash just two clubs before exiting with a heart.
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