IMPROVE YOUR PLAY

With Larry Matheny

Important information is available from the auction, the opening lead, and the subsequent play of the cards. Sometimes you can even reach a conclusion from something that didn’t happen.

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

#13-48
Dlr	N
Vul	N/S

	9743
	J63
	92
	AJ54

	102
	97
	A108754
	Q96

	AQJ86
	102
	K63
	872

	K5
	AKQ854
	QJ
	K103

West	North	East	South
-	Pass	Pass	1
Pass	2	Pass	4
Pass	Pass	Pass

Bidding: After receiving a raise, South bid game.

Play: West led the 10 of spades to the ace. East returned the queen of spades and declarer was relieved when his king wasn’t ruffed. Analyzing the hand, declarer saw he had two diamonds to lose so it was imperative he find the queen of clubs. That answer came from the auction and the play to the first two tricks. East had shown up with AQJ76 of spades and since West didn’t lead a top diamond, one of those cards must be in the East hand. After all, West would not have led a doubleton spade if he held the AK of a side suit. It was also clear If East also held the queen of clubs, he would not have passed at his first opportunity. So, placing the queen of clubs in the West hand. declarer drew trumps, finessed West for the queen of clubs, and made his game. He even scored an overtrick when the clubs provided a discard for a diamond.

Copyright ©2013 Larry Matheny