In Tournament Bridge, there is always a fierce tussle between the two sides who have found a massive fit in their respective suits. This pushes the bidding sometimes to a rather uncomfortable dizzying height. The level most Bridge players try to avoid is the 5 level in the major suits, which is one short of a slam bid but one which could well jeopardise the game contract at 4 level in a major suit. In competition each side pushes the other to a level where it becomes a close affair altogether.
Let us illustrate by example. NS reach 5S hold on the following hand through the bidding given below:
The opening lead is the ace of hearts. Place yourself in the south seat and plan your play.
When the AH held, west followed with the KH ruffed in by south. Take it from there. On cashing AS, south gets a jolt when west shows out. How do you view your prospects of 5S now? Even if you aim to get both your minor suit winners of AKQs. That makes 6 tricks with a heart ruff being the 7th trick. AK of spades and the J of spades can push your tally to 9 tricks - way short of the 11 required.
Well lets see how the play unfolds when south started on his minor suits. Playing KQ ace of diamonds followed by the 3 clubs reaching this position:
The play up till this point had given south 8 tricks. Can you find the right winning card to play from dummy? Yes, the 10D. This puts east in a thick quandary. If he ruffs low, declarer over ruffs with the 9S and exits with a club leaving east end played to ruff and lead away from her queen of trumps. If on the other hand east ruffs the 10D with QS, south would discard his last club and pick up the remaining trumps with a simple finesse. West, crest fallen at the doubled contract having made meekly whispered to a Kibitzer watching, "On my pre-emptive call, he has the cheek to double?"
Let us finish with another illustration NS reach 6S on the following hand:
West leads the 3C which looks an obvious singleton. As south try your luck on this slam. East's 9C was taken by the AC. On the ace of spades, the QS fell from east. Trumps were drawn in 3 rounds. Now what? The diamond suit is the key. How to play it? South led a diamond and took the finesse of the queen holding his breath. It held, but the ace of diamonds did not draw the KD. At first, crest fallen, do you see the light, as did south? Yes - if west has no clubs, he is end played in diamonds, if he holds the king of hearts. Declarer quickly played another diamond and discarded a club to end play west who held the KJ of hearts. The slam was home when on the heart return, QH made all the difference. It's a best feeling to play Bridge with inspiration.
The bidding:
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North South North South
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A K 4 3 J 9 5 2 4 A K J 1 0 9 5 3
7 J 5 Q 5 A 4
A 10 7 5 K Q 9 A Q J 7 6 5 2 3
K 9 8 3 A Q 6 4 J 7 2 A 8 4
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The bidding:
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W N E S
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- 1D PASS 1S
4H 4S PASS PASS
5H P P 5S
P P Dbl ALL
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W N E S
- 1D 3C 6S
ALL PASS
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North West East South
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K 4 - Q 1 0 8 7 J 9 5
- Q 1 0 8 6 - -
10 - - -
9 - - 6
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