Lucky clubs (Le Bridgeur Magazine n°896 – July 2015)

Article written by Jérôme Rombaut and published in the French magazine Le Bridgeur n°896 on 15 July 2015.

In pairs tournaments, every effort should be made to get the most out of each deal. Here clubs will bring you luck.

Hands are:

A K 8 4  A 9  10 8 5 3  10 5 2

Q J 5  K J 10 6  A 9  A Q 8 3

 
The robot sits North and the bidding proceeds as follows:

SOUTH	NORTH

 
Club 6 lead (fourth best), dummy’s low club and East’s 7 taken by the 8. Obviously, West initially held KJ9 fourth or fifth.

You logically continue with a low heart to the ace, followed by the 9 covered by the queen to your king. You play the heart jack to discard a low diamond in dummy (opponents follow). West follows suit on the heart 10. You throw a second low diamond from dummy and East discards a low diamond too.

You are on the right track to take 12 tricks. Do you see how?

The full deal is:

A K 8 4  A 9  10 8 5 3  10 5 2

9 3  8 7 5 2  7 6  K J 9 6 4

10 7 6 2   Q 4 3  K Q J 4 2  7

Q J 5  K J 10 6  A 9  A Q 8 3

 
Play three rounds of spades. West kindly discards the club 4, confirming that he holds 5 cards in the suit.

The deal is now:

K  –  10 8  10 5

–  –  7 6  K J 9

10  –  K Q J 4  –

–  –  A 9  A Q 3

 
Discard your diamond 9 on the spade king. If West plays a low diamond, continue with the diamond ace followed by a low club to the 10. And if he gets rid of his club 9, take a trick with your club ace and let him take one with his king. In both cases, defence will take one single trick.