The Magic

This deal was played by the Brazilian magician Gabriel Chagas. He realised that he had to cash four heart tricks, so that he could discard a club from the dummy. Then, he could ruff a club loser in the dummy. Yet, that meant finding the opponent with four hearts also holding three trumps.

The play went like this: He won the trump lead with the ♠10 and ducked a club. He won the club return, cashed the ♠A and ♥K, played a heart to dummy’s ♥A, then finesse the ♥10. When that worked and West didn’t ruff, Chagas played off the ♥Q, discarding dummy’s last club, ruffed his remaining club in dummy and claimed. 

When the kibitzers enjoy your performance that is doing magic, it’s a great feeling!

Blog : www.hemadeora.blogspot.in

Twitter ID :@HemaDeora 

THERE IS ONE TWIST

The above, very informative and interesting deal is sent by our very dear friend Deepak Parekh, who is busier than the Bee! But, he always makes it a point to send me these interesting hands so I can share with my readers. [and help them improve their game too!]

When North used Stayman, East doubled a conventional lead-directional bid. When South ended in 3NT, West led ♣6. Declarer played low from dummy and East put in ♣9. South won with ♣K and led ♠2.  West hopped up with ♠a and led ♣3 and now East took the next four club tricks. 

Should North use Stayman? He has strong hand with stoppers in each suit and his doubleton heart is ace-high. There are certainly hands South could hold where 4♠ makes and 3NT does not, but raising directly to 3NT is probably right the majority of the time. If North doesn’t use Stayman, but simply raises to 3NT, or if East does not double north’s 2♣ bid, West would lead ♥10 and 3NT would make easily.

Expert players manage to slip in crucial information whenever they can, and it makes a big difference!

Blog : www.hemadeora.blogspot.in

Twitter ID :@HemaDeora 

Niggardly Way

With the hike in fuel prices one would like to go the niggardly way. But, certainly not when it comes to playing the bridge deal. 

South played today’s game in a niggardly way. And with his false economy, he managed to turn a makable game into a losing effort. 

West’s ♠k held, and West continued with the ♠4 after East had encouraged with the ♠8. East won the ♠a and returned the ♠3, and defenders had the first four tricks. West exited with a heart. 

South allowed dummy’s ♥k to hold and thereby fell from grace. When no singleton ♦k appeared, South was forced to concede down one. 

South had his eyes on the wrong goal. True, he would have had nine tricks had he won the ♥a and ♥k separately. However, since there was no reasonable way to achieve that end without the loss of another trick, South should have ‘wasted’ his ♥a in trade for an entry to his hand. 

When West shifted to a heart at trick five, South should have overtaken dummy’s king with his ace and tried the diamond finesse. When the finesse succeeds, South collects two diamond winners, just enough to score his game.

Blog : www.hemadeora.blogspot.in

Twitter ID :@HemaDeora 

The Second Suit

In the above deal, West’s bid of two clubs was the ‘landy’ convention, showing length in both major suits. West might have made two hearts, so north-south tried 3NT. When West led the ♥K, East played the deuce and south ducked. Now he was left with the ♥A-J. West shifted to a club, south won, lost a diamond finesse to East, won the heart return, and claimed with four club tricks, four diamonds and a heart. West forgot he had the second suit his bid had shown. He defeats 3NT if he shifts to a spade at the second trick — and to the Queen. If south takes the ♠K and leads a club to his hand and loses the diamond finesse, East can return a spade through south’s Jack, letting West cash three spades. If instead south let ♠Q win, West continues with a low spade and the result is the same, down one.

Blog : www.hemadeora.blogspot.in

Twitter ID :@HemaDeora