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TWO CAN REACH FOR BRILLIANCE, BUT ONLY ONE CAN GRASP IT
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Opening lead: |
Some rare deals offer both sides an opportunity for brilliance, and the diagramed deal from the Cavendish Pairs in Las Vegas, Nev., in May is a good example. East-West were using a strong club system, so the 2
opening showed a long club suit with minimum opening values.
After a 2
overcall, West’s jump to 4 was pre-emptive. North tried 5, knowing that his K was likely to be worthless. If West had guessed to lead a spade, the defense would have prevailed easily. But he led a heart, which gave the declarer some help and left the result in the balance.
It might appear that South was still due to lose two spades and a heart, but the declarer, Fred Gitelman of Toronto, found a neat series of plays to put East to the test. He won the first trick with the 
J, led the 10 to dummy’s K and ruffed a club with the 9. He then cashed the A and led to the A, discovering that West still had a potential trick in the suit. The position was now this:
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Gitelman led the A club return, giving a ruff and sluff, would have been fatal. South would have thrown a spade, ruffing in dummy, and led a heart to the East chose to cash the East had missed a difficult chance to escape from the trap. After winning the Gitelman is a leading creator of bridge software. His latest effort is a program for complete beginners. It is available free by logging onto the American Contract Bridge League’s Web page: www.acbl.org. |
J, establishing a winner to take care of his heart loser.