Bridge

Alan Hiron
Wednesday 13 March 1996 00:02 GMT
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It is a truism that if you overbid you have to play the cards well to recover. North-South lived up to the first part, but South missed his best chance in the play.

South opened 14 - already a little forward. Many players would have passed, with a view to overcalling later, or, if available, opened with a Weak Two. North responded 2# and South rebid his spades.

Now it was North's turn to push the boat out: 2NT was a possibility, but his choice of 32 committed his side to game. South's next bid of 3NT ended the auction and you can see the result: with an ill-fitting 22 points the partnership had pushed to game.

West led !9, the unbid suit, and declarer won cheaply with his jack. He crossed to dummy with #A and finessed in spades. This, he reasoned, gave him the chance of East's having started with KQx in spades, after which he would be in business. There was no such luck, and the contract drifted two off.

A far better bet was to have assumed that the opening lead was the top of nothing. Try winning the first trick with dummy's king (preserving two entries to hand) and following with the 4A and a low spade, hoping for a 3-3 break or - as the cards lie - either opponent holding a doubleton honour.

Yes, a club switch from West would be embarrassing now, but he might so easily have continued hearts after declarer's slightly deceptive play on the opening trick.

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