Management by Tim Bourke

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Tim Bourke
Tim Bourke

Source: Canberra 2015 Bulletins

TB Management

After the Jacoby two notrump response, showing a sound raise to game in spades, your four heart bid promised a singleton in the suit. Your partner then asked for key cards and then extras. You showed two key cards with five hearts and the king of clubs by bidding six clubs.

How will you make thirteen tricks after West leads the ten of trumps and East discards a heart?

SOLUTION

You should plan to set up the clubs. This will be straightforward if the clubs are 3-3 but will require two ruffs in dummy if the suit is 4-2. So, you should win the trump lead in the dummy with the queen. Suppose the full deal is similar to this one:TB Management Resp

When both defenders follow to the ace and king of clubs, you ruff a club in dummy with the five. After returning to hand with the ace of diamonds, you ruff a second club with the seven. Next you should cash dummy’s sole remaining trump, the jack. The only thing now required is to play the king and queen of diamonds, ruffing the latter to return to your hand. Next you draw West’s last two trumps with the ace and king, claiming the established long club as your thirteenth trick.

If West had started with five clubs, you would have to hope he had two hearts to begin with, so that you could return to hand with a heart ruff to draw the trumps. If this passed off successfully, then you would take the last two tricks with dummy’s king and queen of diamonds.

Perhaps East should have overcalled four hearts – it would certainly have made bidding this spade grand slam more
problematical.