Overtricks are usually very important in a pairs event, but this hand
shows that sometimes you simply need to ensure your contract.
Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)
Hand #34
Dlr
E
Vul
none
A
Q102
K865
AJ1062
J1072
76
Q104
KQ75
K986543
5
A
9843
Q
AKJ9843
J9732
West
North
East
South
3
4
4
5
Pass
Pass
Pass
BIDDING: As is often the
case after a preempt, it wasn't clear who could make what.
North thought about trying for slam and East considered bidding one
more before she passed.
PLAY: Declarer won the
spade lead in dummy and after two rounds of trumps it was time to
tackle the diamond suit. The goal was to play the
suit for only two losers. While most preempts don't
include an outside ace, declarer was never tempted to play to the
diamond
king. Instead, he led a low diamond from his hand and after West
followed with the four, the five was played from dummy.
This ensured the contract unless East had preempted holding the AQ10 of
diamonds. East won with the ace and declarer
quickly claimed conceding one more diamond. Even if East had won
with the ten or the queen, declarer would have won the return and led
another diamond toward dummy.
