IMPROVE YOUR PLAY

with Larry Matheny

When declaring a hand, the auction is often the guide to the right play.

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

Hand #12-42
Dlr	N
Vul	E/W

	A102
	J6
	AK63
	K1062

	1087
	Q98542
	Q874

	874
	AK95432
	10
	J5

	KQJ9653
	Q
	J7
	A83

West	North	East	South
	1NT	3	3
Pass	4	Pass	4NT
Pass	5	Pass	6
Pass	Pass	Pass

Bidding: After his partner opened 1NT, South thought about slam. Pushing aside East’s preemptive bid, South used Blackwood to make sure he was not off two aces.

Play: West led the seven of hearts to East’s king and a second round was ruffed by South. Declarer stopped to analyze the hand. He thought he would need a lot of luck in the club suit but first he drew trumps to find out more about the hand. After East had revealed a long heart suit and three spades, he was surely short in the minors. With that in mind, declarer played the ace, king, and a third diamond ruffing in his hand. With the six of diamonds a threat card in dummy, it merely remained for declarer to play the rest of his trumps to subject West to a diamond-club squeeze. Here was the ending when declarer played his last spade:

6 K106

Q

Q87

3 A83

If West discarded his diamond, dummy’s six would be good and it would be no better if he discarded a club.

Copyright ©2012 Larry Matheny