Dealer: S Vul: N/S
NORTH
♠ KQ83
♥ 1052
♦ A52
♣ A96
WEST EAST
♠ J6 ♠ 109754
♥ Q864 ♥ K3
♦ J93 ♦ 104
♣ J742 ♣ Q1085
SOUTH
♠ A2
♥ AJ96
♦ KQ876
♣ K3
In bridge, it pays to play your tricks in the right order, especially in no-trump contracts. On Board 15 (above) last Friday North/South winners, Jenny Smith and Ros Hart, were the only pair to bid and make 6NT. They not only bid correctly, but played their cards in the right sequence.
The bidding was straightforward: 1D from Ros (South), 1S from Jenny (North), then 2H and 3H. The bid of 3H was sufficiently encouraging for Ros to make the Ace-asking bid of 4C. This has the advantage of allowing the bidding to end at the same level if partner’s answer is negative. As it happened, Jenny’s answer of 4S showed two Aces. The prospects of making a small slam now looked very good. 6D, 6H and 6NT should all succeed. Jenny closed off the bidding in the par contract of 6NT and received the lead of the five of clubs. Declarer (Jenny) could see eleven top tricks and needed to find a way to make the twelfth. This could be North’s fourth spade if the defenders’ spades split evenly, but rhat could not be relied upon.
The winning line is to win with the King of clubs, then cross to the Ace of diamonds and lead the ten of hearts. If East plays low, so does dummy. This allows West’s Queen to win, but declarer’s Ace of hearts can drop the King and promote the Jack, which will be the twelfth trick. The1440 awarded was the top score for this board by a large margin. The two declarers who made only nine tricks ignored a fundamental principle in playing no-trump contracts: don’t play off all your winners before you have set up any extra trick(s) that you need for your contract.
Results, Monday, 07/04/25 (5 & 1/2-table Howell): L. James S. Head (63.4) 1; M. Simpson N. Collins (56.0) 2; P. Kelly D. Moran (54.2) 3; L. Don T. Hinde (53.2) 4. Friday, 13/04/25 (6-table Mitchell): N/S J. Smith R. Hart (60.3) 1; M. Johnston C. Duggan (55.3) 2; N. Collins M. Simpson (55.0) 3. E/W J. Mobbs T. Hinde (61.0) 1; L. Don P. Kelly (56.0) 2; W. Milne J. Sipple (53.7) 3. Handicap: A. Macdonald B. Reid 1.
