King Me

While shuffling through the hands from the Contra Cup tournament over Memorial Day weekend, I came across what was debatably one of the most remarkable boards of the event.

Sitting East, vulnerable against not, you pick up:

♠ Void

♥ AQJ9765

♦ Void

♣ AQJ972

North passes as dealer. Are you going big or not?

One tempting option would simply be to open with a slam bid, a choice that, in fact, occurred at two different tables.

At one table, the auction proceeded exactly as follows:

West	North	East	South
	P	6♥	AP

South places the ♠A on the table. Partner follows with:

♠ KJ97

♥ T

♦ Q9752

♣ T85

With partner offering what appears to be completely useless support, you begin regretting your earlier decision to open a slam.

However, there might still be one card of value in the dummy. While the position looks bleak, there are still chances for 6♥ to make.

For starters, a stiff king in either hearts or clubs would allow you to only concede one trick. This play mathematically would give declarer a better chance of making the contract.

However, one of the declarers tried a different line, leading a low club from hand at trick two. While this line still relied on clubs breaking 2-2 to lose only one trick, the location of the ♣K no longer mattered, as the play would create an entry to dummy to lead a heart and take the finesse in that suit.

This line ultimately allowed them to avoid losing any heart tricks, securing a contract that initially appeared to be a complete nightmare at the table.

It is worth noting that at the second table where 6♥ was also successfully made, North began the auction with 1♦, and South ultimately doubled the slam, perhaps giving declarer a clue as to the location of the high card points. A trump was led at trick one, and declarer easily claimed.

On the other hand, 6♣ would likely be considered the superior slam, as declarer could ruff out the hearts even if they were offside. If the location of the heart and club kings were reversed, 7♣ could potentially make, while 6♥ would go down one.

Only one of the eight tables reached 6♣, where declarer only needed to ruff one round of hearts as the king fell on the second round. In an effort to take all 13 tricks, they took the club finesse, which failed, but the contract was already secure and claimed.