Semifinals Part 1 - Slippery Controls

In an uncontested auction, you arrive in 4♠.

West leads the ♥7. Dummy plays the ♥2. East rises with the ♥A, and you follow with the ♥Q. East continues with another heart (see image above for trick 2)…

How do you ensure the contract even in the worst-case scenario: when trumps split 4-0 and clubs split 4-1? If you draw trumps early, even successfully finessing so you lose no spade trick, you may still be in grave danger. 

Suppose North holds all four trumps and South holds four clubs.

You carefully draw all of North’s trumps without losing a spade trick, and only then turn your attention to clubs.

Now the real problem emerges. You are left with just one trump, yet you still must concede two club tricks before the fifth club can be established.

At that point, you are in grave danger. After the defense wins a club, they can force you in hearts. With only one trump remaining, you may lose control of the hand entirely.

So what measures avoid this catastrophe?

The key is to attack clubs before committing in trumps. At trick three, after ruffing the second heart, play a low club from hand to the ace. South plays the three and North plays the ten. Then at trick four, lead a club from dummy. 

• If clubs are three-two, the contract is already secure.

• If North has a singleton club and decides to discard, you can play the club king and then a third club. If the defense tries to force you with a heart, you can then play the fourth club and ruff with the spade jack. This line will always succeed unless North was dealt a singleton club and a spade void, which is extremely unlikely.

• It is also unlikely that South holds a singleton club given that North played the ten on the first round. Even if South did have a singleton, there would now only be three trumps left, so you would still retain enough control to make the contract.

SPS construction vs Knottenbelt:

Stefano Tommasini led a diamond, and Kotorwicz played a heart after winning with dummy’s diamond ace, which was taken by Norton’s ace. Norton returned a second heart, which declarer ruffed.

Kotorwicz then played a club to the ace, followed by a club to the king, and then a third club. Tommasini won the third club and returned a third heart.

Declarer then played a club and ruffed with the spade jack, successfully securing the contract.

The +420 for East-West gave SPS Construction 6 IMPs, as the other table failed to reach game.

De Botton vs Eler:

The Turkish pair, Eler, initially settled in 2♠, but Thor Erik Hoftaniska’s 3♥ balance ultimately pushed them up to 4♠.

During the play, a heart was led and returned, which declarer ruffed. Huseyim Kerem Avcioglu then led a club to the ace, followed by another club to the king, with Hoftaniska discarding on the second club. He then cashed the spade ace from his own hand, a move that proved disastrous. Not only did he create a spade loser, but he still had to contend with the clubs, leaving the contract vulnerable. 

At that point, taking ten tricks became very difficult, if not impossible, and declarer went down one. The resulting -50 cost the Turkish pair 10 IMPs. 

Nicolai Heiberg-Evenstad

In the other room, a diamond was led and taken with dummy’s ace. Nicolai Heiberg-Evenstad then cashed the ace of clubs and led another club from dummy, which Serdar ruffed. At this point, the contract was securely in hand, and there was no danger of it being compromised.

Overall, the hand demonstrates why cautious, precise play is essential, even on deals that at first glance seem almost impossible to defeat.

Photo credit: European Bridge League (Facebook)