Bridge Base Online (otherwise known as BBO), bridgebase.com, is an excellent place to go to watch bridge. Many of us keep an eye on major championships across the world while we are doing other things: watching TV, doing the ironing, just pottering around at home. The other day I happened to be watching my good friend Barry Rigal playing against the strong Bramley team in the last 16 of the US Bridge Championships.
NS vulnerable, Dealer West
In the other room North/South had had a bidding misunderstanding and settled in six no-trumps, going one down.
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This was Rigal/Aker’s bidding:
Once they had located their spade fit South used Roman Key Card Blackwood and then issued a grand slam invitation which North was happy to accept. West led a trump to the jack and ace. How would you play?
I am a simple soul and would play to ruff two clubs in the dummy. So after winning the queen of trumps I cash dummy’s top clubs, trump to the king, ruff a club, heart to the king, ruff a club, cash the ace and king of diamonds, ruff a diamond, draw the last trump discarding a heart and dummy is high.
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However, although Jeff Akers started off like this, after ruffing the first club in the dummy he surprised me by drawing the last trump immediately. He then cashed dummy’s diamonds discarding a heart, came back to the king of hearts and played his last trump.
West had to discard a heart to keep the master diamond; the now-useless diamond was thrown from dummy; and East also had to discard a heart, to keep the master club. The hearts were now 1-1 and the ten of hearts was declarer’s thirteenth trick.
This week’s problem
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What should West bid?
Solution next week.