Deja Coup

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday December 27, 2005

Ron Klinger

This was a super deal for Australia in the 1971 Bermuda Bowl:

West continued with the CK and declarer discarded from dummy. It would not have

helped to ruff the second club. The contract would be down anyway. Declarer ended two down for ?100, but that was worth +11 Imps after the remarkable events at the other table:

The contract could go three down via five diamonds and two hearts, but after East

played the DJ under the DA, West shifted to the S4. You and I might now settle for eight tricks, but not Tim Seres. East played the S10 and Seres won with ... the ace! This gave West the illusion that East also held the SJ and SQ.

Seres then rattled off six rounds of clubs.

West discarded two hearts and three diamonds. At trick 9 Seres led a low heart and

West rose with the king. East won with the singleton ace. The play in diamonds should have convinced East to cash the DK, but he returned the S8. Declarer played low and West had to win with the SK. When he returned a spade. Seres took the last three tricks with the SQ and two hearts in dummy.

This coup came to mind after this rubber bridge deal from the Double Bay Bridge

Tim Seres is a staunch believer in bidding no-trumps on balanced hands, not

bidding poor suits, and the benefits /profits that come from being declarer. East played the C10 and Seres won with the CQ. He played a low diamond to dummy, followed by a low spade. When East played low, Seres put in the S8. West won and led a second club, taken by the jack. Now declarer had nine tricks and a spade to the ace and a third spade gave him ten.

Answer to yesterday?s question:

Seres later chided himself. `I should have won the first trick with the CA. Now it will be irresistible for West to play a second club when in on the first round of spades.

As it was, a heart switch after winning the first spade could have taken me down. If I can score two spade tricks I do not need more than two tricks from the clubs and the C2 indicates that West began with only four clubs, so that the clubs are not a huge threat.?

Jack Spratt could only bid, his wife could only defend, so between the both of them,

declarer play was a dead end.

West leads the SA, followed by the SK,

which you ruff. How would you plan the play?

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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