Bridge Bites: Detective work

East’s 2♦ was a Weak Two, showing six Diamonds and less than opening values. N-S push on to 4♠, a contract that is in danger of losing a trick in each suit. On the other hand, with a bit of sleuthing, you might even make an overtrick.

West leads a low Diamond to East’s Ace, and you ruff the ♦Q continuation. Do you know who has the ♠Q? Not exactly, but you do know who is more likely to hold that card. East started with six Diamonds and West with only three. That leaves more space in the West hand for Spades, and he is, therefore, more likely to hold the Queen. So, you cash the ♠K, finesse the ♠J successfully, and draw the last trump with the ♠A. Now the contract is assured, but can you make an overtrick?

There wasn’t much sleuthing in that Spade guess; you just had to remember the implications of the E-W bidding. But to find the ♣Q, you will need to do some detective work. Before trying to guess the ♣Q, you can learn more about the hand by playing on Hearts. You cash the ♥A, and exit a Heart. Lo and behold, East plays the King on this trick and exits with the ♦J, which you ruff. That’s the final clue — the mystery is now solved. East has shown the ♦AQJ and the ♥K — 10 HCP. Also, East claims (in the bidding) to have less than opening values. So, he can hardly have the ♣Q, that would take him up to 12 HCP, which, coupled with a good six-card suit, is an opening one-bid in anyone’s book. So, you run the ♣J around, then repeat the finesse and end up with 11 tricks.

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