This deal from recent play was sent to me by one of my regular panelists. The declarer play rather than the bidding is what will interest the reader. It is not very often that we find a vulnerable vs not vulnerable sacrifice paying off, and as my correspondent writes, this one did not either, because when this was played, 5C doubled went down two, with nearly all other tables returning a +480 when only one EW pair bid to a very good heart slam. I find it difficult to see how NS would end up in 5C doubled rather than EW in either 5H or 6H. But let’s not puzzle over the bidding, but look at the play.
Dealer N NS Vul
In 5C doubled, East is certain to start with the ace of diamonds. Then, East is also LIKELY to continue with the king, at which stage the defence can no longer defeat 5C by more than one: declarer ruffs, takes one round of trumps, and leads their singleton heart. Too late for the defence. Declarer has enough trumps to enter dummy twice and ruff two hearts. Then, with only spades left, declarer plays ace of spade and another. Do you see what happens and how the defence can not make two spade tricks? Replay this board by clicking here.
Many years ago I learnt one thing about declarer play: when nothing else will help, hope for a miracle or a defensive error, or both. Here, we had a defensive error when East was not a genius and failed to switch to a spade at trick two; the miracle was the layout of the spade suit.
T865
3
5
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