What could go wrong? Bridge Column for November 18, 2001, Harvey Bernstein North-South vulnerable. South deals. North S: A 7 2 H: K Q 10 9 D: K 9 5 4 C: 7 2 West East S: Q J 10 S: 9 8 6 5 3 H: 5 3 H: 4 2 D: J 10 7 3 D: 2 C: K 9 8 4 C: Q J 6 5 3 South S: K 4 H: A J 8 7 6 D: A Q 8 6 C: A 10 The Bidding: South West North East 1H Pass 2NT Pass 3H Pass 3S Pass 4NT Pass 5S Pass 6H Pass Pass Pass Generally, good bridge players tend to be somewhat pessimistic when it comes to the play of the hand. Today's hand was played at a duplicate game and is a great example of why that is so. North's jump to two no trump was a forcing heart raise. This is called "Jacoby Two No Trump". Three hearts by South says that the South hand does not have a singleton or void, but does have extra values. Three spades by North is a cue bid showing first round control of the spade suit. Four no trump was the "Roman Key Card" variety of Blackwood. Five spades indicates that the North hand has two of the five "key" cards, which are comprised of the four aces and the king of the agreed upon trump suit plus the queen of the trump suit. This was all the information that South needed to bid a small slam in hearts. I was surprised that South did probe farther to see if a grand slam was possible, but already we are beginning to see the pessimist come forward. The opening lead was the queen of spades which declarer won with the king. Trumps were drawn in two rounds and prospects were pretty good. It was at this point that declarer said to himself, "What could possibly go wrong?" It was pretty obvious that there was a club trick to lose. The spade suit did not present a problem. If the diamonds divided 3-2, all would be well - but what if they were 4-1 or 5- 0? Could anything be done to prepare for that and avoid losing a diamond trick? South played the ace of diamonds. Both opponents followed and now the only distribution to guard against was 4-1. A spade to the ace allowed declarer to trump a spade. This was followed by the ace of clubs and another club. Here is the end position: North S: Void H: K Q D: K 9 5 C: 7 West East S: Void S: 9 8 H: Void H: Void D: J 10 7 D: Void C: K 9 8 C: Q J 6 5 South S: Void H: 8 7 D: Q 8 6 C: 10 When declarer leads the ten of clubs it doesn't matter which defender wins the trick. If it is East, he must return a spade or a club. In either case, declarer will be able to trump in one hand and discard a losing diamond from the other. West's choices are no better. Whether he leads clubs or diamonds, South will be able to manage the rest of the tricks. Declarer's caution has paid a good dividend. Look at what the result would have been if he had cashed any two high diamonds before stripping the hand - or equally as bad - if he had not played on diamonds at all. Yes, he could have been lucky and made his contract anyway - the defense is not always perfect. But it is so much better to play in such a way as to guarantee your tricks. And it will make your partner so very happy. _______________________________________________________ Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.