You have been invited on an ocean cruise, and as soon as you leave port somebody mentions bridge. Oh, no! Not that game again! Oh well, you’ve been learning it and agree to play.
You are the first dealer and pick up the following hand:
How many high-card points do you have?
How many total points do you have including distribution?
You add two points for your singleton and one for your doubleton. What is your opening bid?
Holding two five-card suits you should bid the higher ranking first. The opponents pass throughout and your partner responds 2 . What is your next bid?
Now is the time to show your second suit. Partner next bids 2 NT. What is your third bid?
Your previous heart bid showed only four cards. By rebidding your second suit you show five hearts. Partner raises you to 4 (game) and you pass.
Quit
West leads the 5 and partner lays down a disappointing dummy. This is what you see:
Which diamond do you play from dummy at trick one?
Your best hope to win a diamond trick is that West has the queen. Lucky you! East wins the ace and leads the 5. Which heart do you play from your hand?
If you finessed the 10, West might win the jack and ace, and remove all of dummy’s trumps. West wins the A and leads the 5. Which club do you play from dummy?
You wisely reject the club finesse since it would not help much if it won. What do you lead now?
East plays the five. Which spade do you play from your hand?
You hope to establish your spade suit, and this finesse will succeed if East has the king. It wins! What do you lead next?
All follow with low cards. What do you lead next?
West follows with the jack, and you ruff as East’s king falls. A little luck never hurts!
You’re not out of the water yet. These cards remain:
The lead is now in dummy. Which card do you lead?
East plays the eight. Which card do you play from your hand?
This loses to West’s jack, and he leads the Q. Which diamond do you play from dummy?
Of course! You next lead the 9 and East plays the seven. What do you play from your hand?
You’re almost home. Which card do you lead next?
This draws the outstanding trump and your contract is secure. Your last two spades are good.
Congratulations! You just made a whale of a contract. The opponents’ hands are shown below. You might want to lay out a deck of cards and replay the entire deal.
© 1999 Richard Pavlicek
by Richard Pavlicek by Richard Pavlicek