Puzzle 7F76   Main

Slam Conscious

by Richard Pavlicek

After the annual Club Championship, the contending players gathered around the scoring table. Professor Freebid carefully checked the travelers, exhibiting notable displeasure at some of the poor results. Before he could copy his score, Timothy Tenace came running over.

“Hey, Professor,” Timothy shouted exuberantly. “What did you do on Board 3?”

“You’re the one that’s so excited,” answered the Professor. “What did you do?”

“I got to 3 NT, like many pairs, and my foolish opponent led a low spade.”

3 NT South	Q 7 4 3 2		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	2		1 W	5	2	K	A
	Q J 2		2 S	6	K	2	3
	K Q 10 7		3 W	J	Q	8	9
J 10 6 5		K 8	4 N	Q	4	7	5
8 5 4		J 10 7 6	5 N	J	9	8	4
K 5		10 9 4 3	6 N	2	6	A	5
J 8 6 2		9 5 4	7 S	A	6	3	10
	A 9		8 S	K	8	4	7
	A K Q 9 3		9 S	Q	?
	A 8 7 6		West is squeezed
Lead: 5	A 3

“I guessed to play low from dummy and took the king with the ace. I then led a low diamond, and West won the king and returned the J to dummy’s queen. I now had 11 tricks, and when I ran the red suits, West could not hold on to four clubs so I made the rest.”

“Very nice,” complimented the Professor. “I’m sure you got well above average for it.”

“Above average? Are you kidding? It should be a top, because few would lead a spade from J-10 fourth after dummy showed the suit. Also, with 31 HCP we did well to stop in game, since no slam can be made assuming good defense.”

“I beg to differ,” said the Professor. “My partner put me in slam, and there was no defense to beat it.”

What slam did the Professor bid and make?

Solution

On first inspection any slam appears doomed, but there is one and only one that can be made against any defense. The Professor (South) opened 2 NT, North bid 3  (Jacoby transfer), and after an auction that might make you ill, the Professor became declarer in 6 .

6 South	Q 7 4 3 2		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	2		1 W	8	2	10	Q
	Q J 2		2 S	3	4	2	6
	K Q 10 7		3 N	3	8	9	10
J 10 6 5		K 8	4 W	5	4	K	A
8 5 4		J 10 7 6	5 S	A	5	2	7
K 5		10 9 4 3	6 S	K	5	J	J
J 8 6 2		9 5 4	continued below…
	A 9
	A K Q 9 3
	A 8 7 6
Lead: 8	A 3

Even 6 appears doomed, but the Professor used keen deduction. West led the 8 (apparently from a short holding) to the 10 and ace, then a heart was ruffed in dummy. When a low spade was led, the appearance of the eight was ominous. East would surely play an honor with J-10-8, and a falsecard from 8-6-5 seemed unlikely, so the Professor took it at face value: If East held J-8 or 10-8, the contract was impossible; the only real hope was K-8, in which case it was necessary to finesse the nine, losing to West.

West exited safely with a spade, and the fall of the king confirmed the hoped-for layout. Next came the K, pitching a diamond, then the Q. If West ruffed, dummy would overruff and draw the last trump; then declarer could succeed by crossing to the A and leading the last heart to squeeze West (or by taking the club finesse). After some thought, West pitched a diamond, baring his king, and declarer also threw a diamond from dummy. This left the following ending:

win all	Q 7		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	—		7 S	A	2	7	4
	Q		8 S	3	6	10	5
	K Q 10 7		9 N	K	9	6	8
J 6		—	10 N	Q	3	A	K
—		—	11 S	9	?
K		10 9 4 3	Declarer succeeds
J 8 6 2		9 5 4
	—
	9
	A 8 7 6
South leads	A 3

The Professor considered his next move carefully. Why didn’t West discard a club? The logical answer was because he held the J, so the Professor cashed the A and boldly finessed the 10. When this held, he cashed the K. Next he crossed to the A and led the good heart to cinch the slam. If West failed to ruff, the Professor would simply discard the good club for a trump coup.

Puzzle 7F76   Main

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© 1980 Richard Pavlicek