Hi all
Yesterday I showed you a solid 9 card suit. Today I get freaky, we shuffled the cards so well in Groningen. Our team is still on a high, having gained more than 70 VIP in three matches. I pick up these cards:
Boy! This has got to be one of the prettiest holdings I ever laid my hands on, a strong red 6-6, less than 3 losers. East brutally disrupts my dream with a 2 opening, showing a weak hand with both majors or some strong hand. When Hoek showed some values I blasted to slam: 6
. West leads the King of
.
Plan the play. You have to ruff a in dummy, so the
suit has to split 2-4. And the trumps have to come in clean.
I take the lead with the Ace (discarding a
), cash the
Ace,
to the Ace, and for symmetry’s sake also the
Ace. Ruff a
, back to hand with a
ruff and the
King. West shows out. West? Yes! West. East had opened a “weak with both majors” on a 4-4-4-1. I lose 2 tricks in trumps, down 1.
I confess, I completely didn’t think of the possibility East having 4 trumps. But it’s easy to cope with, don’t cash trump Ace! Just ruff a in dummy and then play the other trump from dummy to your Ten. You win with every 3-2 split in trumps, 4-1 with East having a bare honor, and QJ-4th with East.
Luckily the other table had a blind spot too, for a wash.