A Game of Two Halves

The National Inter-County Leagues final is a one-day teams-of-eight event for the champion counties of each division of the five regional inter-county leagues. Although Dorset did not win the A Division of the Western League, we got into the final by the back door as the winners did not want to take part.

In football parlance this was a game of two halves. For the first half we played well and had our share of good luck and we ended with a narrow lead. Sadly it was too good to last - a mixture of bad luck and inferior play saw us fall away to finish in third place - respectable but a bit disappointing after the first half.

We were certainly out of luck on this number

That was the auction where Ann and I sat East-West. North's four hearts was a splinter bid showing spade support and heart shortage, and South's final bid was extraordinary unless he could see through the backs of the cards. Both Dorset pairs bid this 95% slam and went down on a heart lead and a diamond ruff, while both the opposing pairs stayed in game.

On the other hand, the loss on this deal was self-inflicted with all four pairs having a finger in the pie.

South declared 3NT at all four tables, and both Dorset Wests led a high spade. Both declarers then tested diamonds and then ducked a club to establish a ninth trick.

With no sure outside entry, it is much better for West to lead a low spade and that was what our two declarers had to contend with. Both played on diamonds and went down when the suit failed to break.

A far stronger line for declarer is to play a spade back at trick 2. This will lead to egg on the face if spades are 6-1, but otherwise you are much better placed. On the actual hand, West has a choice of losing options; if he cashes all his spade winners he will squeeze East in the minors, while if he does not cash them declarer can afford to duck a club to East.

At first sight it seems as if declarer can play three rounds of diamonds to test the suit and then exit with a spade. The minor suit squeeze will still work if West cashes all of his spades, but West can thwart this plan by exiting with a heart rather than cash the last spade.

A slightly different layout could lead to a more complex squeeze position as there is also a threat in hearts. For example, if the club honours are divided and West cashes all his spades the contract can be made on a guard squeeze.

A further advantage in playing a spade back at trick 2 is that if the spades are 4-3, declarer can afford to duck a club, making if either minor beaks 3-3.