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...J Paul HorneAlexandria, VA, US...
...Paul Mendelson’s new book, ‘The Joy of Bridge’, is out now...
...Morgan Entrekin, chief executive of Grove Atlantic, the publisher behind last year’s Booker prize-winner, Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song, agrees. “The boom in [romantasy] has been amazing,” he says....
...If he had four spades to the ace-jack, he would have put in J♠ at trick one, so declarer is marked with four spades....
...South put in J♠ and, when West won with A♠, declarer had successfully negotiated all the obstacles. Paul Mendelson’s new book, ‘The Joy of Bridge’, is out now...
...When West passes, North’s forced 2D response promises nothing, but South must hope that North holds something to make game a good shot: a couple of low spades, plus K♥ or J♣ make it pretty much lay-down....
...J Paul Horne Alexandria, VA, US...
...West led J♣; South faces a loser in each of other suits and, crucially, the fourth round of clubs too. Can you foresee what might go wrong?...
...Let’s say that East rises with 10♦, J♦ is played and West wins with K♦. If he leads another diamond, it runs to declarer’s ♦A9; if he opts instead for a spade, this runs to South ♠KJ....
...He led J♦ and, when East followed low, he ran it, and it held the trick. What made declarer finesse in diamonds?...
...Lead J♣ from hand, West covers — if he does not, declarer runs the jack — and declarer wins with dummy’s K♣....
...BiddingDealer: EastN/S Game West led J♥, and declarer assessed one likely loser in each suit. However, if trumps split 2-2, or West holds K♣, all will be well....
...West’s 10♣ lead marks East with J♣, so you have placed eight of your opponents’ points and can already conclude that, if East also held A♦, he would have 12pts: he probably wouldn’t have passed originally...
...The beauty of South’s play was this: even if West wins the third club trick with J♣, declarer was safe. What could West lead?...
...The deduction makes sense: if East leads a heart, West will surely be unable to ruff high ahead of dummy’s J♠ and this will indicate that East holds Q♠....
...East might have kept open his options by discarding Q♦ under the first round of the suit and then, when West led 10♦ subsequently, discarding J♦ under dummy’s second top honour....
...East continues with J♣; South plays K♣ perforce, West will ruff and switch to a spade. However, now, the spade finesse can be avoided since dummy’s long club suit is almost established....
...If West could cover 10♥ with J♥, declarer would play Q♥, losing to K♥. Back would come a low heart and South could play 7♥....
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