The Metropolitan Cup, played on RealBridge in mid-September, was won by the Sussex A team. The following hand, played by Stephen Kennedy, contained a number of interesting points. Creating an entry to partner’s hand sometimes takes creativity and imagination. It’s usually easy on a piece of paper and when it’s pointed out to us, but for some reason it’s much harder to spot at the table.
West led the ♥6, won in dummy by the Jack. It’s not easy to know where to start, but Clubs have to be touched at some point so at trick two Stephen led a Club towards his hand, and when East played low, he contented himself with the 8. This was a smart play as West is the danger hand and his possible entries need to be knocked out. West won the ♣10 and persisted with a high Heart. Declarer won and tried the Diamond finesse, but East won and switched to the ♠9. South put in the King, which was allowed to hold, but the ♠Q came next, which West took and finally established his Heart suit.
Stephen cashed the ♦J and got the bad news. Two more tricks were needed and they can only come from Clubs, which need to be 3-3 with the Ace onside. The ♠J enabled him to get to dummy, and a Club towards hand left East with no reply; whether he takes or ducks, he can’t stop the declarer making two Clubs for nine tricks.
Have you spotted it yet? By the time West played his third Heart, the hand was like an open book to East, and discarding the Ace of Clubs shouldn’t have been impossible!
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