South in today’s deal was Australian expert Tim Bourke, the source for some of the deals seen in this space. Bourke’s sequence showed extra values and, almost certainly, a singleton heart. It looked like a perfect fit to North, so he bid slam despite his weak trump holding.
Bourke won the opening heart lead with dummy’s ace and led a low club. Would you play low with the East hand or play the 10? East played low, as most would, hoping that South would play the queen, assuring East of two trump tricks. Bourke, however, knew that there was no rush to take the club finesse. A club to the queen would still be available later. There was an important extra chance for Bourke to hold his trump losers to one — East holding jack-10-small. Bourke played the eight from his hand, disappointing East, not to mention surprising himself. The eight held!
Bourke cashed the ace of spades and ruffed a spade, felling the queen. He led a club from dummy, this time finessing the queen, and ruffed another spade. East over-ruffed, but that was the last trick for the defence. South ruffed the heart continuation, drew the last trump, and claimed the balance. Very well played!
On this deal, East would have defeated the contract had he played the 10 of clubs at trick two, but that was very hard to see. Credit Bourke for a well-played hand.
