April Problem

	K 4 3 10 5 2 6 4 K Q 9 6 3
8 K 9 7 4 J 8 7 5 A J 8 4

West Pass All Pass

North 2

East Pass

South 1 6

Trick 1. W 2. N 3. W

Lead 8 K ?

2nd K 7

3rd 5 2

4th 6 A

You led the eight of trump to South’s six spade contract. South won the king in dummy and led the king of clubs, discarding a diamond as you won the ace. Plan the defense.

As is our custom, the free play will go to the correct answer from the RBC member with the fewest masterpoints. “Correct” is a relative term; just saying “I lead X,” even if X is the winning play, will probably not qualify unless nobody else finds the play. You need to furnish some justification for your play. (On the other hand, a briefly or poorly stated but correct justification will fully qualify, if I can figure it out. This is not an essay contest.) I am the sole judge of what constitutes “correct.” Send answers to JohnCTorrey@aol.com.

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March Problem

	K Q K Q J K Q J 10 7 A 9 3
J 10 9 7 2 10 6 4 2 5 4 Q J		8 6 4 3 9 8 3 9 6 2 8 7 5
	A 5 A 7 5 A 8 3 K 10 6 4 2

West Pass Pass Pass

North 4 5 7 NT

East Pass Pass All Pass

South 1 NT 4 NT 5

Trick 1. W 2. N 3. S 4. N

Lead J 7 8 Q

2nd Q 2 4 9

3rd 3 A K 3

4th 5 5 6 2

Partner leads the Jack of spades to South’s 7NT contract. You (East) follow with the three as the queen wins. South plays three rounds of diamonds and partner discards the spade deuce on the third. Plan the defense.

The easy part of this problem is the reconstruction of South’s hand. He has three aces and the king of clubs: thirteen tricks unless he has exactly two spades, and fewer than four hearts. Partner has two diamonds, so South has three. Partner has the queen of clubs, which is singleton if South has two hearts and six clubs…so South has three hearts and five clubs. Partner’s queen of clubs is doubleton and will drop if declarer does not finesse.

The issues are most acute if West also has the jack of clubs, as on the actual hand. Think along with South: there are two chances to make the hand. The first chance is to find one defender with the doubleton queen-jack of clubs. The other chance is for one defender to have a singleton queen or jack, with the other having four to the other honor. If South plays off the non-club winners and nobody has discarded a club with three cards remaining, then the second chance is eliminated. So your job as East is to discard a club as reluctantly as you can. Our two correct responders, Audrey Ventura and Ashok Damle, both throw a spade and a heart on the diamonds, and then (grudgingly, to all appearances) that small club on the third heart. Even when South has the jack of clubs, this is the best defense to lure declarer into a losing finesse.

It is satisfying to consider what you will say if South asks why you discarded that club. I suggest, “I wanted to tell my partner I had nothing in clubs.”

Ashok Damle has two consecutive correct answers and wins the free play – but if it turns out he has more points than Gary Kuhn, then Gary should have had the free play last month, and will get it this time.