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Bridge 12/03
The magazine for aficionados
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   The Bridge World magazine, edited by Jeff Rubens, provides the most erudite discussions of top-level bridge. But it also includes a section for players hoping to become the best in their local duplicate clubs.
    This deal, from the Improve Your Play section, is an excellent example of assuming the best when your back is firmly against the wall.
    You are in four spades. West leads the club queen, East winning with his ace and returning a club. What would be your plan?
    South’s two-spade rebid was forcing for one round, so North did not pass. (To pass would badly undermine partner’s confidence. He might — as here — have game in his own hand and be looking for a slam.) North’s artificial three-club rebid showed 0-4 points with fewer than four spades.
    You have to establish a diamond trick, but if you are forced to ruff three clubs, you will run out of trumps, losing one club, two diamonds and one spade. Also, you must hope that the opponents cannot take a diamond ruff, either because the diamonds are 3-3, or the player with the doubleton has only two spades.
    After ruffing the second trick, draw two rounds of trumps, leaving one on the board. Then lead a diamond. Ruff the third club in your hand and play a second diamond. If they persist with another club, ruff it on the board with that carefully preserved trump, lead a heart to your hand, draw the missing trump, and claim.
    Full details are available at www.bridgeworld.com.
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