Last One (Maybe)
|
 A 3 2 |
|
 J |
|
 A Q J 6 4 3 2 |
|
 4 2 |
| K 9 7 4 |
|
Q 10 5 |
| Q 10 9 6 |
|
K 5 3 |
| ------ |
|
9 7 5 |
| A Q J 5 3 |
|
10 8 7 6 |
|
J 8 6 |
|
|
A 8 7 4 2 |
|
|
K 10 8 |
|
|
K 9 |
|
| North |
East | South | West |
|
Pass |
Pass |
1 |
| 1 |
Pass |
1 |
Pass |
| 2 |
Pass |
Pass |
2 |
| 3 |
Pass |
3 NT |
All pass |
South took a bit of a chance here without assurance of a spade stopper, not to mention the lead being passed to his RHO and a club through the K 9 (which indeed is what beats a diamond contract above the 3 level). Still, the prize often goes to the daring. Now that's often, not always.
In any event, the hand once again shows how even with a dominant minor, the greater safety might lie in a 9-trick no trump game vs. the 11-trick minor -- might do so, by no means always, of course. But, as on previous illustrations, if you've got a running suit and some semblance of stoppers in the other suits, you can -- very commonly -- stand a smattering of losers in 3 no that you cannot in five diamonds. Here's how the pairs fared:
Twenty-two were down in a diamond contract, from 4 to 6. Twenty-six made a part score in diamonds, twenty-one made game in no trump, and two got a good score, an even better score, in diamonds by being doubled and making. 'Nuff said?
. .