Bridge

East-West game; dealer North

North

4J 10 7 2

!A

#7 3 2

2A K 10 9 6

West East

4none 4A 9 8 6

!9 4 2 !K Q J 8 3

#A Q J 8 5 4 #K 6

2J 7 4 3 2Q 5

South

4K Q 5 4 3

!10 7 6 5

#10 9

28 2

"Give them a little distribution and they will bet their boots off!" remarked the Bridgerama commentator on thisd eal from the generali European Championships. Indeed they did: game was reached nearly everywhere. Five Diamonds by West, sometimes doubled, offered little play; Four Hearts by East failed by a varying number of tricks, although once or twice the defenders let this one through.

The interesting play came when Ireland met Solvenia in the Open Series. The bidding, I am reliably informed, went:

N E S W

12 double 14 2#

34 double 44 all pass

What did East's second double mean? Anyone's guess! But against Four Spades, her partner led the ace of diamonds and Silvano Rojko, one of the few women playing in the Open Series, came out with the key play when she unblocked her king of diamonds! This allowed her partner to continue with #Q and #J on which East was able to discard a club. This killed all declarer's chances of the cross-ruff that would otherwise have brought him ten tricks.