A Finnish
Lady Kill’s The Contract
By Ismo Koponen
Sue Backstrom is the first lady to play on the Finnish Open team
for years. In their match against Faeroe Islands she found an excellent
lead, which saved some important points for her team.
Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul.
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ª A Q
© Q 9 3
¨ A K 8 4 2
§ K J 8 |
ª J 9 5 4
© K 8 6 5 2
¨ 7 5
§ 10 2 |
![Bridge deal](/Graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª K 7 6 3 2
© A J 7 4
¨ 3
§ Q 9 5 |
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ª 10 8
© 10
¨ Q J 10 9 6
§ A 7 6 4 3 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Salomaa |
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Backstrom |
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1¨ |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
3NT |
Pass |
4¨ |
Pass |
4ª |
Pass |
5¨ |
All Pass |
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You may wonder why Sue didn’t overcall the opening bid but
later she explained that, when she is playing with her husband Jari,
she should have a very good suit for overcalls and now she is continuing
on the same way with her other partners.
Anyway, their opponents bid first 3 NT, but converted it after
a cuebid to 5¨ and she had to find an opening lead. Because North
had shown strength in spades and no one seemed to have a heart control,
she decided to start with a heart from AJxx.
Well, she played the ©7, which was won by the king. Mika Salomaa
returned the ª5 and declarer finessed the queen. The ªK won the
trick and Sue continued the suit. After winning the ªA, declarer
played two rounds of trumps and lost the §Q after an unlucky finesse.
Maybe declarer could have played his contract better. After a
heart lead it seems that West is holding the ©AK and, if he had
also the ªK, he might have bid. Now North will bring his contract
home if he wins the first spade with the ace, ruffs a heart, comes
back to his hand with a trump and ruffs another heart. After the
second round of trumps he plays the ªQ to the king. Now East is
forced to give a ruff and discard or play a club into the king-jack.
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