Nuclear Fusion

Hi all

Last night at Dombo I played with Wim vd F. Solid bridge like always and we agreed some fancy 2-level openings: either a weak hand in the suit bid or 4-5 in the two suits above with opening values and not forcing. The consequences for your 1-level openings and responses are quite nice. But it only occurred a few times, not enough to give me a clear idea about it’s effectiveness/destructiveness.

Here’s a little gem. Take ten in spades.

North
Axxx
xxxx
Tx
xxx
South
K8xxx
Q
AKxx
KQx

East led a and I took stock. If trumps are 2-2 then this is easy. Can I cope with trumps not splitting? Yes, if the Ace of is favourably placed.

Can I get home if it’s offside? Yes. Here’s the full layout, I’ll walk you through.

South Dealer
NS Vul
North
Axxx
xxxx
Tx
xxx
West
QT9
Jxxxx
xx
ATx
East
J
AKx
QJ9xx
Jxxx
South
K8xxx
Q
AKxx
KQx

You take the lead in hand and give away your Queen of . Let’s assume East persists in , you take it and cross to trump Ace. Now play a to your King, West takes his Ace. It looks like you have four inescapable losers now, two a and a trump. Watch carefully.

West returns a , you ruff it. You cash your King of trumps (maybe they are 2-2). Now ruff a , ruff a and cash the Queen of . The harbour is in sight already.

South Dealer
NS Vul
North
x
x
x
West
Q
Jx
East
Q
Jx
South
8
x
x

When you play the last from South, West has nothing to gain by ruffing in the air, so a goes away. You ruff the last from dummy with your 8, West still has to follow suit. You put your loser on the table and both opponents claim it.

Let there be fusion. Melt together your losers.