Goren Bridge: Down three is good bridge

Team match in Australia with contrasting results: one table down three, the other down seven for 700 points.

Today’s deal is from a recent team match in Australia. At this table, West threw in a cocktail-hour preempt. North had an easy bid and the normal contract was reached. South played dummy’s queen on the opening spade lead and lost to East’s king. East led back a spade, clearing the suit. South won in dummy and led a diamond to his queen. West won and cashed five more spade tricks for down three. Minus 300 looked to be an ugly result.

At the other table, West did not bid and the same contract was reached. West led the nine of spades, denying the 10, and dummy’s queen lost to the king. East knew that South had the 10 of spades and thought it would hold up as a second stopper, so East shifted to the 10 of clubs. South and West played low and dummy’s ace won the trick. A diamond to the queen lost and West led a spade, clearing the suit. In dummy for the last time and still needing tricks, South led a heart to his queen, losing to the king. West cashed five spades and South had impossible discarding problems. The end result was 11 tricks for the defense. Down seven for 700 points to East-West! NorthSouth at the first table were seen in the bar after the game, bragging about holding this deal to down three.