BRIDGE NOTES: A slam contract brings boon to French team

Sometimes the bridge players confront tricky deals while plying a serious game which on the face of the distribution and point count in combined hands appear attractive enough to reach a slam. But in effect a slam contract cannot be make whatever line of play the declarer may adopt. It is vice versa in case of other such deals that they appear beyond the scope of a game but practically all the potential making a slam. Such hands make a great deal of difference especially in high-level competitive bridge. On some hands the bridge players stretch the bidding to reach a slam with the hope of gaining an edge over the opponents though not having the required values for a slam contract. But a tactful handling of cards could bring a fulfilling result.
A hand of this type was dealt in a match in the final segment of a tough Zonal European Championship tournament held Estoril, Portugal in 1970 in a match between France and Poland. The experienced team of selected players from Portugal was leading in score marginally over the international fame French team. But in the last deal the French pair made a slam in the open room whereas the Portuguese pair in the close room stopped at the game contract on the deal given below. That made an overall difference of 2 IMP in favour of French team for the victory in the championship.
WEST LED DIAMOND KING: The declarer Trezel looked at the dummy with partial dismay having three kings missing in a slam bid. But with the lead of diamond king he was almost positive that the rest of the two kings are with the East. And he wanted to give the best possible chance for the success of the game by choosing the right line of play. After winning the lead with the ace of diamond he came back to hand by playing small spade and winning it with the king of spades. Then he played the queen of spades with both opponents following the suit.
At this point he moved a small heart West played two of hearts and the declarer won with the ace of hearts in the dummy that dropped the stiff king of heart from the East. After playing the queen of hearts from the dummy the South ruffed small heart in hand and re-entered the dummy with a trump and finessed the queen of clubs with confidence having been doubly sure of the king of clubs with the East. Although it was not necessary as he could have discarded two club losers and one diamond loser on good cards in hearts in the dummy to make all the thirteen tricks and also making a contract which virtually converted a defeat into a victory for the French team.
While explaining his play of ace of hearts Trezel, said that he was sure that the king of hearts was with the East and in case it does not fall under ace he would try the finesse of queen of clubs and discard a diamond on the ace of clubs to make the contract. He added that if the heart king falls under the ace he would make all the thirteen tricks and that is how it was very imaginative line of play, which brought the French team an unexpected victory in the championship.
DEALER NORTH:

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NORTH-SOUTH VULNERABLE

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North        West        East         South

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S AQ106      S 72        S 84       S KJ953

H AQJ97      H 10852     H K        H 643

D A97        D KQJ       D 108542   D 63

C 6          C J842      C K9753    C AQ10

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THE BIDDING:

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North      East     South          West

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H. Svarc   J.       R.             W.

           Nowak    Trezel         Clapper

1H         Pass     1S             Pass

3S         Pass     4C(1)          Pass

4D(2)      Pass     4NT            Pass

5S(3)      Pass     5NT            Pass

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