Dubious Distribution
By WBF In 15th World Bridge Series, Articles On 23rd September 2018
Distributional hands can be interesting, but some are more interesting than others. One of the most unpopular patterns is the 7-2-2-2, because the long suit may become a liability if the defender’s exit cards can be removed.
This was from Round 6 of the Rosenblum:
Nine tricks might appear tricky, but on this layout its virtually impossible to go down. West led the ]K and when declarer ducked he was already struggling. He tried the 
Q, but declarer put up dummy’s ace and played back a spade. If East had played a low card declarer would have needed to put up the jack, but naturally East went in with the king to play a second heart. The appearance of the 10 and the 2-2 diamond break meant declarer was now up to nine tricks.
If West tries a passive approach, switching to a diamond at trick two, declarer wins, cashes second diamond and then plays a club, putting up the king if West follows with the eight. Then, one way to get home is to cash dummy’s A and exit with a spade.
In the other room, Kalita and Nowosadzki were allowed to play in 2
, which might have made, but even one down was worth 11 IMPs.
