Here is a deal from Round 2 of the Mixed Teams, and with it an early bid for a brilliancy prize (if there were such a thing at this championship).
With neither side vulnerable, you are South with one of my usual rubber bridge hands, and you hear this auction:
East’s 1[D] response shows at least four hearts, and West’s 1] bid is usually a weak no-trump hand type without four hearts. What do you lead?
This was the full deal:
Knottenbelt rebid 1NT and Gold forced to game with an artificial 2[D]. Having investigated fits in both majors and found them lacking, the English pair settled on the inevitable destination for such auctions.
North led a club around to declarer’s king, and Knottenbelt played on spades. When the defenders had only three club winners to cash, she claimed her contract. E/W +400.
How easy it is to mentally tune out when you pick up a shapeless 2-count. Had he done so, though, Michal Bell would not have found the way to earn a swing for his side when presented with the lead problem posed earlier. A reminder that this was the auction he heard:
The bidding has told you only that dummy has a weak no-trump hand type, that the opponents have a 3-4 heart fit, and declarer has at least one spade stopper. Michael Bell duly tabled the only card in his hand to defeat the contract, the [C]J. Chapeau!
No matter how declarer played, the defence would make four club tricks and the [S]A. E/W -50 and another 10 IMPs to Knottenbelt, who won the match 42-22 and thus led the field with 34.68 VPs.
