If Zia sends you a deal you can be sure it will be interesting!
This one is from the fourth session of the quarterfinals:
Looking at the South hand Zia envisaged a possible (making) save in spades at some point but was anxious to avoid a diamond lead. That prompted him to try the effect of 4[D], rather than a real splinter in hearts.
When East led the [H]K it only required West to be the one holding the [C]K for 5[S] doubled to be as Zia described it, a ‘doddle’. When East turned up with it the result was one down, -100.
It earned him what he described (with tongue in cheek) as a rare ‘nice bid’ from his partner!
North led the [S]A and declarer emerged with 12 tricks, +480 and 9 IMPs, part of a 54 IMP burst by USA2 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Zia’s Bridge-A Love Story contains an example of a ‘fake splinter’ – now he has an example for volume 3!
