Hidden-hearts-adventure by Ace Ventura The silver medallist in the Mixed Teams, Ulla-Britt Goldberg, hid her heart suit successfully on this board, from the second session in the Mixed Pairs Final A. Board 24. Dealer West. None Vul.   ♠ 10 7 5 ♥ 9 8 ♦ A K J 10 5 ♣ J 7 4 ♠ A J 8 4 2 ♥ 3 ♦ 9 6 4 ♣ A 6 3 2 ♠ Q 9 6 3 ♥ Q 7 5 4 2 ♦ 2 ♣ K 10 5   ♠ K ♥ A K J 10 6 ♦ Q 8 7 3 ♣ Q 9 8 West North East South L. Goldberg U-B. Goldberg Pass Pass Pass 1NT Pass 2 NT All Pass   The Goldbergs were not running as smoothly in the Pairs as in the Teams, so Mrs Goldberg took a chance on this board to gain some places on the leaderboard and opened 1NT despite her singleton king in spades. Mr Goldberg invited 2NT but now Ulla-Britt didn’t want to press her hand any further. From West’s point of view, a sensible low spade was led. Due to the unrevealing auction you cannot blame him for that choice. The king of spades pulled its full weight immediately, as it held the first trick. Five rounds of diamonds followed. East had to discard four times and when she didn’t see the importance of keeping all five hearts, Ulla-Britt could finesse in hearts twice, and then the queen dropped on the second top heart; North/South +210. Eleven tricks, when the defence could have won the first seven, is not too bad. This hidden-hearts-adventure was worth 92% for the Goldbergs. Brilliancy Uncovered The International Bridge Press Association has many awards for excellence but perhaps the one for defence is too all encompassing and should be subdivided with a separate one for opening leads – certainly one of the hardest skills to master. The following deal would be a worthy contender but it almost passed into oblivion when it was reported in an earlier edition of the Bulletin. Dealer West, E/W Vul.   ♠ 10 7 ♥ - ♦ K 9 8 6 ♣ A Q 9 8 7 4 3 ♠ 9 8 4 2 ♥ 10 8 4 ♦ J 10 7 2 ♣ K 6 ♠ Q J 3 ♥ Q 7 5 2 ♦ Q 5 4 3 ♣ 10 5   ♠ A K 6 5 ♥ A K J 9 6 3 ♦ A ♣ J 2 West North East South Passarinho L. Goldberg Panadero U-B. Goldberg Pass 2♣ Pass 3♥ Pass 3NT Pass 4♦ Pass 4♥ Pass 4NT Pass 5♦ Pass 5♠ Pass 6♥ All Pass   North/South reached a poor contract, but one that had some chances should declarer take a winning view in the trump suit. However, West, Joao Passarinho found the only lead to ensure that the contract was bound to fail when he placed the six of clubs on the table. Declarer ran the opening lead to the jack and cashed the top trumps. Our reporter suggested that the winning line now is to play the jack of hearts, under which West’s ten will drop. However, East wins and plays a second club, killing dummy and ensuring the defeat of the contract. If West leads any other suit declarer has only to guess the trumps suit to make the contract.

Page 7