The Daily Telegraph by G. C. H. Fox prev/next

An ace up his sleeve

Had there been an award for the best opening lead it might well have been won by B. Shenkin, playing for Britain against France, on this hand:

Dlr: North Vul: All	N A 8 5 K 3 Q 6 A K Q J 7 5
W J 9 7 3 2 A 8 5 J 8 4 10 3		E K 10 6 4 Q 10 7 6 2 10 2 9 4
	S Q J 9 4 A K 9 7 5 3 8 6 2

The bidding in the open room, with France as North-South, was:

South	West	North	East
-	-	2NT	-
3	-	4	-
4	-	4NT	-
5	-	6	-
6

The response of 3 showed interest in the minor suits. South’s 4 showed that this was his only suit.

West, Shenkin, led 5. South could hardly play K from the table as the lead was unlikely to be from the ace. So the defence won the first two tricks.

In the closed room, the British North-South pair reached the contract of 6 which was safe against any lead from East.