The Great Escape

E/W Vul
IMPs
Dealer: South
Lead: 3

	vegan 9 7 6 5 2 Q 8 K 4 K J 9 2
jime J 8 10 5 3 J 10 9 8 6 3 10 7		Maestro A K Q 10 4 A 9 Q 2 6 5 4 3
	patss 3 K J 7 6 4 2 A 7 5 A Q 8

West Pass Pass Pass

North 1 Pass Pass

East Pass 3 Pass

South 1 2 Dbl

We all find ourselves in hopeless contracts occasionally. Maybe not quite as hopeless 3CX, but hopeless nonetheless. The expert does not give up. Today Gee demonstrates how to make the best of a bad situation.

N/S are cold for 4H, but miss it after South understates his hand slightly with the 2H rebid. Two passes to Gee…a pause…and 3C emerges!

2S, which has to be natural in this position, is probably unwise at unfavorable. In fact it would either go for 500 or balance N/S into game. 3C, however, beggars description. Certainly my small literary powers cannot begin to do it justice. 3CX it is, however, and now the play problem is to hold the loss down to a palatable 15 IMPs or so.

Double-dummy defense takes 11 tricks. Heart lead, knock out the HA, ruff in on the second round of spades, pull trump, and cash seven tricks in the reds. But it’s not easy for South to visualize declarer’s hand, and he leads his stiff spade.

Gee wins in dummy and leads a diamond. North flies with DK and shifts to the HQ, won by Gee, who continues diamonds. South wins the DA, cashes a high heart, and makes a crucial error by leading a third round of hearts, shortening her partner’s trump. North discards a spade, as good as anything, and Gee ruffs. He plays another round of spades, ruffed by South with C8. Now Gee alertly lets the defenders play a high cross ruff for the rest of the hand, and winds up holding his C6 over North’s C2 at the end for his fourth trick. Down 5, to be sure, but think of what might have been.