You can't believe everything you read

I recently acquired a pile of old bridge magazines, and came across this hand in a report by Pietro Forquet on the Italian Team Championships, in The Bridge World for July 1968:

E-W game
Dealer South

• 106
• 107
• AK7654
• 976

• KQ98
• 43
• J10983
• A8

N

W

E

S

• J7643
• 9865
• 2
• K32

• A5
• AKQJ2
• Q
• QJ1054

West

North

East

South

 

Walter

 

Giorgio

 

 

 

1^Roman

1

X^values

Pass

2^canape

2

Pass

Pass

3^{5 clubs}

Pass

4

Pass

4^{5 hearts}

All pass

At the other table North cashed his nine top tricks in 3NT, but at this table 4 went off. Forquet notes that "West led the king of spades and Giorgio could not make the contract since the 4-2 trump split didn't give him time to establish the clubs", but that 5 could have been made. 4 is a better contract than Forquet acknowledges, but can't be made because East has four hearts and a diamond singleton — what's the best (but failing) line? And how should 5 be made on the same lead?

Click here to show (or hide) the answer

In 4, you cash Q, cross to 10, and discard a spade on A. Then you play on clubs, with dummy's trump protecting you against a force on the third round of spades and K to play if dummy takes that force. However, with East having a diamond singleton he can ruff A, and the defence retains control.

In 5, you win the spade lead, cash Q, cross to 10, and lead A ruffed and overruffed. Then you try the hearts: the third round is ruffed and overruffed. Then K, ruffed and overruffed. Then another heart winner, and finally dummy's spade loser can be discarded.

I'm writing about this because the hand looked familiar, and indeed there it is on page 150 of Bridge with the Blue Team by the same author, first published three years later. This time Belladonna bids to 5 and makes it on the attractive "striptease", while 4 goes off in the other room. You can't believe everything you read.