This was a beautifully bid grand slam. South, with the help of Key Card Blackwood, knew every card in North’s hand except, possibly, the jack of spades. That card would make 13 tricks a breeze, but even without it, 12 tricks would depend on nothing more than the expected 3-2 split in spades.
South won the opening club lead in hand and cashed the king of spades. The spade split was a disappointment, but South continued by cashing his other top club, the other two top spades, and then began to run his hearts. This was the position with one heart left to cash:
The jack of hearts put West in a pickle. A spade discard would be instantly fatal. A club discard would see dummy shed its spade and leave East with no winning discard. West chose to part with the six of diamonds. A diamond to dummy’s king felled the queen and a diamond to the 10 brought home the grand slam. Well played!
Published – March 27, 2025 09:03 am IST
