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Posted on Thu, Dec 1, 2011 : 5 a.m.

Bridge column, December 1: Bridge from Norway and the world

By Phillip Alder

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If you would like to read about deals from high-level events and get an expert's ideas on some aspects of bidding, buy "Bridge at the Edge" by Boye Brogeland and David Bird (Master Point Press).

Brogeland is a talented 38-year-old from Norway. Bird is a prolific English author of bridge books. They combined to discuss nearly 200 deals and to describe some of Brogeland's bidding theories. Many of the deals are advanced, but the analysis is lucidly delivered.

In this deal from the 2008 Icelandair Teams in Reykjavik, Brogeland, the declarer in four hearts, had to worry particularly about the trump suit.

When West led the club queen, South won with dummy's ace and called for a trump. East won with his ace, cashed the club king, and continued with the club jack. What did declarer do?

The defense started the same way at the other table. There, South trumped with his heart eight, but West overruffed with his nine, and the defenders took four tricks: spade ace, heart ace, club king and the overruff.

Brogeland realized he needed East to have the heart queen. But since he had six clubs, he was more likely to have the doubleton ace-queen of hearts than the tripleton ace-queen-nine. So South ruffed with his heart 10.

When West discarded a spade, declarer cashed his heart king to drop the queen, played a heart to dummy's jack, and claimed two spades, three hearts, three diamonds, one club and the club ruff.

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