Aggressive behavior

This is another deal from a recent team match in Sweden. South was Swedish expert Per-Ola Cullin. Cullin’s four-spade bid was very aggressive, based on useful distribution and high hopes. It served to shut West out of the auction, despite his fine hand, after opening the bidding. West led his ace, and when dummy had a singleton in the suit, it became a suit-preference situation. East played the two as a suit-preference for clubs, so West led the king of clubs and another club. East took his ace and shifted to a heart. Cullin won with the ace and led a spade to dummy’s queen, He ruffed a heart and led another spade, picking up West’s king and drawing trumps. When another heart ruff dropped down the king, Cullin could claim ten tricks.

At the other table, North overcalled one spade rather than two diamonds and East made a negative double. South raised spades, but West bid three no trump. A heart lead and a spade shift would have defeated the contract by two tricks, but North made the reasonable lead of the queen of spades. West took his king and made nine tricks, thanks to the friendly club position. Bidding and making game at both tables created a huge gain for Cullin’s team.