REBECCA ROOD'S MAILBAG...........................................................

• Dear Rebecca, The other day I found myself in 7NT in a combined 29 count. My initial thoughts were as dummy came down "one bridge too far"..........because it looked like I had losers in every bloody suit. Dummy had come down with : ........J52.....AK4.....AJ62.....AQ7..opposite my rather lop-sided single suited hand of: ...AK10964....J53.........Q.....983. A cloud of defeatism must have hovered over me, because I proceeded to play the contract 2 off losing 1 heart and 1 club. I will not give you the other two hands, but is there any way the contract can make? Yours slighty embarrassed , Martha Bellingham
• Dear Martha, I know the hand well, because it was the one that came up in the Sims recently. I too was in 7NT and like you a got a nasty jack of clubs opening lead from my RHO. So I had to bite the bullet, get out the prayer mat, and stick in the queen. It held. Now I had to consider what else had to be right for this precarious grand slam to come in. There was only one miracle possible. My RHO opponent had to hold everything everything, including queen doubleton in spades, five clubs, hearts to the queen.....and the king of diamonds. At trick 2, I ran the jack of spades (not covered) and so I hopped up with my King. Then came the queen of diamonds, covered by the King, and taken in dummy with the Ace. The jack of diamonds was immediately played next, pitching a club from my hand. Now I ran off 5 winning spades with the suit breaking 2-2. My hand was now down to J to 3 in hearts and a small club. RHO was squeezed: either he kept his 3 hearts and the stiff king of clubs, in which case dummy would have been reduced to A/K of hearts and A7 of clubs ( making all four). Or if RHO kept 2 hearts and 2 clubs, dummy would have been reduced to AK4 of hearts and the Ace of clubs, allowing me to make 3 tricks in dummy along with my jack of hearts. Simple eh ? So in future, if the only way to make a hand is for a certain layout to exist....go for it. In bridge there is always hope...and miracles can happen. Defeatism is a sad trait that far too many players possess. Yours always in ascendency, Rebecca.