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A Spot of Mind-Reading?

Maybe our declarer made their own problems on today’s deal. There was a simpler alternative way which may or may not have been successful. What would you do at the crunch moment?

 

5 or maybe even “Pass” were alternatives when North made their non-forcing but constructive limit raise in clubs. Getting enough tricks with marginal high-card values and a void in partner’s first bid suit might prove hard in 3NT though it was the diamond suit which was the main threat in South’s 3NT contract.

West led J which South took with their ace to lead a spade to the king and then a club to the 10 and West’s king. West continued with T on which you discarded a heart from dummy but then a little curiously, switched to 9. How would you play from here?

Maybe, another question is how were you going to play had the diamond suit broken 4-4 and you were left to sort out the club position to make your contract? Unless the defence were kind enough to put you in dummy by playing a heart, you were going to have to lay down A and hope clubs were 2-2. Their spade exit would have left you stuck in hand.

Our South did not perhaps think the situation through. West was very keen or so it seemed, to put declarer in dummy. There could surely be only one reason why.

 

Alas, our South took the high heart in dummy and decided to play for split club honours and played low to 10. Two more diamond tricks sealed declarer’s fate: one down.

West was a little premature in switching to a heart. Firstly, East might have started with 5 diamonds and was thus giving up the opportunity to take the contract down quickly. West realised  from the bidding South was short in hearts but East had the same information. It was surely better for the defence they take whatever diamond tricks they could first.

However, a declarer has to try to think through why an opponent did defend that way…and they might have come up with the right answer.

There was, of course, an easier way to make 9 tricks, by playing for a 2-2 club break or either defender to have singleton club honour. With only one entry to dummy, taking the first-round club finesse was probably not going to be a successful line even if East did have KQx.
So, South really ought to have scored 4 club tricks, A and 2 in each major, by picking West’s motive for their defence. How is your mind-reading?

Richard Solomon

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