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Daily Bridge in New Zealand

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory.

It would never happen to you, would it? Before you write today’s article off as being too simplistic, consider all the basic points behind it like:

  • Counting your winners.
  • Be aware of the dangers.
  • Planning at trick 1 before you play to dummy.
  • Make sure of your contract before worrying about overtricks.

     So, are you ready?

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East Deals
E-W Vul

K Q 3

Q J 9 7 6 3

K

K Q 2

   

N

W

 

E

S

   
 

A 10 2

A 8 4 2

4 3 2

J 4 3

 

West

North

East

South

 

 

1 

Pass

Pass

Dbl

2 ♣

2 

3 

4 

All pass

 

West leads Club-small6. What are your thoughts about playing this board?

If North had any regrets about what was to follow, it would be that they could/should have been declarer by overcalling 1Heart-small rather than doubling and presumably intending to show a strong hand with hearts later. Firstly, the Diamond-smallK looked a fairly useless 3 hcp although the singleton was of course potentially very useful. Also, their heart suit was only averagely strong. They held no aces.

All this added up to a 1Heart-small overcall rather than an initial double. However, when South bid the suit voluntarily, North decided to give 4Heart-small a shot. South did indeed have a good hand for 2Heart-small and more than made up for their partner’s lack of aces.

It seems South did not give the play too much thought when they saw dummy. They played low from dummy to East’s ace and won the club return (West contributed Club-small5), in dummy to take the heart finesse. After all, East had opened the bidding and was more likely to hold Heart-smallK.

Within 10 seconds, they had lost the next three tricks to be 1 down. 

East Deals
E-W Vul

K Q 3

Q J 9 7 6 3

K

K Q 2

J 9 7 5 4

K 10

9 7 6 5

6 5

 

N

W

 

E

S

 

8 6

5

A Q J 10 8

A 10 9 8 7

 

A 10 2

A 8 4 2

4 3 2

J 4 3

 

West

North

East

South

 

 

1 

Pass

Pass

Dbl

2 ♣

2 

3 

4 

All pass

 

West took the Heart-smallK, then led a diamond to East’s ace. A third round of clubs sealed South’s fate. cry

Unlucky? Well, one would have to say “not really”. Even playing Pairs, the concept of making sure of your contract first, before overtricks, usually applies. The only exception maybe if you know you are, say, in an inferior game, and need the overtrick(s) to score match-points…say +600 is no good when the field is scoring +620.

Yet, here, South was in a perfectly normal contract. Just about every other pair would be in hearts and almost certainly in game. Yet, South’s line was at best careless.

Firstly, although the club pips above should not fool East, declarer should insert Club-smallK at trick 1 to give the impression they do not hold Club-smallJ. South should be concerned to avoid a club ruff….though since clubs was East’s second suit, it was unlikely to be a 6-card suit. Alternatively, at trick 1, South should play Club-smallJ from hand. That, too, should not fool East as West bid 3Diamond-small not 3Club-small.

However, the real sin came in the heart play. South was missing just three trumps. They had a club and diamond loser and could comfortably lose to the Heart-smallK and still make their contract. The problem would occur if West held all three trumps. Yet, when East played Heart-small5, that was not the case. So, after playing Heart-smallQ, if only because many defenders cover with Kx when it is absolutely pointless to do so (if that was East’s holding here), South should, is advised to, must, might (you choose the appropriate word) play Heart-smallA from hand and then they can claim 10 tricks when West follows with Heart-small10. However, if East held all 3 hearts, then this play would result in 2 heart losers. So, best not to play a high honour from dummy. Simply, low to Heart-smallA. 

There was to be no overtrick any way but you must sacrifice it to be sure of 10 tricks. After all, West did find a 3Diamond-small bid, vulnerable. Surely they held one honour, somewhere?

So, the contract was defeated, not because North made the wrong call over 1Diamond-small but because South did not carry out some of the basic checks mentioned at the start of this article when they saw dummy.

Hopefully, this did not happen at your table.

Richard Solomon

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