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“COUNTING MATTERS”

Well, not all the time…not on every deal but sometimes giving count and interpreting the count of a suit is vital.

Let’s defend the following deal and understand why.

You are sitting East and hold the following:

 T9864

 Q2

 5

AKJ94

with the opponents having an uninterrupted but semi-artificial sequence to 4 to be played by South:

                        North                                                South

                                                                                  Pass

                        1 (16+, Precision style)              1 (6-8 hcp with 4 spades)

                        1NT (15-17, balanced)                  3 (7-8, 5+ diamonds, GF)         

                        3      (5 hearts)                          4

                        Pass

Your partner led 3. This is what you saw:

 

 

Rather surprisingly, declarer, ducks the opening lead to your queen. This very competent declarer would know that your partner was very unlikely to have led from that card. Thus, it was strange that they allowed you to win the first trick.

Which card do you play to trick 2….and why?

What happened

East switched to the A on which South followed with 6 and West 8. East continued with the K…but declarer won the trick!

 

South ruffed and then drew trumps in two rounds after which South claimed, discarding one of North’s spades on the fifth round of diamonds, losing just a trump and one card in each black suit.

How could East have known that South had a singleton club?

In fact, the bidding had made it almost certain that clubs was South’s shortest suit since they had shown 4 spades, at least 5 diamonds and probably 3 hearts, though with two hearts and two little clubs, South might have raised to 4 opposite a 5-card heart suit. Had South held a doubleton club, East may as well take the second club trick at that point before hoping the defence had either a spade or a diamond trick to beat the contract. (The defence would then have taken a trump and two club tricks up to that point.) 

Could the contract still be defeated if South did have a singleton club? The answer would be “possibly” but East would have to switch before trying to cash a second club.

Thus, it was vital that East determined how many clubs South did have by asking West how many they held. Hence, one of East’s high honours (usually the king from AK) should be used to ask West that question. Using either natural or reverse count, East will discover that West has an odd number of clubs. There was no room for South to hold three clubs unless they were 4243 shape (we were told South held 5 diamonds!). Therefore, South must have started with a singleton club. East had to switch..with a spade being the obvious switch.

Suit Preference with Count

Giving count in such situations is vital. There are opportunities for the player giving count to give a suit preference signal at the same time. For instance, here, playing “reverse count” where West must play a high card to show an odd number, the play of West’s highest club can suggest a spade switch, a lower “high” card suggesting a diamond switch.

However, making the count absolutely clear is the number one priority.

A Time to Switch

The play of 8 (reverse count or 2 natural count)  should have alerted East of the need to switch to a spade, on this day an easy way (and indeed after the cash of the first high club the only way) to defeat the contract.

If the 8 (or 2 playing “natural count”) said simply “I do not like clubs, partner”, then East will not know for sure whether the declarer held a second club.

“Counting really matters.”

Richard Solomon

 

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