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Daily Bridge in New Zealand

 

Or play it!

Hold Up…and Give Up?

It is an age-old problem for defenders. It is so often a good idea to withhold your high honour, especially the ace and especially in no-trumps, to cut a declarer’s communication from one hand, usually from dummy. There are times when it is so right to do so but is that always so? You sometimes have to make your decision in a split-second….or maybe a couple more seconds if you choose to do so.

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Three more tricks

At least! You are looking at two and as you are playing Teams style, you and your partner would really like at least three more…

 

East Deals
Both Vul

   

9 6 3

K J 2

Q J 10 9 2

5 3

 

N

W

 

E

S

   
 

A 10 7 2

Q 6 5 3

A 4

J 9 4

 

West

North

East

South

dummy

   

you

 

 

1 NT

Pass

2 ♠

Pass

3 ♣

Pass

3 NT

All pass

 

 

 

 

1NT was 15-17 and 2Spade-small a range-finder with 3Club-small showing any maximum. West’s bidding looks a little pushy. Make ‘em pay!

You lead Heart-small3 the trick being won with dummy’s Heart-smallJ, your partner contributing Heart-small10. Next comes Diamond-small2 from dummy to Diamond-small6 from your partner, Diamond-smallK from declarer… and you? Your style is to give reverse count (high..low an odd number of cards) if you feel it necessary.

There are a number of factors at play here. The first is that West has overbid with a 7-count including a reasonable 5-card suit opposite a 15-17 1NT. On some days, their “crime will pay”! Not, you hope, against you!

Then there is the question of the split of diamonds around the table. You can see 7 between dummy and your own hand. Assuming your partner is trying to give you count in order to gauge when to win your supposed ace, the Diamond-small6 is not clear-cut. It could be the middle or top of three small cards (remember:  make your count signal as clear as you can for your partner. If North held Diamond-small 963, it costs nothing to play Diamond-small9.)

If it is showing three, then holding up does no good since you will be forced to win the second round and declarer will have a certain entry to dummy. Could the Diamond-small6 be the bottom of a doubleton? It could, giving East four diamonds. In that case, there is even less reason to hold up.

What Diamond-small6 could not be is the lowest of four diamonds, giving declarer just two. Count is so useful in confirming such situations. If Diamond-small6 was the lowest of four, then East must hold Diamond-small3 and Diamond-small5..and they have already played Diamond-smallK!

So, we have proven that holding up just cannot gain this time. We should win our ace..and then what?

Who has the Heart-smallA? Our money would be on the declarer. Our partner should win the ace and fire a heart back if they had held that card. So, the choice is black and the answer is not obvious, although just perhaps our partner had tried to give us a clue. Did you notice which card our partner played to trick 1…Heart-small10? They may have had to play that card…or they may not! Was it a signal for a higher unplayed suit?

Alas, at the table, South did not give themselves a chance by ducking the Diamond-smallK. East did not playing a second round of diamonds until they had scooped up 9 tricks:

East Deals
Both Vul

K Q J 5

10 8 4

6 5 3

10 6 2

9 6 3

K J 2

Q J 10 9 2

5 3

 

N

W

 

E

S

 

8 4

A 9 7

K 8 7

A K Q 8 7

 

A 10 7 2

Q 6 5 3

A 4

J 9 4

 

West

North

East

South

dummy

   

you

 

 

1 NT

Pass

2 ♠

Pass

3 ♣

Pass

3 NT

All pass

 

 

 

We can see that North had shown how many diamonds they held as best they could. After East won the Diamond-smallK, they got lucky in the club suit taking 5 tricks there which along with three heart tricks and Diamond-smallK added up to +600.

It is not always easy to produce a suit preference signal into the play when you are following suit. Here, the Heart-small10 was a plea to switch to spades if their partner ever gained the lead.

North might equally have held Club-smallA and Spade-smallQJ though keen counters would observe that that would have left East with a 15 count…and yet they owned up to a maximum 16/17. North’s clubs could not be good enough for the defence to take quick tricks in that suit. It had to be spades and the KQ for the defence to be successful.

              any

spade any.jpg

 

Will do!

Were you there with Diamond-smallA and a low…or really any spade?

Good hand..for what?

 

     

South Deals
None Vul

 

N

W

 

E

S

 

A 9 6 4 2

K 6

A Q

A Q 5 4

 

West

North

East

South

 

 

 

2 

Pass

2 

Dbl

Pass

4 

Pass

?

 

 

Well, you have a good hand but where are you going now? 2Diamond-small was a standard Multi unfolded as a Weak 2 in hearts. You showed a good hand by doubling..and partner jumped. What now?

Richard Solomon

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