Lesson 3(b) - Conserving your entries when playin NT

Getting the maximum number of tricks

To get the maximum number of tricks, you must be careful about entries

Board 2 Dlr E NS Vul 

Contract 3NT.

                       NORTH

                       ª QT9752
                       © 92
                       ¨ KT7

               § 5
WEST                                       EAST
ª J63                                        ª AK4
© K64                                       © A83
¨ Q6                                         ¨ A5432
§ KJT73                                   § Q4
                        SOUTH
                        ª 8
                        © QJT75
                        ¨ J9

                § A986 

East opens 1NT with a balanced 17 HCP and is raised to game by West with a balanced 10HCP.  South has an automatic heart lead with such a good sequence, and selects the top card, ©Q. 

¨     Which card would South lead from QT752? 

As declarer you can count only five immediate tricks - two in each of the majors and one diamond.  However, the clubs are very likely to produce four tricks once the ace is driven

out.  And they must be tackled immediately while you still hold 'stoppers' (protective high cards) in all the other suits.  Do your losing early when there is a profit in it and when the opponents cannot defeat you at once. Losing one to gain four looks like a profitable strategy, doesn't it? 

Win ©A 'in hand' (a bridge term meaning in the declaring hand, not in the dummy).  Why not win with dummy's ©K, you might ask. Does it matter?  Since dummy has fewer high cards it is, on general green principles, better to conserve dummy's ©K.  And on this deal, it is essential (as will be explained in a minute).

How do you tackle the club suit?  The correct way is to play honour(s) first from the short hand as you learned in the very first lesson.  Play §Q from hand. South should 'duck' (= play a low one).  When the queen wins, play the four towards the high honours in dummy.  South should play §A (and dummy §7). 

Now, whatever South does, declarer can reach dummy's club winners via ©K.  Lucky you didn't play ©K on the first trick!  The useful principle to remember here is: conserve the entries to the hand with the long suit you are trying to develop.  

For making your non-vulnerable game exactly, you score 3x30 + 10 + 300 = 400. 

¨     Here are two rather tricky questions: 

Imagine you do make the mistake of winning ©K at trick one.  What mistake can the defenders make later that will still allow you to reach dummy's winners? 

What unpleasant distribution of the enemy clubs would always prevent you from making four tricks?