Sometimes you need to lose a trick to make more tricks
"Knocking out" the opponents Ace
Board 4: Dlr W All Vul
NORTH
© 985
¨ A94
§ T87
© QJT3
¨ 85
West opens 1NT. East might choose to bid a terminal 2¨, but decides here to tough it out.
Against 1NT North leads ªK, the top card of an excellent sequence.
Declarer counts four top tricks, with four more available from the strong diamond suit after the opponents' ace has been removed. And that you will try to lose immediately.
Don't be too worried about the fact that you have no more spade stoppers. You are only in 1NT this time. And if North holds the ace of diamonds and enough spades to defeat you, he most likely would not have passed 1NT.
¨ How many spades would North need to have been dealt in order to defeat you?
Win the spade ace in hand and play ¨K (honour from the short hand). North should win this and play four winning spades from the top.
Make sure you don't 'discard' (a term meaning 'play, throw away, when you can't follow suit') any of dummy's diamond winners on the run of the enemy spades. You can easily throw one heart and two clubs. And from your hand you can throw a heart and a club.
Eventually, after taking four tricks, the opponents will have to lead a suit you can win. Now play your ¨Q (the remaining honour in the short diamond hand) and cross to dummy's diamond winners and a total of eight tricks. Your score will be 2x30 + 10 = 120.
¨ If you accidentally block the diamonds (by playing the jack or ten on the first round), what enemy holding in diamonds might save you from disaster and still enable you to make 4 diamond tricks? (We aren’t always punished for our errors!)
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