Get rid of an additional loser before drawing trumps
Board 11 Dlr S Nil Vul
NORTH
© JT984
After three passes the bidding gets around to East, in fourth seat, who opens 1¨. Holding no 4-card major, West chooses a 3¨ response (=10-12 TP & 5¨s). With a maxi opener, East is thinking of slam. 4NT Blackwood is a sensible way to check they are not missing two aces (Bad luck if you are missing ©AK – you will learn more sophisticated methods of bidding slam some time down the track). West's reply of 5¨ (= one ace) allows East to bid 6¨ with enthusiasm if not with absolute confidence.
South leads ©J and you survey your prospects as declarer. There are plenty of tricks - three spades, one heart, three clubs and five diamonds after losing to the ace.
But the defenders have attacked your weakest point, hearts. If you play a trump immediately, they will win their ace and cash a winning heart.
You must therefore attempt to discard your heart loser first by playing three rounds of spades in careful order. Win ©A, play ª5 to dummy's ªA. Play ªQ and overtake with your ªK so that you can play ªJ and discard dummy's heart.
Only then can you draw trumps and claim your 12 tricks and small slam for a score of 920 (6x20 + 300 + 500).
Board 12 Dlr W NS Vul
NORTH
North opens 1ª in second seat and South, with game-going values, bids 'naturally' by shifting to her longer suit with a 2¨ response. North rebids 2©, promising 4+ ©s and a little vague as to strength - either mini or midi. With a heart fit and 14 TP, South has enough for game even opposite a minimum opening and jumps to 4©. With no extras, North has no hesitation in passing.
The unbid suit looks like East's best lead - §8 (fourth highest from non-touching honours). West wins and returns a club to East's king.
¨ You will learn later that West returns §4, his original fourth highest. Since declarer has played §75, East observes that his partner likely holds the two and may well have started with five clubs, and declarer two. (Declarer could be foxing by falsecarding and hiding the two, mind you. It’s a tough game.) It is usually very unprofitable to play a suit in which both dummy and declarer are void when both hands hold trumps. Safest to switch suits. Very advanced stuff at this stage. A glimpse of the endless fascination.
Declarer is looking at nine winners once ªA is driven out. There are two clubs already lost and one sure spade loser. What about the second diamond? The only way to avoid a diamond loser is to turn it into a winner by a successful finesse on the first round of diamonds.
If East has switched to a diamond at trick three (not a bad plan), declarer must finesse. It's now or never. If any other suit is led, declarer has time to draw trumps and then finesse in diamonds. Yet another example of grabbing the only available lifeline. 10 tricks and a score of +620.
No comments:
Post a Comment