| Deal of the Week (Mar 10, 2006) Click here for Archives |
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Problem: The Auction: South West North East 1S pass 1NT pass 2C 2H 4S all pass The opening lead is the 8 of Clubs, you win in dummy with the Ace, East playing the Jack. The scoring is matchpoints, and your goal is to try to take as many tricks as possible. How do you proceed? Solution: Part 1: After you win the opening club lead in dummy, the first question is how do you play the spades. If East has the singleton King of Spades, the correct play is a low spade from dummy, as you don't want to waste the Queen or Jack. But if East has four spades headed by the King and Nine, you have to play a spade honor from dummy (if you play a spade to the ten, you can no longer pick up the suit). So which scenario is more likely? The clue lies in the bidding. Since West bid 2H, he is more likely to have shortness in spades, and hence East is more likely to hold K9xx of spades rather than the stiff King. So, you play the Queen of Spades, and it holds. You continue with the Jack of Spades, and that holds too. What next? Part 2: The situation is now analogous to last week's deal. You should not draw the third trump now. You should continue with the Queen of Clubs, and a Club to your King. If clubs are 3-3, all's well. On this deal, clubs are 4-2 (which is likely since West led the 8 of clubs) and West discards a diamond on the King of Clubs. Your thoughtful play pays off this week too, as you ruff your fourth club in dummy! You come to hand with the Ace of Hearts, East following with a low card, West playing the Ten, and draw the last trump with the Ace, West discarding another heart. You are now cold for 11 tricks (five spades, three clubs, a club ruff, and two aces). Are you content with 11 tricks? Part 3: You know West has at least five hearts. He would have probably led one if he held the King, Queen and Jack of Hearts. Therefore, East must have one heart honor. When you played a heart to your Ace, East followed with a low card, so his other card must be an honor. Therefore, West must have Exactly 5 hearts. You now have a count of West's hand: He has 2 spades, 5 hearts, 2 clubs, and therefore 4 diamonds. If West also has the King and Queen of Diamonds, you can squeeze him. This is the position, assuming our card-reading is accurate so far:
Play two more rounds of trumps. This will be the position before the third trump is played:
When the last trump is played, LHO is caught in a squeeze without the count. If he pitches a diamond, you will discard a heart from dummy, and West's King will come down on your Ace, and your Jack of diamonds will score the twelfth trick. If he pitches a heart, you will discard dummy's diamond, which is now useless, and play a heart establishing dummy's heart for the twelfth trick. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bridge Baron deal No : 20655495559319454581958182288 You can download this deal in PPL format, and view it with Bridge Baron here :Deal Of The Week |
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