General Bridge Discussion > Interesting Play Hands

Catering for good defence

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OliverC:
This was a very instructive hand that I played with Samet (doru77) this morning and it's all about making and reassessing your "plan" for the hand. Game All, Dealer South. You are North and the bidding goes as follows:


South       West        North        East
1 !H          No            2 !C          2 !D
No            No            2NT(1)      No
3 !C(2)      No           3NT           All Pass

(1) Lebensohl
(2) Forced

West leads the Ace of Spades, and this is what you can see:

South (Dummy)
!S 10972
!H AKQ43
!D J
!C Q75

North
!S 854
!H 8
!D AKQ5
!C KJ964

West cashes the AK of Spades (East following with the 6 and then the Jack) and then switches to the 10 !D, won with Dummy's Jack. How should you plan the play? This looks like a simple contract, in that you have loads of potential winners, no suit is threatened and you only have 4 probable losers, but the hand is deceptive and needs careful handling:

.
.
.

(1) Tricks: 4 Diamonds, 3 Hearts, up to 4 Clubs and even a Spade trick, so no lack of winners.
(2) Losers: 3 Spades and the Ace of Clubs
(3) Potential Problems: No immediate ones, but your singleton Heart might restrict your access to Dummy.
(4) Plan: Threefold:

* Establish my Spade trick immediately
* Having done that play a small Club to K or J in my hand
* Depending on what Opps lead when they take the Q !S, play off 2 of my 3 Diamond winners, discarding Dummy's losing Hearts, before playing a second round of Clubs
Samet didn't think this one through. He started on the Clubs immediately playing a Club to his King and a second Club to Dummy's Queen, but that second Club did him in, because West played well and ducked. When Samet played a 3rd Club, West could take his Ace of Clubs, cash the Q !S, and exit with a Heart, trapping Declarer in Dummy to concede 2 Heart tricks at the end

The full hand:

                     South (Dummy)
                     !S 10972
                     !H AKQ43
                     !D J
                     !C Q75
East                                   West
!S AK3                                 !S QJ6
!H 76                                   !H J10952
!D 1087632                          !D 94
!C 103                                  !C A82
                     North
                     !S 854
                     !H 8
                     !D AKQ5
                     !C KJ964
If, having already established his Spade trick, Declarer cashes 2 Diamonds, leaving one in reserve to "hold" the suit and discards Dummy's 2 losing Hearts, he's now absolutely bombproof because

* Dummy will effectively be "high"
* There's no benefit to West to hold up the Ace of Clubs
Moral
Even the simplest looking hands often have hidden pitfalls. Always make a plan and spend a little time covering the "what if?" situations

Jimmy:
Having looked at only the N-S hands, I think I would have tried this approach.

I would have played it very similar to Samet.  I would cashing 2 top club first (giving the defense an opportunity to make a mistake and playing for a doubleton club (Ax).  This approach could create an overtrick if defense gets greedy and does not play the spade.  However,  once the second club is ducked,  I would have played my remaining 3 diamonds,  if diamonds split (not likely), I would now play the spade hoping that the Q spades is not with the A clubs.  If diamonds do not split, I would go to the hearts and be content with making 3NT.  Greed is not good.

lute57:
I think the point here is for Declarer to establish his  !S trick [10 spot] immediately.

I think if you play the spade after playing two rounds of clubs - hoping for a mistake or Ax - and then playing your remaining three diamonds - BEFORE establishing your spade trick. Then the opponents will cash not only the  !S Q and  !C A but also their now established  !D winner(s) for at least -1.

IMO once West shows the  !S J, Declarer knows Dummy's  !S 10 is good as long as he first establishes it before transportation issues enter the fray. So while he has the transportation, Declarer's first step should be to establish the spade trick.

OliverC:
Absolutely right, John. Playing for an overtrick when the basic contract is in doubt is a fool's game at IMP scoring. The rule for IMPs is utterly to play safe for your contract before you start trying anything cute. The only time that might not apply is when barometer scores are level going into the last board of a TM, when you're effectively down to Board-a-Match scoring. Now you might take risks for an overtrick, but never at cross-imped Pairs.


Here, whether or not you establish the Spade trick first or not, it's lunacy NOT to take 2 top Diamonds to get rid of Dummy's losing Hearts before playing a second Club.

Jimmy:
There is no risk in my line of play.  But,  there is a potential reward.  Once 2 clubs are established the contract is in the bag.  Three H's, 4 D's, and the two clubs.  If (a big if) the diamonds split 4/4, there is a chance of isolating the A C's.   Again,  if the diamonds are not 4/4, one must run the 9 tricks and concede.   

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