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BRIDGE BITES #33
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THIRD-HAND TRICKERY
Brian Gunnell |
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♠ KJ6
♥
3
♦
AKJ95
♣ 8743 |
E-W
Vulnerable
South
West North East
1♥
2♣
2♥
3♥
Pass
4♣ Pass 5♣ Pass
Pass
Pass
Against your 5♣
contract, West leads a low Heart to East’s
Ace. Back comes the Heart Ten which you ruff on the board.
How
do you play the Club suit?
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Dummy
West East
Declarer |
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♠ AQ2
♥
874
♦
3
♣ KJT965 |
►
It’s time to remember the
bidding and do some card-reading. East appears to have started with
♥AQT9x.
How so? Well, if East had ♥AK
she would win the first trick with the King, clarifying the situation for
her Partner. And, if West has the ♥K,
then he won’t also have the Queen (with ♥KQ
he would lead the King, not a low card). And on the second round of Hearts,
East returned the Ten, which denies the Jack. So,
♥AQT9x for
East, that’s the inescapable verdict. With 6 HCP in Hearts, where did
East’s opening bid come from?
►
The unaccounted for HCP are the
♦Q and
♣AQ. East needs the ♣A
and at least one on those missing Queens in order to make up her opening
bid. So you lead the Club Eight from the board and East plays the Two. Do
you play the King from hand, hoping that West has the singleton Queen? Or
do you let the Eight ride, playing West to be void? It’s something of a
guess, let us assume that you decide to jump up with the King. Nice try,
but you have just been had!
►
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♠ KJ6
♥
3
♦
AKJ95
♣ 8743 |
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♠ 9854
♥
Q652
♦
8764
♣ A |
Dummy
West East
Declarer |
♠ T73
♥
AKJT9
♦
QT2
♣ Q2 |
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♠ AQ2
♥
874
♦
3
♣ KJT965 |
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Yes, that devious East was creating an
illusion! Her devious play caused you to place her with 6 HCP in Hearts
when, in fact, she had 8 HCP in the suit. Consequently, you placed the
♣A with East and guessed the trumps
wrong. Without that false information there would have been no reason not
to make the normal percentage play of running the Eight,
hoping for Q2 or AQ2 in the East hand (two chances) rather than A2 (only one
chance). Nice deception, Mr. East!
But wouldn’t East have looked
rather foolish if South had shown up with the
♥Q?
Actually, no, that was always a loser that could be ruffed on the board, and
there are no useful Dummy pitches to be made anyway.
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