Bridge Bites

BRIDGE BITES #44

CHERCHEZ LA FEMME

Brian Gunnell

♠ A873

♥ QT9

♦ 985

♣ K32

E-W Vulnerable

South West North East

1NT

2♠ Pass 3♠ Pass

4♠ Pass Pass Pass

That 1NT opening showed 15-17 HCP, after which the

auction inches its way up to 4♠. West leads the ♦Q, won by

your Ace. You have one loser in each of the side-suits, so to

make your contract you must avoid losing a trump trick.

Dummy

West East

Declarer

♠ KJT92

♥ 3

♦ AK643

♣ Q4

In your search for the Queen of trumps you could choose to finesse against West, or to finesse against East, or to “play for the drop” (hoping that the suit is 2-2 or the ♠Q is singleton). The general rule, when holding a 9-card fit, is to play for the drop, all things being equal that is about a 58% chance.

So, the question is “Do you play for the drop?”

►

Absolutely not! Why settle for 58% when you can have 100%? Yes, it’s time for some counting. N-S have a combined 22 HCP, that leaves E-W with 18. West has already played the ♦Q, leaving precisely 15 or 16 HCP in the East hand. As East has already advertised 15-17 he must have all the missing high cards with the possible exception of one of the missing Jacks. So at Trick 2 you lead a Spade to Dummy’s Ace and then, when East plays low on the second round, you finesse the Jack with complete confidence. That’s 10 tricks for those who count, but only 9 for the rule-followers.

►

Here’s the full deal:

♠ A873

♥ QT9

♦ 985

♣ K32

♠ 4

♥ 876542

♦ QJT

♣ T65

Dummy

West East

Declarer

♠ Q65

♥ AKJ

♦ 72

♣ AJ987

♠ KJT92

♥ 3

♦ AK643

♣ Q4

That was too easy, let’s kick it up a notch and change the problem slightly. We’ll leave the bidding the same, and Declarer and Dummy will have the same hands (which are about to be repeated below before they disappear off the top of your screen), but we’ll change the unseen hands around a bit.

►

♠ A873

♥ QT9

♦ 985

♣ K32

Dummy

West East

Declarer

♠ KJT92

♥ 3

♦ AK643

♣ Q4

This time the opening lead is the Heart Five, which East wins with the Jack. East continues with the ♥K and you ruff. Who has the ♠Q now? There’s no way of knowing. West has 1-3 HCP, but you don’t know what they are. All you know is that West has no points in Hearts. Where can you find more information?

►

It must be safe to play three rounds of Diamonds, the suit is most unlikely to be 4-1. How so? East opened 1NT so won’t have a singleton, and West would probably have led one if he had a singleton. So, you cash ♦A, ♦K, on which East plays the Queen and then the Jack. There’s nothing to be gained by playing a third Diamond, instead you lead a Club to Dummy’s King and East’s Ace. Back comes the ♣J and the problem can now be solved. Who has the ♠Q?

►