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BRIDGE BITES #112
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A
SECOND CHANCE
Brian Gunnell |
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♠ 76
♥
J743
♦
T65
♣ J643 |
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Both Vulnerable
South West North
East
2♣
Pass 2♦
Pass
2♥
Pass 4♥
All Pass
2♣ and 2♦
were artificial (strong and weak respectively), and West leads the ♠Q
against 4♥.
East wins the ♠K,
cashes the ♠A and shifts to a
Diamonds. Do you win the ♦A
or do you take the finesse? |
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Dummy
West East
Declarer |
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♠ 98
♥
AKQT52
♦
AKJ
♣ A5 |
►
You may have to take the Diamond
finesse eventually, but there’s no rush to take it now. So you win the
♦A and draw
trumps in three rounds (East happens to be void in trumps). You have 9 tricks
and it looks as if you’ll have to resort to the Diamond finesse now. Do you
cross to Dummy’s ♥J
in order to take that finesse, or is there something else you can try first?
►
Before putting all your eggs in
the Diamond basket, you lose nothing by cashing the ♣A and exiting a Club. This
end-plays West if he happens to hold both the ♣K and ♣Q, or if he holds ♣KT or
♣QT doubleton. It may be somewhat unlikely that the Club position will allow
the end-play to work, but it is an extra chance that costs nothing, and if no
end-play materializes then you always have the Diamond finesse to fall back on.
Here’s the full layout:
►
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♠ 76
♥
J743
♦
T65
♣ J643 |
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♠ QJT42
♥
986
♦
Q98
♣ KT |
Dummy
West East
Declarer |
♠ AK53
♥
♦
7432
♣ Q9872 |
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♠ 98
♥
AKQT52
♦
AKJ
♣ A5 |
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Remember, the play has gone: two
Spades won by the defense, then the ♦A
and three top trumps, then the ♣A and a
low Club won by West’s King. Now, whatever West returns gives you your 10th
trick … if West plays a Spade you can ruff it in one hand and pitch a Diamond
from the other … and if West plays a Diamond your 10th trick is the
♦J.
Question:
Wouldn’t West also be
end-played if he held, say, ♣K2?
►
No endplay in this case, because
West would dump that ♣K under your Ace like a hot potato, cleverly allowing East
to win the second Club trick, thereby avoiding the end-play! But that
spectacular unlock does not work when West holds the KT as Dummy will play low
on the second round of the suit.
Question:
Declarer played that well, but what could East have done to beat the contract?
►
The winning defense is for East
to overtake the Spade and shift to a Diamond at Trick 2. Now, sooner or later,
Declarer will be forced to take the losing Diamond finesse and that will be down
one.
Question:
Did East misdefend when he failed to shift to a Diamond at Trick 2? Maybe not,
there were some hands when his defense would have been necessary (picture
Declarer with ♠98,
♥AKQT2,
♦AKQ8,
♣K5, for example) so let’s just count East as somewhat unlucky.
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