Many Declarers would jump right
in, grabbing the ♥A,
and rattling off the Diamonds. But, as it happens, they don’t rattle, and East
shows out on the second round. That 5-1 split has derailed the contract.
Declarer cannot cash four Diamonds, that would set up the defense’s sixth trick
… and if he cashes only three Diamonds there is no way to come to eight tricks.
When things look easy, Declarer
is advised to consider the worst-case scenario. In this case it is a bad
Diamond break, giving Declarer only seven top tricks. Can Declarer do something
about that?
►
Yes, before going all-in with the
Diamond suit, Declarer can hedge his bets by playing Clubs first, building a
trick there just in case the Diamonds misbehave. The defense can take their
three Hearts and two Clubs but that is all they get. Did you play on Clubs
before Diamonds? Well done if you did! The full deal:
►
|
|
♠ AK82
♥
952
♦
Q5
♣ QJ42 |
|
|
♠ J6
♥
QT87
♦
T9873
♣ A7 |
North
West East
Declarer |
♠ QT943
♥
KJ
♦
6
♣ K9865 |
|
|
♠ 75
♥
A643
♦
AKJ42
♣ T3 |
|
One more point. Did you win the
Heart at Trick 1? Or did you duck, planning to win the second Heart, in case
the suit was 5-1? It’s safe to win the first trick, the Hearts cannot be 5-1.
East played the King, so he denies the Queen and cannot have five in the suit …
and if West had QJT87 he would no doubt have led the Queen. So, it’s OK to win
the first trick and play on Clubs, safe in the knowledge that the defense cannot
cash six tricks. If you cautiously ducked the first Heart then it would be just
your luck for the defense to find the killing Spade shift.
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