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BRIDGE BITES #133
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THE ONLY CARD
Brian Gunnell |
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♠ KT954
♥
2
♦
QJ653
♣ 94 |
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Both Vulnerable
South
West North East
1♥
Dbl 1♠ Pass
4♥
Pass Pass Pass
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♠ QJ87
♥
Q6
♦
KT82
♣ KQJ |
Dummy
West East
Declarer |
You are West, on opening lead
against 4♥.
You naturally choose the ♣K, and that holds the trick, Partner playing the Two.
Now, at Trick 2, there is only one card in your hand that will defeat this
contract. What is it?
►
Before you play to Trick 2, let’s
analyze Trick 1. Partner played the Two, and in standard carding methods that
is discouraging. In other words, Partner does not like the suit and it is safe
to assume that he does not have the Ace. So Declarer has the Ace, yet she did
not win the trick. What is she up to? That’s right, she would just love for
you to continue with Clubs, allowing her to win the Ace and get a ruff in Dummy.
It goes against the grain to lead away from certain trump holdings, and leading
from Qx has potential for blowing a trump trick. Nonetheless, stopping the ruff
is paramount, so you bite the bullet and shift to a trump. But which one?
►
Leading a low trump would deprive
Declarer of a trick by stopping his Club ruff, but it might return the trick by
destroying Partner’s trump holding. Time to look at the full diagram.
►
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♠ KT954
♥
2
♦
QJ653
♣ 94 |
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♠ QJ87
♥
Q6
♦
KT82
♣ KQJ |
North
West East
Declarer |
♠ 62
♥
J87
♦
A974
♣ T872 |
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♠ A3
♥AKT9543
♦
♣ A653 |
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Yes, at Trick 2, the only card in
your hand that will beat the contract is the
♥Q!
Not only does it deprive Declarer of his ruff in Dummy, but it also preserves
Partner’s natural trump trick. In the fullness of time the defense will score
three Clubs and a Heart, and that is down one.
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