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BRIDGE BITES #137
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COUNT UP TO TEN
Brian Gunnell |
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♠ A752
♥
KJ2
♦
62
♣ 6532 |
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Both Vulnerable
South West North
East
1♥
Pass 2♥
Pass
4♥
All Pass
As Declarer, you can
count eight top tricks and there are various ways by which you might
attempt get that total up to ten. There’s the Club finesse … a Diamond
trick or two … a Diamond ruff or two. Bearing in mind that Dummy has
limited entries, what is the best way of combining the chances after the
♠Q opening lead?
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Dummy
West East
Declarer |
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♠ 3
♥
AQT83
♦
QJ54
♣ AKJ |
►
There is approximately 0% chance
of getting two Diamond ruffs (if Declarer plays on Diamonds the defense will
shift to trumps pronto) … there is a 50% chance of the Club finesse working …
and there is approximately a 75% chance of East holding at least one of the top
two Diamonds. So playing on Diamonds is clearly a better bet for the ninth
trick than is taking the Club finesse. And the 10th trick?
►
That can come from a Diamond ruff
in the short hand (we’ve already counted Declarer’s five trumps, so taking a
couple of Spade ruffs won’t add to the trick total). So, Declarer has a plan:
set up a Diamond trick, and ruff a Diamond. That’s a very fine plan but
Declarer will need to be careful with the timing. What does Declarer do at
Trick 2?
►
After winning the opening Spade
lead in Dummy, it is essential to lead a Diamond at Trick 2 to Declarer’s Queen
and West’s Ace. West predictably shifts to a trump. That is won in Dummy, and
another Diamond is led, this time won by East. Back comes another trump, but
Declarer is home: win the trump in hand, ruff a Diamond, return to hand with the
♣A, draw the last trump. 10 tricks! Here is the full layout:
►
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♠ A752
♥
KJ2
♦
62
♣ 6532 |
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♠ QJT4
♥
654
♦
A8
♣ QT87 |
North
West East
Declarer |
♠ K986
♥
97
♦
KT973
♣ 94 |
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♠ 3
♥
AQT83
♦
QJ54
♣ AKJ |
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P.S. Let’s go back to the point
where East wins the second round of Diamonds. Suppose that East, instead of
returning a trump, continues with a third round of Diamonds. In this case,
Declarer will take care to play a low Diamond from hand (ruffing on the
board), saving her Diamond winner for later, when trumps have been drawn.
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