Hand of the day #205
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff In today’s deal from the 1999 Cavendish, fro...
This conundrum was written by Danny Roth and was originally published in the book Better Declarer Play - Placing the Cards - you can find out all about it further down the page.
Question 1
West leads the ♠10. East takes the ♠A and ♠K and then shifts to the ♦5.
With two spade tricks already lost, the aim must be to avoid losing both minor-suit kings. If both finesses are wrong, there is nothing you can do. If both are right, you cannot go wrong. The critical position arises when both kings are in the same hand, resulting in one finesse succeeding whereas the other will fail.
That implies that only three tricks will be lost but there is a danger that the diamond shift is a singleton. If you take the diamond finesse now, you could run into a ruff, failing when the club finesse was right the whole time. On the other hand, if you refuse the finesse, you will go down in the contract when
the diamond is right and the club wrong. So what is to be done?
The vital clue is East’s initial pass. He has already shown up with the two top spades, 7 points, and therefore cannot hold both minor-suit kings, as that would give him 13. Thus, the second scenario above is ruled out and if you refuse the diamond finesse, you can be confident that the club will succeed.
You should therefore take the ♦A, draw trumps and try the club finesse.
Score 10 if you found the line as above. Reduce to 3 if you ducked at Trick 3.
Question 2
North’s first response was a balanced game-forcing raise in spades. West leads the ♦J.
The first point is that there is little to gain by taking finesses in either minor suit, as there is nothing useful you can discard if either or both succeed. This is a question of avoiding losers in both major suits. There is little to discuss in trumps; the finesse is the percentage play, so after winning with the ♦A at Trick 1, you should take the spade finesse, starting with the ♠8 or ♠7 (or the ♠Q, playing the 9 under it) to stay in dummy if the finesse holds. Assuming that the finesse loses and a diamond comes back, you will ruff in hand and draw the remaining trumps. Now, before committing yourself to a guess in hearts, it costs nothing to play three rounds of clubs and see what happens. If either defender shows out, their partner can be credited with length and will therefore be less likely to hold the ♥Q. You will by then also have a count on the trump distribution.
Score 10 if you found the line as above. Reduce to 6 if you did not touch clubs early.
Question 3
West leads the ♦K and continues with the ♦2 when East encourages with the ♦8. A third round runs to West’s ♦Q10 and you have lost the first four tricks. West exits with the ♠Q.
The problem here is finding the ♣Q but there is no need to commit too early.
After winning the spade shift, it will cost little to cash all major-suit winners to try to get a count on the hand. Here, West shows out on the third round of hearts, marking him with four diamonds and two hearts and leaving seven black cards. If he had two or fewer clubs, that would leave five or more spades headed by the QJ, which he might well have preferred to lead over a four-card minor. After the ♣K, the finesse is therefore preferable to the drop.
Possible deal:
Score 10 if you found the line as above; only 6 if you played on clubs early.
Question 4
West leads the ♣6 to East’s ♣A and the ♣8 is returned, ruffed by West. He exits with the ♠4, East following with the ♠8.
Two tricks have been lost and the ♥A, surely well-placed with West, is still to come. This implies that the diamonds will have to come in without loss and it is a question of how to play the combination. When drawing trumps, the split between the two defenders is critical. The club count is known and the spade count will also be clear after trumps have been drawn. West will surely hold seven hearts for a vulnerable-against-not preempt, leaving East with two. You can rule out an 8-1 split because then the defenders could crossruff, leaving you with no chance. Therefore, if West shows three spades, he will have two diamonds and a straightforward finesse is the required line. If he shows four, he is left with one diamond, which will have to be the king, and you will have to start with a low card in that suit.
Of course, West should not preempt, first-in-hand, with four cards in the other major; but disciplines of this kind seem to have gone out of the window nowadays in favor of the obsession with making life as difficult for the opponents as possible at all costs.
Score 10 if you found the line as above. Reduce to 5 if you failed to appreciate the count consideration when drawing trumps.
The second book in Danny Roth’s intermediate-level series on declarer play, this book covers topics that, once mastered, will bring any intermediate player an immediate improvement in their scores. Topics include: placing the cards missing one honor, missing two honors, missing three honors, inferences from the defense and second-degree assumption. This book is designed to help you to get a more accurate picture of the unseen hands and thus avoid ‘wild guessing’; or, at least, improve your chances of avoiding unnecessary mistakes.
As always, the author’s clear exposition of his points is followed by a collection of quiz problems where the reader can test their understanding of this new-found knowledge.
