Hand of the day #428
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This conundrum was written by Patrick O'Connor and was originally published in the book A Second Book of Bridge Problems - you can find out all about it further down the page.
West leads the ♠K. How will you make ten tricks?
The first thing to do in a suit contract is to count your losers. You have four — a spade, two diamonds and a club, so you need to eliminate one of them. What is your plan?
The way to play this hand is to set up the ♦J as a winner by knocking out the ♦A and ♦K, and then discard the club loser on it.
Win the opening lead with the ♣A. Don’t duck it because East may switch to a club.
Draw trumps first with the ♥K and ♥Q, preserving the ♥A in dummy to access the diamond winner. Then lead the ♦Q, high honor from the short side first. The opponents will win and cash a spade and maybe switch to a club. Capture this and lead the ♦2. Win the return, then go to dummy with the ♥A and discard the losing club on the high ♦J.
Key Point
It is possible to set up winners in a short side suit.
Like the author's first book (A First Book of Bridge Problems, named Book of the Year for 2012 by the American Bridge Teachers Association), this sequel comprises fifty problems in declarer play and defense for the beginning or near-beginning player, presented in approximate order of difficulty. The problems are slightly more advanced than those in the first book. Experienced players recognize certain standard situations without having to work them out. This does not apply to novices, who spend a lot of mental effort on them. The aim of the book is to get novices to develop their recognition of these situations. The idea is to present bridge hands as the reader would encounter them playing at the table. Unlike in a textbook, where topics are introduced systematically, there is no clue as to what type of play is required. Winner of the 2014 ABTA Book of the Year of the Award in the Beginner/Novice category!
