Chapter 9
Timing is Everything
© 2006 - Marty Bergen
Page 99
Timing is Everything
Working Hard For Your Part Score
Contract: 3
Lead:
2 |
|
North
10 5 4 2
K
9 8 7
A 4 3
Q 3 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
South
A
J
J
10 6 4 3
K J 5
A 7 6 |
|
|
West North
East South
--
-- Pass
1
Pass
2
Pass Pass
Dbl
Pass
3
Pass
Pass 3
All Pass
You
tried to stop in 2,
but West had other ideas. North didn’t love being pushed
to the three level, but with his 9-card heart fit, he followed
The LAW of Total Tricks and bid
3
over 3.
West
leads the
2.
You have a decision to make at the very first trick.
Question 1: What card would you play from dummy?
© 2006- Marty Bergen
Page 100
Timing is Everything
Before
playing from dummy, first things first. In a suit contract,
you should count your losers before playing a card.
Unfortunately, the following analysis is the best you can do at
this point:
Spades: You must lose
one trick.
Hearts
(trumps): One or two losers.
Diamonds: You
could lose one trick.
Clubs:
Unless E-W
are in a
very charitable mood, there is no way to avoid a club loser.
That
wasn’t too helpful. You have possible finesses all over the
place. On a very good day, you will lose only three tricks. On a
very bad day, you could lose five tricks and go down. Oh well,
back to trick 1.
Question 1: What card would you play from dummy?
Answer: The normal play with nine cards missing the ace and
queen but containing all the intermediates is to finesse
–
hoping
that the queen sits in front of the king. However,
sometimes circumstances suggest deviating from the norm.
If
West had several trumps headed by the queen, he would definitely
not have led the suit. After West’s trump lead, finessing
against the queen is pointless because West can’t have the
Q.
Therefore, you should play the
K
at trick 1.
With a
little bit of luck, West will have started with
A
5 2, and the king
will gobble up
East’s
singleton queen.
© 2006- Marty Bergen
Page 101
Timing is
Everything
East wins with the
A. So much for
that. It now appears that your fate will depend on what happens
in diamonds.
If East
has the Q,
it will be easy to win a finesse with the jack. However, you
know that East started with the
A, and when West
led a trump you already
knew that East
had
the
Q. West didn’t need much
to balance against 2,
but he does need something to take action opposite a passed
hand.
{auction and N-S cards repeated for
convenience}
Contract: 3
Lead:
2 |
|
North
10 5 4 2
K
9 8 7
A 4 3
Q 3 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
South
A
J
J
10 6 4 3
K J 5
A 7 6 |
|
|
West North
East South
--
-- Pass
1
Pass
2
Pass Pass
Dbl
Pass
3
Pass
Pass 3
All Pass
© 2006- Marty Bergen
Page 102
Timing is Everything
Speaking of diamonds, here they come. At trick 2, East shifts to
the
6.
Question 2: Which card would you play from your hand at
trick 2?
Answer: There is no reason to finesse the
J
now. If East has the
Q,
you can take the finesse later on. If West has the queen,
playing the jack would be fatal. Therefore, the correct
card to play here is the
5.
(The
K
is the second choice. The
J
is incorrect.)
Question 3: If West has the
Q
and E-W defend correctly, can you make the hand?
Answer: As long as West has the
K,
everything is under control. After winning the
A,
lead a spade to your ace. Then lead a low club. On this deal, as
you can see, West does have the
K.
He will win that card, but regardless of what he leads, there is
no
way for E-W to defeat the contract.
You’ll
always be able to cash
dummy’s
Q
to unblock that suit, and get back to your hand to use the A to
discard a diamond from dummy. Once you have avoided a diamond
loser, your contract is secure. Your only remaining losers
are the
Q
and
J.
If the
Q
loses to East’s king, you will have to take the diamond finesse.
If that also loses, you will go down.
© 2006- Marty Bergen
Page 103
Timing is Everything
Keep in
mind: The best players in the world don’t always make their
contracts. Their only goal is to give themselves the best
chance. If the opponents lead and defend perfectly and the cards
don’t cooperate, no one could possibly make
every
contract.
Here is the entire deal:
Contract: 3
Lead:
2 |
|
North
10 5 4 2
K
9 8 7
A 4 3
Q 3 |
|
|
| |
West
K
9 8 6
5
2
Q 9 8 2
K J 9 |
|
East
Q
7 3
A
Q
10 7 6
10 8 5 4 2 |
|
| |
|
South
A
J
J
10 6 4 3
K J 5
A 7 6 |
|
|
West North
East South
--
-- Pass
1
Pass
2
Pass Pass
Dbl
Pass
3
Pass
Pass 3
All Pass
© 2006 - Marty Bergen
Chapter 10:
Surviving Bad Splits
.....................................
107
|
