October 2011 - 46

Play & Learn

Pat Harrington
Failing forward
Many newer players refuse to plan
their play at trick one. Those players
are likely to remain lackluster declarers. Players who make a plan may not
always play well but will "fail forward" toward success: By making and
attempting to execute a plan, they will
improve their play.
Cover up the East-West hands on
the deal below and test your planning
skills. West leads the Q. Read on
once you've developed a plan.

 Q J 10 4
 10 5
 10 8 7
 A Q 10 7

West

A96
K3
KQJ4
9853
N

W E
S

K83
942
96532
K4

752
AQJ876
A
J62

North
1
Pass 1NT
All Pass

East
Pass
Pass

South
1
4

1. You're in a suit contract so count
losers from the long trump hand:
two fast spades losers and three
46 Bridge Bulletin October 2011

clubs. Two losers must be eliminated.
2. Dummy's only shortness is in
trumps, so forget about ruffing
losers. There are no finesses, but
there are diamond winners in
dummy that can provide a place on
which to discard losers.
3. Plan the sequence of plays, deciding which suits to play first and
watching out for entries. Notice
that the diamond suit is blocked.
Your entry to use North's good
diamonds must be in a suit other
than diamonds. You win the A at
trick one (East follows with the 8)
to avoid losing a spade and three
clubs off the top. With the A
gone, what is the needed entry?
The K. With only a doubleton
trump in dummy, the secret to
making 4 is to unblock the A
before drawing two rounds of
trumps ending in dummy.
It's reasonable to play for the missing diamonds to split 5-3, which
allows you to discard two black-suit
losers to make 4.
In a duplicate pair game, overtricks
matter. With the diamond distribution
above, you score the most matchpoints if the first three tricks are
won with the A, the A and one
of South's high trumps. Next lead to
dummy's K and play the remaining
top diamonds, discarding three losers.
You've drawn two rounds of hearts,
depleting West of trumps, so the
fourth diamond wins and you make
that precious overtrick.
You are in 4 on the next deal.
West leads the Q, continuing until
you take the A.

A5
J832
 Q J 10
J942

West

642
Q954
A63
763

83
 10 7 6
W E
K987
S
 K 10 8 5
 K Q J 10 9 7
AK
542
AQ

North

Pass 2
All Pass

N

East
Pass

South
1
4

1. South's losers are one spade (fast),
two diamonds (fast with the opening lead) and one club (slow). One
loser must be eliminated.
2. At first glance it appears that you
have two options: a club finesse or
discarding a loser on the Q.
3. A closer look tells you that the
heart suit is blocked. Furthermore,
the opening lead has removed
dummy's only entry. Without help
from your opponents, you can't get
to dummy to win the Q! The club
finesse is your best hope for making 4 and the only time you are
sure to have an opportunity to take
it is while you are in dummy with
the A. Take the 50% chance of
making your contract and take the
club finesse now.
Planning can seem tedious. You
might stumble often in the beginning,
but you will gradually improve. In
the words of the Irish writer Samuel
Beckett, "Try again. Fail again. Fail
better."
r
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2011
