January 2013 - 40

Bridge Player's
Survival Kit
Leslie Shafer
slamhand@verizon.net

Getting rid of losers
This is something you should have
learned in your 20s when you were
dating, but this is a bridge column, so
we'll focus on card play for now.
Dlr: South  K 4 3
Vul: N-S  K Q 3
AKJ72
Q5
 Q J 10 6 2
98
A72
84
 10 6
Q543
742
 J 10 8 6 3
A75
 J 10 9 6 5
98
AK9
West

North

East

Pass
Pass
Pass

2(1)
4(2)
6(4)

Pass
Pass
All Pass

South
1
2NT
4(3)

West led the Q. Declarer made six
for plus 1430.
(1) A natural bid, showing 11+ points
and at least four diamonds. It is also
100% forcing as it's a new suit bid by
the responder. North fully intends to
support hearts at her next chance to
bid.
40 Bridge Bulletin January 2013

(2) South's 2NT was natural, so
North's 4 is the Gerber convention,
asking for aces. The player who initiates an ace-asking sequence (Gerber
or Blackwood) is in charge of placing the final contract. North wants
to be in slam and knows that a heart
fit exists, so she takes control of the
auction.
(3) Showing two aces.

however, he would need to ruff two
diamonds in his hand and still have
an entry to get back to dummy's last
good diamond. Declarer would also
need to pull trumps while using the
trump suit for entries to the dummy.
Our declarer chose door number
one. Winning the K at trick one,
he next played clubs. On his good
third club, he tossed the 3 from the

Trump management is an important
aspect of successful play.
Don't touch the trump suit until
you have made your plan.
(4) Knowing the partnership was
not missing two aces, North bids the
slam.
Before playing to trick one, South
stopped to count his losers: One in
spades and one in hearts. The heart
loser was unavoidable, so declarer
started thinking about how to get rid
of the spade loser.
There are two possible lines of play:
1) Discard one of dummy's spades
on declarer's third club and then ruff
a spade in dummy (note that pulling
three rounds of trumps first would exhaust dummy's trumps and make this
impossible); 2) Set up dummy's long
diamonds in order to discard a spade
from declarer's hand. To do this,

dummy and cashed his A. Leading
his last spade, he carefully ruffed with
the K, not wanting to give East a
chance to overruff with a low trump.
When you have a surplus of high
trumps, don't be afraid to use them.
As my father-in-law used to say, "Don't
send a boy to do a man's job."
After ruffing the third spade with
a heart honor, declarer started on
trumps. Setting up the diamond suit
would also have worked on this deal.
But the key to either plan was to use
the trump suit wisely. Studmuffin
sometimes speaks of a former partner
who would draw trumps while he was
deciding how to play the contract.
Yikes!!
r



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2013

Viewpoint - Brent Manley
Letters to the Editor
From the CEO - Robert Hartman
St. Louis Hosts the 2014 Spring NABC
Michelle Golden - Profile
2013 ACBL President Don Mamula
West hands for The Bidding Box
Club News
Facts of Bridge Life - Eddie Kantar
Report from San Francisco Fall NABC part 1
Cavendish Invitational
The Bidding Box
It's Your Call
Ruling the Game - Mike Flader
For Newer Players
Puzzle of the Month
Bridge Players Survival Kit - Getting rid of losers - Leslie Shafer
Ask Jerry - Jerry Helms
Upgrading Your Game -Creating a good partnership - Lynn Berg
Mike's Bridge Lesson - Mike Lawrence
Obituary - Erik Kirchhoff
Play & Learn - You ruffed my trick! - Pat Harrington
Pink Bird blushes - Irina Ladyzhensky
A Game for All Ages - Better than basket weaving - Brent Manley
For Intermediate Players
Boehm on Bridge - August Boehm
The Real Deal - Larry Cohen
East hands for The Bidding Box
Misplay these Hands With Me - Role reversal - Mark Horton
Better Bridge with Bergen - 4NT asking bids - Marty Bergen
Chalk Talk - Eddie Kantar
Log On for Bridge
For Advanced Players
My Bridge and Yours - Frank Stewart
Bidding Matters - 12 habits - Karen Walker
Test Your Play - Eddie Kantar
Mike's Advice - What's going on in spades? - Mike Lawrence
Solutions to Test Your Play
Dear Billy - Billy Miller
Bridge with the Abbot - David Bird
George's World - George Jacobs
Bridge returns to Cuba - Frankie Frontaura
Patron Members
Life Master Milestones
In Memoriam
Obituary - Andy Gabrilovitch
Obituary - Marty Chaitt
Tournament Directory
January 2013 - 1
January 2013 - 2
January 2013 - 3
January 2013 - 4
January 2013 - 5
January 2013 - Letters to the Editor
January 2013 - 7
January 2013 - 8
January 2013 - From the CEO - Robert Hartman
January 2013 - St. Louis Hosts the 2014 Spring NABC
January 2013 - 11
January 2013 - 12
January 2013 - 13
January 2013 - Michelle Golden - Profile
January 2013 - 15
January 2013 - 16
January 2013 - 17
January 2013 - 2013 ACBL President Don Mamula
January 2013 - West hands for The Bidding Box
January 2013 - Club News
January 2013 - 21
January 2013 - Facts of Bridge Life - Eddie Kantar
January 2013 - 23
January 2013 - Report from San Francisco Fall NABC part 1
January 2013 - 25
January 2013 - 26
January 2013 - 27
January 2013 - 28
January 2013 - Cavendish Invitational
January 2013 - 30
January 2013 - The Bidding Box
January 2013 - 32
January 2013 - 33
January 2013 - It's Your Call
January 2013 - 35
January 2013 - 36
January 2013 - 37
January 2013 - Ruling the Game - Mike Flader
January 2013 - Puzzle of the Month
January 2013 - Bridge Players Survival Kit - Getting rid of losers - Leslie Shafer
January 2013 - Ask Jerry - Jerry Helms
January 2013 - Upgrading Your Game -Creating a good partnership - Lynn Berg
January 2013 - Mike's Bridge Lesson - Mike Lawrence
January 2013 - Play & Learn - You ruffed my trick! - Pat Harrington
January 2013 - Pink Bird blushes - Irina Ladyzhensky
January 2013 - A Game for All Ages - Better than basket weaving - Brent Manley
January 2013 - Boehm on Bridge - August Boehm
January 2013 - The Real Deal - Larry Cohen
January 2013 - Misplay these Hands With Me - Role reversal - Mark Horton
January 2013 - Better Bridge with Bergen - 4NT asking bids - Marty Bergen
January 2013 - Chalk Talk - Eddie Kantar
January 2013 - Log On for Bridge
January 2013 - My Bridge and Yours - Frank Stewart
January 2013 - Bidding Matters - 12 habits - Karen Walker
January 2013 - Test Your Play - Eddie Kantar
January 2013 - Mike's Advice - What's going on in spades? - Mike Lawrence
January 2013 - Solutions to Test Your Play
January 2013 - Dear Billy - Billy Miller
January 2013 - Bridge with the Abbot - David Bird
January 2013 - George's World - George Jacobs
January 2013 - Bridge returns to Cuba - Frankie Frontaura
January 2013 - Patron Members
January 2013 - 63
January 2013 - Life Master Milestones
January 2013 - 65
January 2013 - 66
January 2013 - Obituary - Marty Chaitt
January 2013 - Tournament Directory
January 2013 - 69
January 2013 - 70
January 2013 - 71
January 2013 - 72
January 2013 - 73
January 2013 - 74
January 2013 - 75
January 2013 - 76
January 2013 - 77
January 2013 - 78
January 2013 - 79
January 2013 - 80
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