August 2013 - 49

Intermediate Players

Chalk Talk
BY EDDIE KANTAR

Dlr: West ࡕ J 2
Vul: E-W ࡖ Q J 10
ࡗ973
ࡔK6543
ࡕ K 10 4 3
ࡕ98765
ࡖ7
ࡖ832
ࡗ K Q 10 2
ࡗAJ8
ࡔ Q 10 9 7
ࡔ82
ࡕAQ
ࡖAK9654
ࡗ654
ࡔAJ
West North
Pass
Pass
Dbl
2ࡖ
All Pass

East
Pass
Pass

South
1ࡖ
4ࡖ

Opening lead: ࡗK
Bidding commentary: West's
passed-hand takeout double shows
9-11 high-card points plus heart shortness. South's hand, though powerful,
is somewhat diminished because the
ࡕK appears to be with West given the
double. On the plus side, South adds 3
extra points for a supported six-card
suit and has enough to bid game.
Defensive commentary: West
continues with a low diamond at trick
two and East cashes the ࡗA J before
shifting to a spade.
Play commentary: After the opponents cash three diamonds, East exits
a spade. As South, you should not con-

sider the spade finesse, given the bidding and those clubs in dummy, which
can be set up easily enough. The trick
is to set up the long suit at once before
depleting dummy's entries. You have
seven clubs, they have six. After you
play the ࡔA K, they have two clubs left.
Ruff a club. East shows out, so West
has one club left. Enter dummy with a
trump and ruff another club, setting up
dummy's last club. Now draw the last
trump, ending in dummy, and discard
your ࡕQ on dummy's remaining club.
Good work!
Dlr: North ࡕ A 10 4 3
Vul: Both ࡖ 8 6 4
ࡗAK72
ࡔK2
ࡕQJ98
ࡕ752
ࡖ K 10 7
ࡖAQ92
ࡗ 10 5
ࡗQJ98
ࡔA876
ࡔ43
ࡕK6
ࡖJ53
ࡗ643
ࡔ Q J 10 9 5
West
All Pass

North
1ࡗ

East
Pass

South
1NT

Opening lead: ࡕQ
Bidding commentary: South is not
strong enough to bid clubs, and North
is not strong enough to bid again over
1NT.

Lead commentary: Clear-cut. The
queen is led from suits headed by the
Q J 10 or Q J 9. If the third card is lower
than the 9, fourth highest is led. As an
aside, when the response to 1ࡗ is 1NT,
responder frequently has long clubs.
Play commentary: As declarer,
looking only at spades, the proper play
would seem to be to win the first trick
with the king and later lead low to the
10 to garner three spade tricks. But at
what price? By going for three spade
tricks, you kill the club suit. If West
wins the second club, taking dummy's
last club with the ace, you cannot get
back to your hand to cash your three
winning clubs. You wind up with one
club trick instead of four. Win the ࡕA
and lead the ࡔK. Even if West expertly
wins the second club, you still have
the ࡕK to get back to your precious
clubs. Playing properly, you score four
clubs, two spades and the ࡗA K for
eight tricks. If you win the ࡕK at trick
one and West wins the second club, six
tricks!
Defensive commentary: When declarer tries to set up a suit in the closed
hand (clubs), and dummy has two cards
in that suit, a strong defender holding
the ace or king does best to win the second round. This may make it difficult
for declarer to return to the closed
hand to take winning tricks.
■

August 2013 Bridge Bulletin

49
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2013
