August 2014 - 61

Solutions to Test Your Play

Advanced Players

Problems are on page 59.
This is a good "Take All Your
Chances" hand. If I ever write a
third book on the subject (don't
hold your breath), this hand is sure
to be in there. So if you buy the book,
you're sure to get one right!
After winning the lead in dummy
and cashing the ♠A (both follow low),
cash two rounds of diamonds, ending
in your hand, and lead the ♠J. If West
follows low, play low and you have
a claimer. Either the trump finesse
works and you are playing for an overtrick or East wins the doubleton queen
and is endplayed into giving you your
12th trick.
If West shows out on the second
spade, rise with the king and exit a
spade to East's queen. Assuming East
has a diamond, he will surely lead it,
which you will ruff, discarding a heart
from dummy. Cross to the ♣K, cash
the ♥A, and ruff a club. If the ♣Q has
not appeared, play your last trump. The
three-card ending:

1.

♠-
♥KJ
♦-
♣J
♠ 10
♥86
♦-
♣-
At this point, you may know (or
suspect) who has the ♣Q. If West
discards a heart on your last trump,
pitch the ♣J from dummy. When you
play a heart next, go up with the ♥K.
Because West's other card is the ♣Q,
you have to hope the ♥Q drops from
East. If East is marked with the ♣Q,
take the heart finesse. If you can't tell,
the heart finesse is probably your best
shot given that West may have been
reluctant to lead from a queen against a
slam contract.

Given	the	vulnerability	and	the	
form of scoring, the most likely
hand patterns for West are 4-6,
5-6, or possibly 5-7 in the minors.
(With 6-7, he surely would have bid
more!) Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that West, unless he has a death
wish, is 4-5 in the minors, certainly
not 2=2=4=5 or a void in one.
Keep in mind that there will be
distributions where you cannot make
the contract. Your job is to determine
which can't be made and how to play
those that can.
For starters, it is always right to ruff
the diamond opening lead and then
play a spade to the jack rather than a
high spade from dummy which can
lead to problems when East has all four
trumps.
Basically you want to discard clubs
on hearts and ruff clubs with low
trumps in your hand, not with the jack.
After cashing one spade, therefore,
start running hearts to discard clubs,
so every analysis starts at trick three.
Most of the time, West will be looking
at three cards in the majors, max.

2.

Let's start with the 4-6 patterns. Yes,
I know, some Wests would have rebid a
conventional 2NT to show this pattern,
but let's say your opponents don't have
this gadget in their arsenal. There are
four possibilities: 1=2=4=6, 2=1=4=6,
3=0=4=6, 0=3=4=6.
1=2=4=6: Winner! Play four rounds
of hearts, discarding two clubs, ruff a
club, ruff a diamond, and ruff a club.
You remain with a winning heart and
the ♠A K Q. Ruff a diamond, draw
trumps, and make an overtrick!
2=1=4=6: Loser! West ruffs the second heart and cashes two clubs. Notice
that had you drawn a second trump
before attacking hearts, you would only
be able to ruff one loser in your hand,

and with hearts 5-1, you would wind
up with 11 tricks. That is why you don't
play a second trump before starting
hearts: It doesn't help and it prevents
you from ruffing twice in your hand.
3=0=4=6: Loser! West ruffs the first
heart and cashes two clubs. Drawing
trumps first would not help. Whenever
West is 2-1 or 3-0 in the majors, you
are a goner.
0=3=4=6: Winner! Play three rounds
of hearts, discarding a club, and concede a club. Nothing the defense can
do to prevent you from ruffing a club in
your hand and drawing trumps.
There are three 5-6 distributions:
1=1=5=6, 0=2=5=6, 2=0=5=6.
1=1=5=6: Winner! Cash four hearts,
discarding two clubs, ruff a heart, ruff a
diamond, ruff a club, and ruff a diamond high. Dummy remains with the
♠A K and a losing club.
0=2=5=6: Winner! Cash four hearts,
discarding two clubs, ruff a club, ruff
a diamond and ruff a club. Dummy
remains with the ♠ A K Q and a high
heart. Because East has three spades
left and the lead is in your hand, you
must concede the last trick to East.
2=0=5=6: Loser! West ruffs the first
heart and cashes two clubs. Drawing
a second trump before playing hearts
won't work either. This is a recording.
As 5-7 is possible, let's take a look.
There are two: 0-1-5-7, 1-0-7-5
0=1=5=7: Winner! Play four rounds
of hearts, discarding two clubs, and
ruff a heart. Back to dummy with a diamond ruff, and now a club ruff leaves
dummy with the ♠A K Q and a losing
club. You can handle it.
1=0=5=7: Winner! As above.
Bottom line: If West has more than
one trump, you're toast, so don't draw a
second trump!
◾

August 2014 Bridge Bulletin

61
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2014
