May 2018 - 46

Newer Players

Play & Learn
BY PAT HARRINGTON

We've looked at several examples of
deals involving a side suit (non-trump
suit) where dummy had fewer cards
than declarer. Dummy's shorter suit
provided a clue for declarer to consider
ruffing losers in that suit. Now we're
going to focus on deals where dummy
has more cards in that suit than declarer. What is South's plan to make
4♥ after West leads the ♠Q?
Dlr: South ♠ 7 5 2
Vul: E-W ♥ 10 6
♦AKQ9
♣7642
♠ Q J 10 4
♠K96
♥A93
♥82
♦J874
♦ 10 5 2
♣83
♣ A J 10 9 5
♠A83
♥KQJ754
♦63
♣KQ
West

North

East

Pass
Pass

1NT
4♥

Pass
All Pass

South
1♥
3♥

South counts four losers: two spades,
the trump ace and a club. How can we
eliminate one loser to make 4♥? Hint:
look for lopsided suits.
The only suit where dummy is
shorter than declarer is the trump suit,
so ruffing losers isn't going to be part
of our plan. Dummy is longer than declarer in both minor suits. Sometimes
such suits provide an opportunity for
declarer to discard losers on extra winners in dummy.

46 Bridge Bulletin May 2018

ppharrr@gmail.com

Once South is out of clubs, dummy
will be left with two low clubs, but
the defenders' club length makes it
impossible for either of these cards to
be good. The diamond suit is a different story. After cashing North's ♦A K,
declarer is void in diamonds and can
discard a loser on the good ♦Q. The
only loser that will be a useful discard
for South is a spade, because discarding a club doesn't prevent the loss of
the ♣A.
We have the general solution to making 4♥, but we still have to plan the
order of play, trick by trick. One of the
first things a new bridge player learns
is to draw trump to prevent the defenders from ruffing declarer's winners.
We sure don't want to see one of those
diamond winners get ruffed, but is
drawing trump a good idea?
While the defenders don't always
find the best defense, drawing trump
will give East-West a chance to cash
four tricks: the ♥A, two spades and
the ♣A. All of South's losers are fast
losers - tricks that can be lost as soon
as South gives up the lead. When we
have too many fast losers, we cannot lose the lead until we eliminate
enough losers to make our contract.
That means we cannot afford to draw
trump immediately, and must take the
chance that none of North's three high
diamonds will be ruffed.
Because East-West have seven diamonds, the odds are on our side. When
we are missing an odd number of cards
in a suit, the most likely split of those
cards is as even as possible (4-3 here),

so three rounds of diamonds have a
good chance of surviving without a
ruff. South discards a low spade on the
♦Q.
Too many declarers play to the first
trick without pause for thought. Planning the play is the key to making more
contracts. Start by counting winners in
notrump and losers in suit contracts.
Compare your total to the number of
tricks you need to win or can afford to
lose in your contract. When declaring
a suit contract, you will often have to
eliminate one or more losers. Lopsided
suits offer two possible solutions. If
dummy is shorter than declarer in a
problem suit, think about ruffing those
losers in dummy. In lopsided suits,
where dummy has more length than
declarer, look for extra winners in that
suit in dummy to discard declarer's
extra losers.
Whether planning to trump or dump
(discard) losers, decide whether drawing trump is the top priority. As you
grow as a player, you will see more
times when drawing trump must be
postponed. You need a good reason not
to draw trump. In this and past articles
we've seen two reasons.
When employing the short-suit plan
of ruffing losers in dummy, remember that drawing trump also draws
the trumps that might be needed for
ruffing in dummy, so you might have to
delay pulling trump until you get your
ruffs. When you plan to dump losers on
extra winners in dummy, you avoid the
risk of a defender ruffing if you draw
trump first, but that is not always
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2018
