September 2019 - 44

Newer Players

Card Play 101
BY PHILLIP ALDER

Dlr: South ♠ 5 2
Vul: E-W ♥ Q 7 6 3
♦8643
♣ A 10 2
♠AKQJ874
♥82
♦AQ
♣J5
West

North

Pass
1NT
All Pass

East
Pass

South
1♠
4♠

West leads the ♣K. How would you
play? The answer is coming up!
Having covered third hand high, now
let's move to second hand low. First,
let's look at declarer's options after an
opponent has led a suit. When should
he play high or low - or middle! - from
the second hand? Some are easy:
Dummy
♠K32
Declarer (You)
♠AJ7
West leads the ♠5. It would be
unusual not to play second hand low,
running the lead around to your acejack tenace and guaranteeing three
tricks in the suit. This one, though, is
less obvious:
Dummy
♥J63
Declarer (You)
♥A92

44 Bridge Bulletin September 2019

bridgeforeveryone.com

West leads the ♥4. What card would
you play from the dummy?
You would call for the jack only if
you thought West had underled the
K-Q (which is not impossible if it is a
notrump contract). However, if West
has led from the K-10 or Q-10, you win
an extra trick by playing low from the
dummy, using your 9 with effect. Suppose this is the full layout:

West
♥ Q 10 7 4

Dummy
♥J63

East
♥K85
Declarer (You)
♥A92

If East puts in the 8, you win with the
9; if he puts up the king, you win with
the ace and can lead toward the jack
for a second trick (probably later in the
deal, not immediately).
Note that playing low wins in two
situations - West has the K-10 or
Q-10 - whereas rising with the jack is
successful in only one position - West
has the K-Q.
Here's another easy one:
Dummy
♦ A 10 2
Declarer (You)
♦K5
West leads the ♦Q. The lead marks
West with the queen-jack, so you play
second hand low from the dummy and
win your ♦K. In a moment, you can
finesse dummy's ♦10 for three diamond tricks.

But now let's change the lead to the
♦6. If it's a notrump contract, what
would you play from the dummy?
Against capable opponents, you
should play second hand middle and try
dummy's ♦10, hoping that West led
low from Q-J-x-x-(x), which is the
normal card when he doesn't have the
♦10 or ♦9.
Now let's look at the full deal of the
problem set at the beginning.

♠ 10 3
♥954
♦K752
♣KQ96

♠52
♥Q763
♦8643
♣ A 10 2

♠96
♥ A K J 10
♦ J 10 9
♣8743
♠AKQJ874
♥82
♦AQ
♣J5

In 4♠, it looks obvious to use your
one dummy entry to take the diamond
finesse. Here, though, that finesse fails
and you lose four tricks (two hearts,
one diamond and one club) for down
one.
You start with nine tricks; the hunt
is on for number 10. What does West's
lead indicate? Right - the ♣K and the
♣Q. Using the power of dummy's ♣10,
you should play second hand low from
the dummy and unblock your jack! Either now or later, depending on West's
lead at trick two, you will finesse
dummy's ♣10, getting seven spades,
one diamond and two clubs.
◾
http://www.bridgeforeveryone.com
September 2019

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