April 2020 - 61

Intermediate Players

Better Bridge with Bergen
BY MARTY BERGEN

martybergen.com

Secrets of accurate hand evaluation - part 9
At the conclusion of last month's article, we were in 3NT with the ♠5 lead.
Here are those two hands:
♠QJ
♥J53
♦ 10 8 7
♣J8732
♠K8
♥ A 10 9 8
♦AKJ94
♣AQ
East won trick 1 with the ♠A, and
you unblocked your ♠K. East returned
the ♠2 which you won in dummy. I
said last month, "You must hope that
East has both the ♦Q and ♣K, and he
does! Warnings: Unless your technique
is flawless, you won't make this! FYI:
East is a very capable defender. The
question is: How will you play?"
Before reading on, I suggest that you
decide exactly how to continue.
After trick two, we are now wide
open in spades. So other than the ♥A,
all other heart honors and intermediates are worthless. Alas! So with only
two winners in the majors, we need to
win seven tricks in the minors. And
although we're in dummy now, remaining in dummy to take our minor-suit
finesses is far from trivial.
With eight diamonds missing the
queen, everyone knows that the indicated play is to finesse, But which

diamond will you lead at trick 3?
Here is the full layout:
♠QJ
♥J53
♦ 10 8 7
♣J8732
♠ 10 9 6 5 4
♠A732
♥K642
♥Q7
♦2
♦Q653
♣965
♣ K 10 4
♠K8
♥ A 10 9 8
♦AKJ94
♣AQ
If you led dummy's ♦8 or ♦7 at trick
3, you can no longer make the contract! East will play low and you can
underplay with your ♦4. As you can
see, East has the ♦Q, so dummy will
win the trick. But because East holds
four diamonds, you need to repeat the
diamond finesse. But if you lead another low diamond from dummy, you
will have to win it in your hand, and
will be unable to take the club finesse.
And if your second diamond lead from
dummy is the 10, since East knows
the whole diamond layout, he should
cover with the ♦Q. You will now have
five diamond tricks, but can't return
to dummy to take the club finesse and
will be limited to eight tricks.
What's the solution? I think it is
rather elegant. To maximize your
entries to dummy, at trick 3 when you

first lead diamonds, you must lead the
10. When East correctly ducks, you'll
unblock your ♦9. This will win the
trick. You'll continue with the ♦8 (or
7) and East doesn't have an answer. It
doesn't help him to play the ♦Q. You
will win and lead your ♦4 and win in
dummy. If instead East plays low on
the second diamond, you'll play low
from your hand to remain in dummy
and can then take the club finesse.
In either case, you'll not only win five
diamond tricks, but will also be able to
lead a club from dummy. Because East
also has the ♣K, as long as you played
diamonds as described, E-W are helpless.
Obviously you were lucky to find
East with both minor-suit honors.
3NT was a normal contract, but after
a spade lead, not a very good one. Not
surprisingly, North's quacks were not
pulling their full weight. But if you play
3NT carefully and correctly, you can
make it.
Note the two key unblocking plays.
Everyone should know to unblock the
♠K under the ♠A at trick one. But the
technique in diamonds of first leading
the ♦10 and unblocking the ♦9 is far
from routine. If you found both plays, a
pat on the back is well-deserved.
◾

April 2020 Bridge Bulletin

61
http://www.martybergen.com
April 2020

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