June 2020 - 24

Defensive Maneuvers - part 1
BY PAUL ROSS

Playing matchpoints against a competent pair, you hold this hand as East:
♠4 3 ♥9 8 4 ♦A K 9 8 5 2 ♣6 2.
West North
Pass
1♣
Pass
2♠
All Pass

East
2♦ (1)
Pass

South
2♥
3♥

(1) Preemptive
Partner leads the ♠K. (Your agreement about opening leads is king from
ace-king.) Dummy appears and you
see this:
North (Dummy)
Dlr: West ♠ J 10 6 5
Vul: N-S ♥ K 6
♦43
♣ A K Q 10 5
East (You)
♠43
♥984
♦AK9852
♣62
You briefly wonder why partner
didn't lead your suit, but it looks like
this lead may work out well if you
get to ruff the third round of spades.
You signal encouragement with your
highest spade, the 4, as declarer plays
the 9. Partner continues with the ♠A
while you complete the echo with the 3.
Declarer plays the ♠Q on this second
trick. That doesn't mean much; with
the jack-10 left in dummy, declarer can
afford to play the queen and keep a low
spade.
Partner switches to the ♦10 which
you win with the king. You continue
with the ♦A, declarer and partner
playing the jack and 7 respectively.
You have book. One more trick and
you set the contract. What now? Don't
guess. Figure it out.
Declarer has no problem in the side

24 Bridge Bulletin June 2020

suits. Obviously there's no future for
the defense in clubs, and partner's
failure to play a third round of spades
implies that declarer is now void in
that suit. Declarer has the ♦Q. Partner's plays of the ♦10 followed by the
♦7 (high-low) suggests an original
doubleton, so partner is now void in
diamonds, but so is dummy.
When there's no future in the side
suits, try attacking declarer's trump
suit. What can you do that might
inconvenience declarer in trumps?
Decide before reading on.

It's not clear that a diamond lead will
gain anything, but partner won't ruff
if ruffing would cost him a trick, so it's
a no-lose play and maybe something
good will happen.
Lead a diamond. Declarer plays the
queen perforce. Partner ruffs with the
♥J, and dummy overruffs with the
king.
Declarer leads the ♥6 from dummy.
What do you play from the ♥9 8 4?
You must play the 8 or the 9. Declarer
knows you have them because partner
would have ruffed trick five with the
8 or 9 instead of the jack if he had held
either of them. Let's say you play the 8.
Declarer makes the best technical
play by playing the ♥10. hoping you
started with ♥Q 9 8 (and West started
with the ♥J 4), but in this deal, declarer's best play turns out to be a loser.
Partner wins with the ♥Q and exits
with a club to dummy.
You have the 9-4 of trumps left, and
declarer has A-7-5-3-2. As long as
you don't ruff something declarer can
overruff, declarer will have to give you
a trump trick sooner or later.
In all, you take two spades, two dia-

monds, and two trump tricks, setting
the contract two tricks. Plus 200 for
East-West. Plus 200 is a cold top (12
matchpoints). Most East-West pairs
were minus 140 against 2♥ or 3♥. The
full deal:
♠ J 10 6 5
♥K6
♦43
♣ A K Q 10 5
♠AK872
♠43
♥QJ
♥984
♦ 10 7
♦AK9852
♣8743
♣62
♠Q9
♥ A 10 7 5 3 2
♦QJ6
♣J9
Declarer could have held the contract to down one by playing the ace of
trumps instead of finessing the 10, but
declarer can never make the contract
after you lead the third round of diamonds. A better way to hold the contract to down one would be to refuse
to overruff the ♥J with dummy's king.
This play was clear, as declarer always
has a trump loser; refusing to overruff
will prevent two losers in the suit unless one defender has four trumps.
If partner had led a diamond and
you had cashed two tricks before putting him on lead to cash his two spade
tricks, there would have been no trump
promotion.
Principle: When there is no future in
the side suits, make declarer ruff something. Attack declarer's trump holding
by forcing declarer or dummy to ruff.
It won't even cost to give declarer a
ruff-sluff if declarer doesn't have any
losers to discard, and you will be surprised how often it gains a trick for the
defense.
◾

June 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2020