April 2021 - 60

Intermediate Players

Boehm on Bridge
Deception - part 1

D

eception is an integral part of
bridge. It is certainly not illegal
nor even faintly unethical; it has
always been part of the game, essential
for those who wish to become strong
players. Cheating, especially when
it involves collusion with partner, is
entirely different. For example, North
opens hearts to mean spades - South
knows the secret code but the opponents do not. This is pure cheating and
must be dealt with in the most stringent possible terms. On the other hand,
a legal deceptive play or bid, while
designed to fool an opponent, also risks
misleading partner. Thus, opportunities must be selected with care.
The clearest moment for deception
is when you are declarer - there is no
worry about misleading partner. To
start with a simple example, playing
a suit contract after a non-revealing
auction, dummy holds J-x facing
your singleton king. If you need a fast
trick from the suit, lead the jack from
dummy, not low, hoping to steal a trick
with your singleton king. You are trying to create the impression that you
have K-10-(x) and need to guess the
position of the missing ace and queen.
When second hand holds the ace without the queen, he may duck smoothly
to put you to the guess. In fact, the
stronger the opponent, the more likely
he has the imagination to duck.
Let's say that you hold A-K-J-4 in
dummy (North) without a side entry
facing your 10-9. To score four tricks
you need the queen onside but that's
not all. If West covers the 10, you are
held to three tricks because the suit is
blocked. Accordingly, start by leading
the 9. If West ducks, let the 9 ride and
repeat the finesse on the next round,
scoring four tricks when West holds
the queen. (A smooth duck by East will

60 | Bridge Bulletin | April 2021

BY AUGUST BOEHM

limit you to one trick - tip your hat to
this expert opponent.) Because West
sees he has no chance to fool you by
ducking, it is clearly best for him to
cover the 10 and hope to promote partner's 9-x-x-x-(x) in case you started
with 10-x. Because you don't want him
to cover, the 9 is a lot less tempting
than the 10.
This time you have J-7-5-2 in dummy (North) facing your A-K-9-6-4-3
(South). The only distribution that may
prevent you from scoring all six tricks
is when the suit breaks 3-0. If West has
the Q-10-8, there are only five tricks.
But suppose East has those cards.
Accordingly, start with the jack from
dummy to tempt East into a cover. If he
does, you will have a proven finesse on
the next round with your A-9 sitting
over his 10-8. If East follows low, your
intention is to play ace-king to cater to
all the likely 2-1 divisions, but it costs
nothing to lead the jack initially. That
is the essence of a sound deceptive play
- you may gain and it costs nothing.
In the same vein, dummy (North)
holds 9-5-4 facing your A-K-7-6-2.
The 3-2 splits are irrelevant since
you always will lose one trick, so think
about a 4-1 division. A diagram may
help:
	
North
	
954
West		
Q		
	
South
	
AK762

East
J 10 8 3

Laying down ace-king or leading low
from dummy will lose two tricks as
long as East follows second-hand low.
See what might happen if you begin
by leading the 9 from dummy. If East
makes the natural-looking play of

covering with the 10, you win, noting
the crash of West's queen. Return to
dummy and lead the 4 - East currently has J-8-3, you have A-7-6-2.
Whatever East does, you have reduced
him to one trick. If he plays low, you
finesse the 7. You don't mind losing to
an original Q-J with West because you
were always destined to lose one trick.
In the diagrammed position, your 7
wins and saves you a trick. It does East
no good to play the 8 on the second
round because you can win, leaving
you with 7-6-2 against his J-3.
A good general principle emerges
from these last examples: If you want
to coax a cover, lead a high card. If you
want to coax a duck, lead low.

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April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2021
