March 2022 - 63

Advanced Players
SOLUTIONS TO TEST YOUR PLAY
Problems are on page 61.
1
 5 3 2
k K 5
l J 8 7 3 2
' K 7 3
All is not lost, however, even with
 J 9 7
k A J 7 4 2
l A Q
' 9 6 2
 4
k Q 10 9 6
l K 6 5 4
' Q 10 8 5
 A K Q 10 8 6
k 8 3
l 10 9
' A J 4
You have four possible losers: two
clubs, a heart and maybe a diamond.
Your first decision comes at trick one.
If you put all your eggs in one basket
and take the diamond finesse, you
are about 60% to land your game contract:
the diamond finesse works, the
'K Q are onside, West has a stiff club
honor, etc. But if the finesse works,
you have 10 tricks. If it loses, you likely
have nine. A club shift could easily
do you in, as you could lose two clubs
and a heart to go with your diamond
loser. However, there is an alternate
line of play that is a better than this.
Win the lA and lead a low heart.
Assume East wins and shifts to the
'10, a surrounding play. When the
dummy is to your right and has something
like 9-x-(x)-(x) and you have
the 9 surrounded with the 10-8 plus a
high unequal honor, attack with your
second-highest honor, the 10.
Now take a good long look at those
clubs. When the 10 is led, you can
only take one club trick no matter
what. Say you play the jack, West
wins the king and returns the suit
with East hovering over the 9-x with
the Q-8. Sorry to say, but you only get
one club trick.
that brutal shift. Win the 'A, cross
to the kA and ruff a heart high. If
hearts are 3-3, draw as many trumps
as necessary, ending in dummy where
you have two established hearts to
greet you. Eleven tricks.
If the hearts break 4-2, no problem.
Enter dummy with the J, ruff
another heart high and now a high
spade and a low spade ending in
dummy where only one heart waits to
greet you. However, that one heart is
your 10th trick - contract made.
Notice by attacking hearts early and
properly ducking the first round, you
make 4 if the hearts break either
4-2 (48%) or 3-3 (36%). No matter
how you look at it, 84% tops 60-ish%.
2
 K 8 7 6
k 2
l J 8
' Q J 8 6 3 2
 4 3
k K J 8 6 5
l A 9 6
' A 5 4
 J 10 9 5 2
k 7
l Q 10 7 3
' K 10 9
 A Q
k A Q 10 9 4 3
l K 5 4 2
' 7
You have a certain diamond loser
and a possible spade loser. When dealing
with losers in two suits, it is almost
always right to start with the longer
combined suit, providing the suit is
unevenly divided. Given that your
diamonds are 4-3, you may be able to
develop an extra diamond trick if the
opponents' diamonds are divided 3-3.
That extra diamond winner can be
used to discard a spade from dummy,
thus avoiding the spade finesse.
Win the 'A, ruff a club high, cross
to a trump, ruff dummy's last club
and play the lA and a low diamond.
If East follows with the lowest outstanding
diamond, play low, ducking
the trick into West. Holding a doubleton
diamond, West will have no
safe exit and no spade finesse will be
necessary. If West has a diamond exit
and diamonds are 4-2, you need the
spade finesse.
If East doesn't play the lowest missing
diamond, win the king and exit
a diamond hoping for 3-3 diamonds
(36%). If you get lucky, you will be able
to discard a spade from dummy on
your fourth diamond. However, if diamonds
are 4-2 (48%), close your eyes
and take the spade finesse. Sometimes
finesses work. In any case, you
have 68% chance of landing this contract
by giving yourself two chances.
The normal way to play diamonds
with this combination is to duck
a diamond and then play the aceking.
This technique allows you to
retain control of the suit when the
suit breaks 4-2. However, you can't
afford to do that here. If you duck a
diamond and East wins and returns a
spade, you have more or less painted
yourself into a corner. You don't know
whether diamonds are breaking 3-3,
so you don't know whether to take the
spade finesse or gamble on the diamonds
being 3-3. Why put yourself in
such a predicament?
This hand is more or less the exception
to the general rule of ducking
a trick early with this diamond
combination: You must discover how
the diamonds break immediately
because of the threat of a premature
spade return from East.
March 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
63
March 2022

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