September 2022 - 49

Newer Players
BY ADAM PARRISH
adam@adamparrishbridge.com
adamparrishbridge.com
L
ast month, we learned about
restricted choice. The takeaway
is a simple maxim: When
you're missing two honors and one
gets played, assume it's a singleton
and finesse their partner for the
other one.
That's the normal application
of restricted choice, and it's very
important to know. It might feel like
it never works - that you always end
up finessing into Q-J doubleton, the
same way you feel like your finesses
always lose. We just remember the
disasters more than the successes.
Human nature. Stick with it; in the
long run, it's a big winner.
This month I want to show you a
less common and less obvious application
of restricted choice.
Dlr: North  K J 8 7
Vul: None k A 2
l 10 9 8 7
' K Q 5
 A 10 4 3
k K 8
l J 6 4 3
' A J 6
Parrish the Thought
Restricted choice - part 2
West North East
1l Pass
Pass 2 Pass
All Pass
South
1
4
Lead: '2.
It's unfortunate that we are mirrored:
the exact same distribution
in both hands. Mirrored hands don't
play well because we can't ruff anything
or pitch anything. All we can do
is finesse and/or throw the opponents
in and hope something good happens.
We're clearly losing three diamonds,
so it's all going to come down
to the trump suit. Can we guess
who has the Q? We don't have any
clues from the auction. What about
the lead? West has led away from
a worthless club suit. That's not
uncommon - passive leads are very
effective. West likely has a diamond
honor and probably a heart honor, and
they chose not to make a risky lead
away from them.
How does that help? Let's say this is
West's hand:
Q 5 2 kQ 9 7 5 lA 5 '9 7 4 2.
They don't want to lead away from
Declarer will probably win with the
'A, cross to the board with a diamond
and run the Q.
West wins with his K, cashes the
kK and plays the '7 to defeat the
contract.
Do not be in a hurry on defense to
cash a winner if it sets up a trick for
declarer, unless there is a serious risk
that you will lose that trick.
any of their honors, so they lead a
passive club. Makes sense. (Some of
you might wonder about leading the
2 versus the 9 or 7. This is a matter of
partnership agreement, but against a
suit contract, showing count by leading
fourth best is usually better than
showing attitude by leading BOSTON
- Bottom Of Something, Top Of
Nothing. In notrump, we tend to use
BOSTON leads, since partner isn't
going to try to give us a ruff when we
play high-low. Against a suit contract,
I would lead the 2, but against notrump,
I would lead the 7.)
Let's say instead West holds:
6 5 2 kQ 9 7 5 lA 5 '9 7 4 2.
Again, they don't want to lead away
from an honor, so a club is a reasonable
lead. But so is a trump. Leading
from three little trumps is a great option
when you're looking for a passive
lead.
Again, how does this help us,
Adam? With the first hand, if West
wants to make a passive lead, they
have no choice: They must lead a club.
With the second hand, they could
lead either a club or a spade. It's pretty
much a guess, and unless one has
a strong philosophical predilection
or aversion to leading trumps, you're
choosing randomly.
With the Q, West's choice is
restricted: They will always lead a
club; without the Q, they might
have led a club or a trump. The same
as when they play the jack, they're
more likely to have a singleton jack
than Q-J doubleton, when they lead
clubs, they're more likely to have just
one featureless suit than two. So, you
should cash the A, then lead the
10, finessing West for the queen
(and catering to Q-9-x-x). It's a mild
inference, but it turns a blind guess
into a slightly informed guess.
September 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
49
http://www.adamparrishbridge.com
September 2022

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