September 2022 - 58

Intermediate Players
Defensive Maneuvers
BY PAUL ROSS
pross0905@gmail.com
Matchpoints. East dealer. Both
sides vulnerable. You are sitting
West, and you hold:
J kK Q 6 5 3 l9 7 6 5 'Q 10 2.
West North East
Pass
Pass 2l Pass
Pass 3' Pass
South
1
2
3NT
What do you lead against 3NT?
Neither North nor South seems
to have a biddable heart suit and you
have a pretty good one; lead a heart.
The " standard " lead against notrump
from K-Q-x-x-x is fourth best. Lead
the k5.
Dlr: East  Q 9
Vul: Both k 4 2
l A 8 4 3 2
' A J 8 7
 J
k K Q 6 5 3
l 9 7 6 5
' Q 10 2
Partner wins with the kA (declarer
playing the 9) and returns the 7
(declarer playing the J). You win with
the kQ. You are still on lead with
kK 6 3 left in your hand. Do you
continue hearts? If so, which heart?
If not, what do you switch to?
If partner started with kA 10 8 7,
declarer is now out of hearts. If
partner started with kA 8 7, declarer
is down to a singleton heart. In either
case you can run three more heart
tricks for down one before declarer
even gets in. However, if partner
started with kA 7, then declarer
started with kJ 10 9 8 and has a
heart stopper.
58 | Bridge Bulletin | September 2022
What do you play? Why?
It looks simple: Play the kK. If declarer
started with kJ 9 or kJ 10 8,
your hearts are all good. If declarer
started with kJ 10 9 8, you will get
only one heart trick but it's not clear
that any other play will do better.
No, it's not simple. If partner
started with kA 10 7, he would have
returned the k10 (top of the remaining
doubleton) at trick two. Similarly,
he would have returned the k8 if he
started with kA 8 7. So, he cannot
have either of those holdings. Partner
must have started with kA 7, or
kA 10 8 7. (It is standard to return
your original fourth best card if you
started with four or more cards in the
suit of the opening lead vs. notrump.)
If East started with kA 7, then
declarer started with kJ 10 9 8. But
with that, declarer might have rebid
2k, not 2. It's reasonable to conclude
that declarer doesn't have four
hearts. That leaves only one heart
holding for declarer: kJ 9, and that
means your hearts are ready to run
right now. Play the kK.
NO, no, no. You haven't analyzed all
the important factors yet. If partner
started with kA 10 8 7 and is now
down to k10 8, after you cash the
kK, partner will be down to one
heart - which will be high. He won't
have a low heart to lead back to you.
You will still have the good 3 but
partner will be on lead, and you have
no entry.
How do you unblock the suit?
Instead of cashing the kK, lead a
low heart. Partner will win perforce,
and he will still have a heart to lead
back to your kK x.
3NT down one; plus 100 to East-
West.
Complete deal:
 Q 9
k 4 2
l A 8 4 3 2
' A J 8 7
 J
k K Q 6 5 3
l 9 7 6 5
' Q 10 2
 8 7 3 2
k A 10 8 7
l K
' 9 6 5 4
 A K 10 6 5 4
k J 9
l Q J 10
' K 3
Yes, North-South can make 4.
South's notrump bid with only a doubleton
heart was unsound. During
continued on page 59
CHALLENGE OF THE MONTH
Dlr: South  K J 7 5 4
Vul: N-S k K 8
IMPs l K J 8
' 7 6 4
 A Q 10 9 8
k 6 3
l A 6 4 3
' K Q
West North East
Pass 3 Pass
South
1
4
All Pass
You are South. West leads the 'J
to East's ace, and the '2 is returned.
What's your plan?
continued on page 65
September 2022

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