November 2022 - 60

Intermediate Players
Defensive Maneuvers
BY PAUL ROSS
pross0905@gmail.com
Matchpoints. East dealer. Neither
side vulnerable. You are sitting East.
Dummy
Dlr: East  10 9 7 4
Vul: None k K Q 10 3
l A K 9 2
' 8
You
 J 8 5
k A 7 4
l J 5
' 7 5 4 3 2
West North East
Pass
Pass
1k Pass
Pass 4 All Pass
Partner, West, leads the 'Q.
(Promises the 'J and denies the
'K.) Which club do you play?
When partner leads against a suit
contract and the dummy has a singleton
or void in the suit led, the usual
agreement is that the card you play
is " suit preference " - i.e., your lowest
club (the '2) indicates that you have
something useful in the lower-ranking
side suit (diamonds) and a high
club (the '7) indicates that you have
something useful in the higher-ranking
side suit (hearts). Play the '7 to
show partner that you have the kA.
Declarer wins with the 'A. (You
know she also has the ' K.) Declarer
leads the k2 to partner's k8 and
dummy's kK. What do you play?
Play a low heart. The only way
ducking can cost is if declarer has
a singleton heart and has no use for
the kQ that winning would set up.
Extremely unlikely.
Dummy leads the 4. You play low
and declarer's K wins the trick.
60 | Bridge Bulletin | November 2022
South
1'
1
(Partner plays the 2.)
Declarer leads another low heart to
partner's k9 and dummy's kQ. Do
you win this trick?
Of course, you win this trick.
Partner has played the k8 and k9; it
looks like he started with kJ 9 8 and
his kJ will win the next heart trick.
What do you do after winning this
trick?
Lead a club. It can't do any damage
to the defense; you know that declarer
has at least the 'K left.
Declarer plays the '6, West the
'9 and dummy ruffs with the 7.
What is the distribution of suits
and high cards in this deal?
You have 6 HCP; dummy has 12
and declarer has at least 12 for her
opening bid. That leaves, at most, 10
HCP for partner. You already know
he has the 'Q J and kJ. Other cards
he might have are the lQ, A or the
Q.
Suit distribution: Declarer has four
spades, three hearts (partner has
shown three), three clubs (it looks
like partner led from 'Q J 10 9) and,
therefore, exactly three diamonds.
Declarer's distribution is, almost
surely, 4=3=3=3.
Let's go back to the high-card distribution.
Declarer's spade suit can't
be A-K-Q-x because, combined with
the 7 HCP you know she has in clubs,
that would give her 16 HCP and she
surely would have opened 1NT with
her flat 4=3=3=3 distribution. Declarer's
hand must be one of these:
1 A K x x kx x x lx x x 'A K x
2 K Q x x kx x x lx x x 'A K x
3 K Q x x kx x x lQ x x 'A K x.
That also means that partner start
A 2
k J 9 8
l Q 7 4 3
' Q J 10 9
 K Q 6 3
k 6 5 2
l 10 8 6
' A K 6
You were lucky that declarer took
losing positions in both hearts and
trumps. But you and your partner
deserve credit for giving her the
chance to guess wrong. If the defense
had played the ace on the first round
of either suit, declarer surely would
have found the winning play. Don't
win a finesse that declarer can easily
repeat.
ed with the A or Q-x.
Dummy leads the 10 to trick six.
You duck, of course; declarer plays
the Q and partner wins with his
now-singleton ace. Partner cashes
the kJ and exits with the '10 to
declarer's king.
The deal is essentially over now.
Declarer leads a diamond to dummy
and throws her losing diamond on
dummy's 13th heart. You eventually
win the high J but nothing more.
The defense gets two hearts and two
spades for plus 50 and a very good
matchpoint score.
Complete deal:
 10 9 7 4
k K Q 10 3
l A K 9 2
' 8
 J 8 5
k A 7 4
l J 5
' 7 5 4 3 2
November 2022

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