June 2023 - 62

Intermediate Players
Boehm on Bridge
Card School favorites - part 3
C
ard School instructors favored
counting potential losers when
declaring suit contracts. On
the deal below, you reach 4s after
West overcalls your 1s opening with
2h. The lead is the hK.
North (Dummy)
s J 10 9
h 7 3
d Q J 10 8 2
c A K 5
South (You)
s A Q 8 5 2
h A 10
d K 6 4
c 9 7 3
Four potential losers, one in each
suit. A successful spade finesse will see
you home, but there is a serious flaw
in that plan. To reach dummy safely
without opening the possibility of diamond
ruffs, you must cross in clubs. If
the finesse loses, the defense may cash
their heart winner and continue clubs.
With both club stoppers dislodged, it is
too late to develop the diamonds for a
club discard and down you go.
The solution is to abandon the
spade finesse, which is likely to lose
anyway because of the bidding, and
start drawing trumps. The deal is a
race, and this way you will win it. The
full deal:
See hand at the top of next column
West wins the sK, cashes a heart
winner, and shifts to clubs. You win,
draw the remaining trump, and lead
the dK. West is helpless because
dummy still has a club stopper and an
entry to the good diamonds.
62 | Bridge Bulletin | June 2023
North (Dummy)
s Q 6 4 2
h K 9 5
d Q 8
c 9 8 7 3
South (You)
s A K
h A 8 7 6 4
d 4 3 2
c A K 5
When counting losers, consider the
long trump hand, usually declarer,
to be the master hand. Here, there
are five potential losers: one heart
(assuming a 3-2 split), three diamonds,
plus one club. The diamond
loser assessment is critical because it
immediately draws declarer's attention
to the main problem, limiting
diamond losers. Unless declarer can
discard or trump the third diamond,
he will be stuck with it at the end.
Dummy's sQ can provide a club
West
s K 3
h K Q J 6 4
d A 7 3
c 10 8 2
North
s J 10 9
h 7 3
d Q J 10 8 2
c A K 5
East
s 7 6 4
h 9 8 5 2
d 9 5
c Q J 6 4
South
s A Q 8 5 2
h A 10
d K 6 4
c 9 7 3
In the next example, you reach 4h
(opponents silent) against the lead of
the sJ.
BY AUGUST BOEHM
discard, but there is no rush in clubs.
Besides, the third round of spades
might be ruffed. Discarding a diamond
is a waste of a discard; the third
diamond loser should be trumped. The
other problem with using the sQ to
discard a club is that you need to cross
to dummy with the hK. Track the play
- if you play one round of trumps and
then set out to ruff a diamond, you lose
the lead twice. Clever defenders might
play a trump at each turn, voiding the
dummy of hearts. Goodbye diamond
ruff and down one, losing three diamonds
and a heart. To manage all the
timing issues, at trick two lead a diamond.
That is the priority, as the loser
count suggests. The full deal:
North
s Q 6 4 2
h K 9 5
d Q 8
c 9 8 7 3
West
s J 10 9 8
h 10 3 2
d A J 7 5
c 10 6
South
s A K
h A 8 7 6 4
d 4 3 2
c A K 5
If the defense shifts to trumps,
win in hand and lead a second diamond.
Let them play another trump
to dummy's hK. Unblock your last
spade winner and cross to dummy by
trumping the third diamond. Lead
the sQ and discard the c5, not caring
whether it gets ruffed because it
comes with the high trump. In all, you
lose two diamonds and one heart. t
East
s 7 5 3
h Q J
d K 10 9 6
c Q J 4 2
June 2023

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