October 2023 - 50

Newer Players
Lessons Learned
Many ways to tie your shoes
I
was 9 years old and still wore the
Velcro shoes of shame. People
tried to teach me the proper way
to tie shoelaces; I had heard dozens
of variations of bunnies chasing tails
down holes, dogs following each other
and myriad other animals contorting
themselves into knots. There are
many ways to lace shoes correctly; I
was doing none of them.
Finally, someone showed me a diagram
(I'm sure there's a better YouTube
video now) of how a knot worked
and that's when it clicked for me.
As a bridge teacher, I used to worry
about repeating myself. I quickly
realized, however, that to learn something,
students need to hear each
point multiple times. It also helps
to hear those points repeated in a
slightly different manner because the
words to unlock a concept vary from
person to person.
Defense is a complicated topic. It
can tie us in knots (sorry - I couldn't
resist). Some try to follow all the rules
like: " second hand low, third hand as
high as necessary " or " cover an honor
with an honor. " Those work generally
but might fail on a specific deal.
Maybe big-picture thoughts are
more your style, like, " If declarer is
trying to do one thing, you should
do the opposite, " or, " Try to figure
out if it's a passive defense deal or an
aggressive defense deal. "
Alternatively, you could try the
consistent approach (my favorite)
and figure out what you know during
the auction and when dummy comes
down. Then you can start to form a
picture of what partner has in high
cards and distribution. As the deal
continues, you will be filling in this
sketch. This method takes practice
50 | Bridge Bulletin | October 2023
and patience to master.
Whatever the method, you should
always try thinking through as clearly
as possible about why a particular
defense is called for.
Take a look at this deal. East-West
vulnerable at matchpoints. You hold
as West:
sK Q 10 4 3 hA 10 dK 8 4 cJ 10 3.
The auction starts with 1NT on
your right. Do you bid?
Please don't! You need a better hand
than this to get involved in direct seat
at the two level after a 1NT opener.
You should have a decent six-card suit
(or a two-suited hand). Bidding 2s
here is begging to go for a big number.
After you pass (and continue passing),
the full auction is:
You North East
Pass 2c
Pass 3NT
Pass
All Pass
With this spade honor sequence
(K-Q-10 is a two and a half card
sequence), you lead the top of the
touching cards. That means you will
lead the sK and see this dummy:
s A J 5
h 8 7 6 5
d Q 7 3 2
c K 5
s K Q 10 4 3
h A 10
d K 8 4
c J 10 3
Not the dummy you were hoping
to see, perhaps. Declarer thinks (and
so should you), and eventually plays
the 5. Partner plays the 6 (standard
attitude), and declarer plays the 2.
South
1NT
2d
BY MICHAEL BERKOWITZ
michael@larryco.com
What next?
You should continue spades! Declarer
is entitled to two spade tricks,
and you could rely on your " don't
switch suits " motto or we could do
the work.
Declarer has 15-17 HCP and no
four-card major. We have 13 HCP.
Dummy has 10. That leaves partner
with a queen at most. We're not about
to beat this by trying to find partner's
strength. We might just have enough
tricks on our own: three spades, a
heart and a diamond. We need to
work on those spades to get three
tricks, though.
There's another saying, " Render
unto Caesar (declarer) that which
is Caesar's. " Declarer can always
finesse your spades, so you might as
well let declarer have them now and
work on setting up the spade suit for
the future.
You play a second spade. (Advanced
note: This card should be a
suit preference signal because you
could play any of your spades. Partner
isn't likely to get in on this deal, so
it is probably moot.) What happens
next will depend on declarer (and the
exact layout).
On this deal, declarer plays a heart
to the hJ next. What do you do?
Win and knock out that last spade.
No reason to duck here (it could be
declarer's ninth trick). You hope your
dK or cJ will allow you back in later.
continued on page 71
October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2023
