April 2024 - 69

Advanced Players
SOLUTIONS TO Test Your Play
Problems are on page 67.
1
s 3 2
h K Q 9 8 7 6
d A 8 7
c 10 9
s K J 9
h A 5
d 5 4 2
c A K 7 5 4
s 8 6
h J 10 4 2
d Q J 10 9
c Q J 8
s A Q 10 7 5 4
h 3
d K 6 3
c 6 3 2
Duck the opening lead and discard
a club (a loser in any case) on the hA,
and now go about setting up dummy's
clubs for diamond pitches, keeping
East from ever getting in with a club
to lead a diamond through your king.
It works like this: After ducking the
opening heart lead and discarding a
club on the heart continuation, cash
the cA, enter your hand with a spade
and lead a second club towards the
king (in case West has a singleton
club - let him ruff air).
When the king holds, ruff a club
high, draw trumps ending in dummy
and discard two diamonds. Assuming
3-2 clubs (68%), you will be able to
discard two diamonds on established
clubs. Making five. If clubs are 4-1
(LHO with the singleton), you can
still set up the fifth club for 10 tricks
unless spades are 4-0. If RHO has
singleton club, you're sunk.
Notice that if trumps break 4-0,
you can still survive when RHO has
the trump length and clubs are 3-2.
Finally, when the hK holds, West
can shift to a trump which alters the
suggested play timing.
You can win, cash the cA and hA
pitching a club, lead a trump to hand
and then club to dummy, but in this
variation you can't handle 4-1 clubs.
2
s A J 8 6
h 10 6
d 9 8 3
c Q 10 6 3
s -
h K J 9 7 3
d K 10 7
c K J 7 4 2
After the lead of a low diamond,
your only problem is the club suit if
the suit breaks 4-1 (or 5-0!). Still,
some care has to be taken, and it's
time to remember your safety plays.
At trick one, it's important to insert
the dJ. Whether this is covered or
not, the idea is to keep a late entry
to the closed hand to help set up and
enjoy the clubs.
Say East covers and you win the
king. Then cash the hA to test the
trump suit, and when both opponents
follow, draw the remaining trumps.
Now comes the key safety play of
the cK. If both opponents play low,
cross to the cA and then lead a club
towards your jack. At least you will
be protecting against Q-10-x-x or
Q-9-x-x in the East hand.
However, if East drops the c9 or
c10 under the king, lead a club to
dummy's 8 next! If the c8 loses to the
9 or 10, clubs will have divided 3-2,
so no problem. If West started with
Q-10-x-x or Q-9-x-x and inserts the
9 or 10 when the second club is led
towards the A-8, take it with the ace
and lead the 8: The most you can lose
is one club trick. If West shows out on
the second club, take the trick with
the king and then lead toward the
jack. The most you can lose is one club
s K 7 4 3
h A Q 8
d A J 6
c A 8 5
s Q 10 9 5 2
h 5 4 2
d Q 5 4 2
c 9
trick. Slam bid and made! This line
has about a 90% chance of success.
So why is playing the dJ at trick
one a big deal? Say you play low from
dummy and East rises with the queen.
You win the king as before and draw
trumps, but this time both trumps
and clubs are 4-1. After drawing all
the trumps and cashing the cK, you
have only one way back to your hand
to establish the clubs: a spade ruff
with your last trump. You'll never get
to enjoy the fifth club. 2
The great Eddie Kantar died in April
2022, but the Hall of Famer and
prolific writer left us a treasure trove
of bridge content. Per his wishes, we
honor his memory in the Bridge Bulletin
by sharing his work with ACBL
members.
Remember when your
parents taught you to
play bridge?
Reward Their Patience
With A Tribute Gift.
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April 2024 | Bridge Bulletin |
69
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April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2024
