January 2025 - 48

Newer Players
Lessons Learned
Third hand as high as necessary
I
sent my brother-in-law to the
grocery store to pick up some
ginger and other supplies for
dumplings. Anyone who cooks with
ginger knows you need less than a
knob for almost every recipe. He
came back with what must have been
all the ginger in the store.
I've learned that specifics are really
important when it comes to my
instructions.
New players often hesitate to play
their high cards in third seat. " I don't
want to waste my king/queen/jack
when it won't win the trick. " That's
the wrong thought. In third hand, we
may not always win the trick, but we
don't want to allow declarer to win a
trick cheaply, either. After seeing a lot
of declarers winning tricks in fourth
seat with 8s and 9s, I made sure to
teach defenders, " third hand high. "
Then, one day, I saw a student with
A-Q-x behind the king play the ace.
" Third hand high, " they said, smiling
at me.
So now I specify: third hand as
high as necessary.
You need to make sure your cards
are working properly to not let
declarer win a trick cheaply and to
not set up future tricks for declarer.
The key is to look at dummy and
think about what partner's lead signifies
along with what declarer is likely
to hold. Let's look at some common
scenarios and see if we can make the
right plays.
1
Lead
h 4
Dummy
h Q 7 2
You
h K 10 6
What would you play from hand
after dummy plays the 2 against
48 | Bridge Bulletin | January 2025
3NT? What about against 4s?
Answer: Play the h10, both times.
Against notrump, partner might be
leading away from an ace, but so
what? If partner has the ace and not
the jack, declarer will always be able
to take a trick in this suit. If partner
has the ace and the jack, putting in
the 10 prevents declarer from taking
any tricks in this suit. If partner has
the jack, sometimes you'll be holding
declarer to one trick in the suit.
Lastly, if partner has neither card,
you'll still be better playing the 10 as
you might limit declarer to two tricks
in the suit.
Against a suit contract, partner
will not be leading away from an ace,
which makes it very important to
play the 10. Playing the king won't
set up anything for your side and
may gift declarer a trick when partner
holds the jack. This would be the
same situation if dummy held J-7-2
instead of Q-7-2. Look at this layout,
which could be the same against
either contract, and see how playing
the king helps the opponents.
h J 9 5 4
2
Lead
h 9
h Q 7 2
h A 8 3
Dummy
h Q J 10 2
You
h K 5 4 3
Partner leads the 9. The 10 is
played from dummy. Do you play the
king? Does it matter if this is a suit
contract or notrump?
Answer: Play low, either way.
Partner's 9 could be from two small
or three small. Partner doesn't
have the ace. You have to hope that
h K 10 6
Let me
help you
move your
game up!
rhodasrules.com
3
Lead
h 4
BY MICHAEL BERKOWITZ
michael@larryco.com
declarer has the ace-doubleton or
-third. Playing the king can't help
your side, so play low.
Dummy
h 8 7 2
You
h K J 3
Partner leads the 4, dummy plays
the 2. What do you play against
notrump? What do you play against
a suit?
Answer: Against notrump, play the
king. Partner could easily have the
ace. If partner has the A-10-x-x or
similar, declarer isn't entitled to any
tricks unless you mistakenly play low
Against a suit contract, partner
isn't leading low from an ace (we discussed
this in a past issue). Because
we assume declarer has the ace, we
can play the jack - what's called a
" discovery play. " We want to discover
who holds the queen. If declarer
wins the jack with the ace (or ducks),
we'll discover that partner holds the
queen. 2
http://www.rhodasrules.com
January 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2025
