February 2025 - 46

Newer Players
Play These Hands with Marc
Don't be afraid to count
F
or some reason, " counting " is
something that many players
think only experts do. Why is
this? Most children can count to 13,
and that is all that counting a bridge
hand requires.
Declarer play would be much
easier if you could see your opponents'
cards, and on many hands,
you can do exactly that. Every card
played reveals information about the
defenders' hands.
Let's play a slam:
s A Q 3
h A 10 4 3
d K 6 3
c Q J 3
s J 10 8 6 4
h J 9 7 2
d 10 8
c A 9
s K 9 2
h K Q 5
d A Q 4 2
c K 6 4
West leads the sJ against 6NT.
How will you play?
You count nine top tricks and you
can develop two more by knocking
out the cA. From where might you
find a 12th trick? A 3-3 diamond
break would give you an extra trick in
that suit. Failing that, you will need
to score four heart tricks.
So, you win the spade lead and
start clubs. West captures the cQ
with his ace and exits with a club.
It's now time to cash winners. You
start with diamonds, but West throws
a spade on the third round. With no
fourth diamond trick, it looks like
you need to guess the hearts. Make
a mental note that East started with
four diamonds to West's two.
46 | Bridge Bulletin | February 2025
s 7 5
h 8 6
d J 9 7 5
c 10 8 7 5 2
You cash your spades, East throwing
a club on the third round. When you
take your remaining club winner, West
again discards another spade, revealing
that East began with five clubs.
Dummy's last four cards are
hA 10 4 3. In hand, you have hK Q 5
and a losing diamond. A little counting
means that you know what to do
with certainty.
What do you know? East began
with four diamonds, five clubs and
two spades and, therefore, two
hearts.
You cash the hK Q, but the jack
does not appear. When you then lead
the h5, West produces the last low
heart, but you call for the h10 from
dummy with absolute certainty that
it will win.
Was that so difficult? Not really -
all you had to do was to count to 13.
Counting the defenders' hands on
that deal was easy because someone
showed out in each suit when you
cashed your winners. You will usually
have to work a little harder to uncover
the distribution. Cover the East-
West cards and take over from South
in this slam:
s A 6 4
h A 3
d 6 4 3 2
c K 9 5 3
s 9 5
h Q J 10 7 5
d 9 8
c J 8 7 2
s Q J 10 8 2
h 9 8 6 2
d 10 7 5
c 6
s K 7 3
h K 4
d A K Q J
c A Q 10 4
How do you play 6NT on the lead of
the hQ?
BY MARC SMITH
You can count 11 tricks, and your
only realistic chance for a 12th is to
score a fourth club trick. You could
cash the cA and, when both defenders
follow, just guess whether to cash
the cQ or to lead low to dummy's
king. Most the time, the suit will split
3-2 and you will claim your slam.
Half of the time that clubs split 4-1,
though, you will go down (unless the
jack is singleton).
You should aim to find out as much
as possible about the defenders'
hands before making the crucial
decision. Simply cashing winners will
not tell you much this time. You cannot
be sure how the hearts are breaking,
but can you see how you might
find out how the spades are divided?
Suppose you play a low spade from
both hands. East wins and plays a
second heart. When you then cash
your spade and diamond winners,
West follows twice in each suit and
then throws hearts.
What have you discovered? East
began with five spades and three
diamonds. He has followed twice in
hearts. That accounts for 10 of his
cards, so he could not have started
with four clubs. As only West can
hold cJ x x x, you begin with the
cA Q from hand. When East discards
on the second round, your diligence
is rewarded. You can take the marked
finesse against West's cJ and claim.
The lesson is to avoid committing
yourself until the latest possible
moment. You had to lose a spade trick
at some point. Giving up that trick
early enabled you to find out all you
needed about the defenders' distribution.
2
February 2025

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