March 2025 - 46

Newer Players
Play These Hands with Marc
Locating the defenders' high cards
T
he bidding often reveals the
location of the defenders' honors.
You may need to harness
you inner Sherlock, so grab your
deerstalker and pipe, cover the defenders'
cards, and put your investigative
powers to work:
Dlr: West s K J 9 6 4
Vul: None h K 10 9 2
d A 5
c Q 3
s A 8 5
h 7 5 3
d K Q 10 4
c A J 7
s 2
h Q 6 4
d 9 8 6 2
c 9 8 6 5 2
s Q 10 7 3
h A J 8
d J 7 3
c K 10 4
West North East South (You)
1NT(1) 2c(2) Pass 3s
Pass 4s All Pass
(1) 12-14 HCP
(2) Majors
How do you play when West leads
the dK?
You must lose a trump and a trick in
each minor, so you must guess which
defender holds the hQ. West has most
of the missing points, so he is favorite
to hold the key queen. Many players
would win the opening lead and play
on trumps. At some point, they would
finesse West for the hQ. Much of the
time, they will be right, but not always.
The crucial decision should be
delayed until after you have carried
out some detective work. Counting
West's high-card points is not difficult.
Win with the dA and play the
sK. Both defenders follow low and,
when you play a second trump, East
throws a club. West takes the sA and
46 | Bridge Bulletin | March 2025
exits with a third trump. You should
win in hand and play a club to the
queen. That holds, so lead a second
club and put in the 10. West wins
with the cJ and plays the cA, ruffed
in dummy. To be sure of the position,
play a diamond. As expected, West
beats your dJ with the queen and
exits with the d10.
You ruff and it is time to play
hearts. First, ask yourself how many
points West has shown up with. You
have seen the dK Q, the cA J and the
sA - a total of 14 HCP. As his opening
bid showed 12-14 HCP, you can
be confident that East holds the hQ.
You will sometimes have to base
your picture on assumptions.
Sherlock Holmes noticed the dog
that did not bark, and an opponent's
silence can be equally revealing. On
the next deal, your opponents pass
throughout, but even that can tell a
story. This time, you must not only
draw conclusions from the bidding
(or lack of it), but you must also drag
a missing piece of the jigsaw from
the defenders before taking the critical
decision. It sounds tough but, as
you will see, it is not nearly so difficult
as you might imagine. Hide the
defenders' cards and take over from
declarer.
Dlr: West s Q 10 6 4
Vul: None h 8 7 2
d A 5 2
c K J 3
s K
h Q J 10 5 3
d J 9 8 7
c 9 7 5
s 5 2
h A K 6
d K 10 6 4
c 10 8 6 2
s A J 9 8 7 3
h 9 4
d Q 3
c A Q 4
BY MARC SMITH
marc@bridge-teacher.com
West North East
Pass Pass
Pass 2c*
Pass
Pass
South
1s
4s
All Pass
You reach 4s via Drury (2c shows
an invitational spade raise), and West
leads the hQ. East overtakes with
the hK, cashes the hA, and plays a
third heart, which you ruff.
You have lost two heart tricks and
you appear to have a diamond loser,
so the contract seems to depend on
a successful spade finesse. Having
gained the lead, many players would
immediately cross to dummy and run
the sQ. Can you see a better option?
What do you know about the
defenders' hands? East has shown
up with 7 points in hearts, but he did
not open the bidding. There are two
kings unaccounted for, so East cannot
hold both.
After ruffing the third heart, your
first move should be to discover who
holds the dK. Try leading the dQ.
If West covers, you plan to win with
the dA and take the spade finesse. If
West does not cover, you should let
the queen run.
West may be asleep. If he holds the
dK and fails to cover, you will make
your contract even with the spade
finesse failing. More to the point, if
East wins with the dK, you will know
the spade finesse is certain to fail.
Your only chance will be to find West
clutching a singleton sK. Win whatever
East returns and lay down the
sA. Today is your lucky day - the
king comes clattering down. 2
March 2025

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