Bridge Movie
This entry is not terribly profound. Mainly, I wanted to see the efffect of imbedding a BBO style bridge movie.
| North | |
| ♠ | A75 |
| ♥ | KQJ92 |
| ♦ | 432 |
| ♣ | A3 |
 |
|
| South | |
| ♠ | 98642 |
| ♥ | 8 |
| ♦ | Q10 |
| ♣ | KQJ108 |
| West | North | East | South |
| pass | |||
| pass | 1♥ | pass | 1♠ |
| pass | 2♠ | pass | pass |
| pass |
West leads the ♦ 6 to East’s King, and Ace; you ruff the diamond continuation, West following with the Jack. Plan the play before reading on. Do not look for anything too esoteric. I shall insert some white space so that you do not accidentally see the whole hand before you are ready.
Keep scrolling.
You can follow the line of play by successively hitting tbe Next button immediately above.
Your plan should include the following thoughts. If the trumps are 3-2, then it looks as though we are okay; we are going to lose 2 trump tricks, the 2 diamonds that we have already lost, and the Ace of hearts. If the trumps are 4-1, then we are in a bit of trouble since we then have an additional trump loser. Perhaps we can steal a heart trick; hence the heart play at trick 3. West should not let us to get away with this as he is looking at a near sure set with 3 trump tricks to come and 2 diamonds in the bank. Still, sometimes you catch West napping. He has no reason to know that you have such a strong side suit (clubs). At least that is what he will try to explain to his partner during the post mortem.
Some declarers become frustrated when faced with the prospect of playing a trump suit of xxxxx opposite Axx. Let me make a suggestion. When it comes time to play such trump suit, first play a small card from either hand and duck it completely. When you next gain the lead, cash the Ace of trump; then go about your business in the other suits. Here, since the club suit is ready to roll, that technique works quite well. What you definitely do not want to do is to play ace and another trump. When trumps break badly, the opponent will finish drawing trump for you, then cash whatever diamonds they can reach. I know, on this deal, the diamonds are stranded; but you get the idea. Perhaps I should have had East Kamikaze his partner’s Ace of hearts at trick 3 to prevent him from taking a nap.
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Yup.. I’m one of those ‘frustrated declarers’ when faced with that trump holding. Thanks for the pointer! 🙂
Hi, Chuck,
Nice work on the presentation, Chuck. The movie worked a treat.
While I agree with your point that it is often right to play low from both hands to keep control. I don’t think this is one of those hands. If East has QJT or some other combination of three honours he will lead a fourth diamond to uppercut a third trump trick when the hand is cold because trumps are 3-2.
The blog is a great idea. I’m really enjoying it.
Hi Chuck. I’m with you, I would duck a trump, then go about my business.
Keep up the good work!
Hi Steve,
I admit that the technique is not bulletproof, but what are the alternatives? Play Ace and another trump? When trumps are foul, they will finish drawing trump and run the diamonds. I hate it when that happens! I realize on this layout, that cannot happen. If they can get an uppercut, it must be with an original doubleton trump; otherwise it is of no advantage to the defense. Statistically speaking, the hand that is short in diamonds is not likely to hold exactly a doubleton trump… an application of the empty spaces principle. Also I have found that even when it is to their advantage to do so, the opponents are loathe to give up a ruff and a sluff. I know that when declarer has no outside losers, it can do no harm to give up a ruff and a sluff, but rarely does their thinking get that far.
I like to keep control of the trump suit.
Awesome Presentation Chuck!
If you read this blog entry prior to 2010 03 04 18:30, you may have noticed an auction that did not make sense. I have since corrected this.
Once the heart wins, cash the SA and then start playing clubs. Assuming spades are no worse than 4-1, the best they can do is take three spades to go with the two diamonds.
[…] lovely five-card suit and useless doubleton, and find yourself wondering, Why didn't I open 1NT …Chuck Arthur Blog Archive Bridge MovieIf they can get an uppercut, it must be with an original doubleton trump; otherwise it is of no […]