LOOK-ALIKES
On both these deals , you are in 6♠ with no bidding from the opponents . West leads the ♥10 . You play the ♥Q from dummy and East wins the ♥A . East returns a heart and dummy ’ s ♥K wins as West follows with a low heart . In the second deal , declarer ’ s ♠9 has been replaced by the ♠10 .
Question : Would you play the same way in both deals ? ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
Q 6 4 3 K Q 10 8 6 2 J 7 4
6♠
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
Q 6 4 3 K Q 10 8 6 2 J 7 4
6♠
LEAD : ♥10 |
W |
N
S
|
E |
♥ A |
LEAD : ♥10 |
W |
N
S
|
E |
♥ A |
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
A J 9 5 2 J 5 A K Q A K Q
Cover the bottom of the page while you plan the play .
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
A J 10 5 2 J 5 A K Q A K Q
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
10 8 7 10 9 8 7 2 9 5 8 6 2
♠ ♥ ♦
Q 6 4 3 K Q 10 8 6 2 J 7 4
W
N
S
A J 9 5 2 J 5 A K Q A K Q
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
K A 6 4 3 J 7 4 3 10 9 5 3
♣
After losing a trick to the ♥A , declarer can ’ t afford any more losers in the slam contract . There are no more heart losers and no diamond or club losers , so declarer must avoid a spade loser . Declarer must hope East holds the ♠K . After the ♥K is gone , declarer has no more immediate entries to the dummy .
Declarer can ’ t afford to lead the ♠Q . On the actual deal , East would cover with the ♠K and , after winning the ♠A and taking a trick with the ♠J , declarer would lose a trick to West ’ s ♠10 .
Instead , declarer leads a low spade from dummy . When East ' s ♠K appears , declarer wins the ♠A and draws West ’ s remaining trumps with the ♠Q and ♠J . If East had followed with a low spade , declarer would finesse the ♠J , hoping East started with a doubleton ♠K .
E
6♠
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
8 10 9 8 7 2 J 9 7 5 8 6 2
♠ ♥ ♦
Q 6 4 3 K Q 10 8 6 2 J 7 4
W
N
A J 10 5 2 J 5 A K Q A K Q
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
K 9 7 A 6 4 3 4 3 10 9 5 3
♣
As on the previous deal , declarer can ’ t afford a spade loser after losing the first heart trick . Dummy ’ s ♥K is the only entry to dummy .
Holding the ♠10 , however , declarer can afford to lead the ♠Q from dummy . That will work if East has a singleton , doubleton , or tripleton ♠K .
On the actual deal , East can play low when the ♠Q is led from dummy , but now declarer is still in dummy to repeat the finesse for a second time . It does East no good to cover the ♠Q with the ♠K since declarer ’ s ♠J and ♠10 will draw East ’ s remaining trumps .
If declarer led a low spade from dummy initially , declarer wouldn ’ t be able to get back to repeat the spade finesse .
S
E
6♠
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