AUDREY GRANT'S BETTER BRIDGE MAGAZINE September / October 2019 | Page 4

PLAY OF THE HAND
BY DAVID LINDOP
♠
♥
♦
♣
Preparing for
a Rainy Day
On many deals as declarer, we have to
hope for good fortune. We may need
six missing cards to divide exactly
3-3, or we may need a missing ace
to be favorably located. On other
deals, when the contract appears
fairly secure, we should prepare for
misfortune – a bad break in a key
suit or a card unfavorably located.
Let’s look at examples of how we can
overcome such adversity.
of East holding all four trumps.
We carefully win the first trick with
the ♥A. We may need the ♥K later
as an entry to dummy. Our next step
is to play a low spade to dummy’s
♠Q. If both defenders follow, there
is no problem. We simply draw the
rest of the trumps. But suppose this
is the actual layout:
C ard C ombinations
On this first deal, we reach 4♠ and
West leads the ♥Q.
♠
♥
♦
♣
LEAD
♥ Q
Q 7 4 3
K 6
J 7 4
10 7 5 2
4♠
−
Q J 9 5 2
10 8 5 3
K J 8 4
n
w
e
s
♠
♥
♦
♣
A K 9 6 2
A 7
A K Q
9 6 3
We appear to have only three club
losers. We plan to draw trumps and
take our winners. Is there anything
that can go wrong?
The only problem will be if the four
missing trumps, the ♠J-10-8-5, are
divided 4-0. If West has all four,
there is nothing we can do. We can,
however, prepare for the possibility
2
♠
♥
♦
♣
♠
♥
♦
♣
Q 7 4 3
K 6
J 7 4
10 7 5 2
n
w
e
s
♠
♥
♦
♣
A K 9 6 2
A 7
A K Q
9 6 3
4♠
♠
♥
♦
♣
J 10 8 5
10 8 4 3
9 6 2
A Q
LEAD
♥ 5
K 7 6
3NT
6
A Q 10 8 7 4
A 7 6
n
w
e
s
♠
♥
♦
♣
♥ Q
A 8 5 4
A J 9
K 9
9 8 5 3
The contract looks easy enough. We
have two spade tricks, a heart, six
diamonds, and a club. We should
finish with an overtrick and, indeed,
we would on most days. On a bad
day, however, our assumption of
taking six diamond tricks may prove
faulty. What if East started with four
diamonds including the ♦J?
Preparing for a rainy day, we should
win the first trick with the ♥A. That
turns West into a ‘safe opponent.’ If
we lose a trick to West, West can’t
lead a heart without giving us a trick
with the ♥J. At the same time, East
becomes the ‘dangerous opponent.’
If East wins a trick, East can lead a
heart, potentially trapping our ♥J-9
if West holds the ♥K-10.
Having won the ♥A, we cross
to dummy’s ♠K and lead a low
diamond. If East follows with a low
diamond, we play the ♦9. We don’t
mind if this loses to the ♦J. West
can’t hurt us. If West leads a club, we
win dummy’s ♣A and play the ♦A,
dropping our ♦K. We have enough
tricks to make the contract.
Here’s the complete layout:
When we lead a low spade to
dummy’s ♠Q, West shows out.
Having prepared for this eventuality,
we lead a low spade from dummy.
♠ K 7 6
3NT
Suppose East plays the ♠10. We
♥ 6
win the ♠K. We can now cross back
A
Q
10
8
7
4
♦
to the carefully-preserved ♥K and
♣ A 7 6
lead another spade, trapping East’s ♠ Q 10 3 2
♠ J 9
n
remaining ♠J.
♥ K 10 8 5 3 w
♥ Q 7 4 2
e
P laying S afe
♦ 6
On the next deal, we have reached ♣ Q 10 4
3NT and West leads the ♥5. We
play dummy’s singleton ♥6, and
East plays the ♥Q. What’s our plan?
A udrey G rant ’ s B etter B ridge | S eptember -O ctober 2019
s
♠
♥
♦
♣
A 8 5 4
A J 9
K 9
9 8 5 3
♦ J 5 3 2
♣ K J 2