Complimentary Issue of Better Bridge Magazine March / April 2020

PLAY OF THE HAND ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ BY DAVID LINDOP Second Chances When dummy comes down and the first step of Declarer’s Plan, Assess the Situation, tells us we need to establish more winners or eliminate some losers, we turn to the second step of the Plan, Browse Declarer’s Checklist. Hopefully, we will find at least one possibility for making the contract. Sometimes, we will find more than one possibility. It’s always better to have two chances rather than one but, to bring that about, we may need to take our chances in the correct order. Let’s see some examples. On this first deal, we reach 3NT and West leads the ♠4. ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ LEAD ♠4 7 5 A 7 4 A K 5 3 2 7 4 2 3NT n w e s ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A K K Q 8 9 6 4 K J 10 5 3 We have two sure spade tricks, three hearts, and two diamonds. We need two more. Since the opponents have attacked spades, we can only afford to give up the lead once before the opponents establish enough winners to defeat us if we give up the lead a second time. 2 In diamonds, we can establish two extra winners through length by giving up a trick when the five missing diamonds are divided 3-2, a nearly 70% chance. In clubs, we can also establish the extra tricks needed but will need the ♣Q favorably placed with East since we can’t afford to give up the lead twice. That’s only a 50% chance. So, it seems we should go after the diamond suit to get the tricks we need. However, we can give ourselves a second chance if we are careful in the order we play the cards. If we win the first spade and immediately give up a diamond trick – taking our losses early – we’ll be in trouble when the opponents drive out our remaining spade stopper and the diamonds divide 4-1. It will be too late to fall back on the clubs. Instead, after winning the first spade, we should immediately play the ♦A and ♦K. If both opponents follow suit, we can give up a diamond and we’ll have the tricks we need with the ♥A as an entry to the established diamonds. If one of the opponents shows out on the second round of diamonds, we can fall back on our second chance and lead a club from dummy and finesse the ♣10. If this works, we can use the ♥A to get back to dummy and repeat the finesse. Having a second chance will be necessary if the full deal is something like this: A udrey G rant ’ s B etter B ridge | M arch -A pril 2020 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 7 5 A 7 4 A K 5 3 2 7 4 2 Q 10 8 4 3 ♠ n 10 2 ♥ w e Q J 8 7 ♦ s A 6 ♣ ♠ A K ♥ K Q 8 ♦ 9 6 4 ♣ K J 10 5 3 3NT J 9 6 2 J 9 6 5 3 10 Q 9 8 In this next deal, we reach 4♥, and West leads the ♣A. ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ LEAD ♣A A K J J 6 5 A 7 4 2 J 8 5 4♥ n w e s ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 10 8 6 A K Q 9 7 Q J 5 9 6 West continues with the ♣K and another club, which we ruff. We’ve lost two tricks and can afford to lose only one more. There are potential losers in spades and diamonds. We can’t do anything about the diamond loser. Even if West holds the ♦K, we can trap it but we don’t have the ♦10. So it looks as though our only chance is the spade finesse. However, we can give ourselves a second chance if the six missing diamonds are divided 3-3 or if East holds the ♦K rather than West. After ruffing the third club, we can draw three rounds of trumps, ending with dummy’s ♥J. Assuming the missing hearts divide 3-2, we can now lead a low diamond from dummy toward our hand. If West wins the ♦K when we play the ♦J, we still have the chance the diamonds are divided 3-3. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to fall back on the spade finesse. Suppose, however, East holds the ♦K. If East plays low when we lead a low diamond from dummy, the ♦J wins.

Complimentary Issue of Better Bridge Magazine March / April 2020 | Page 4