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BRIDGE BITES #99
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YOU MIGHT BE AN
EXPERT
Brian Gunnell |
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♠ KJ
♥
AQ9
♦
KJ65
♣ KT75 |
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E-W Vulnerable
South West North
East
1♥
Pass 2♣ Pass
3NT Pass 6♥
Pass
Pass
Pass
In 6♥
there are 11 easy tricks. The 12th might come from a Diamond
finesse, a Club finesse against West, or a Club finesse against East.
You might be an expert if you go down in 6♥.
In fact, if you are at the top of your game
you may even go down two! The opening lead of the Spade Three is won by
East’s Ace and the Spade Two is returned. |
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Dummy
West East
Declarer |
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♠ QT6
♥
KJT87
♦
A8
♣ AJ4 |
►
To get that 12th
trick, you could just guess to take the Diamond finesse or own of the two
available Club finesses, but before committing yourself you will naturally find
out as much as you can about the opponents’ distribution. Also, you’ll want to
give up on the Diamond finesse, preferring to ruff a Diamond in the hope that
the Queen is tripleton. Then, if that doesn’t work you can resort to the Club
guess. So, what is your sequence of plays?
►
After winning the second Spade
trick, cash two trumps only, then
♦A,
♦K,
followed by a Diamond ruff, both defenders following but without the Queen
falling. Now back to Dummy with a trump (East pitching a Spade) and ruff the
last Diamond. Well-timed play has allowed you to ruff two Diamonds, so
by now you have a perfect count on the hand. How are the enemy cards
distributed?
►
That’s simple! The play of the
Spades tells us they are 4-4, added to which West has shown up with three Hearts
and four Diamonds, and therefore only two Clubs. That means that East has four
Clubs and is more likely to be in possession of the
♣Q.
So you cross to Dummy’s King, and finesse against East for the Queen. Here is
the full deal:
►
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♠ KJ
♥
AQ9
♦
KJ65
♣ KT75 |
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♠ 9743
♥
652
♦
QT94
♣ Q9 |
Dummy
West East
Declarer |
♠ A852
♥
43
♦
732
♣ 8632 |
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♠ QT6
♥
KJT87
♦
A8
♣ AJ4 |
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Oops! The Club finesse loses
and, as you are now out of trumps, you are down two! When this deal was played
in a local club duplicate game, most Declarers made 12 tricks … a few went down
one when they misguessed Clubs … but only one Declarer was expert enough to ruff
two Diamonds, get a perfect count on the distribution, and then go down two.
How expert were you on this deal?
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