Lifestyles

Bridge by Steve Becker

Locating a missing key card by counting the opponents' cards as they are played is one of the most satisfying experiences at the bridge table. But for many players, satisfaction can change to frustration when they find themselves unable to remember every card played. Players who experience this problem are best advised that the key to accurate counting lies in keeping track only of what is pertinent to the issue at hand

Consider this case where South is in seven spades. Declarer's only worry is a potential diamond loser. But before attempting to guess which way to finesse for the missing queen, South should try to learn as much as possible about the opponents' distribution in the other three suits.

South therefore decides to keep an eye on when and if either defender shows out in any of the other three suits. The actual rank of the cards in these suits as they are played doesn't really matter. South starts by taking the club lead with the ace, cashes the A-Q of trump, then plays the king of clubs and ruffs a club.

At this stage, all declarer knows is that the spades were divided 2-2 and the clubs 4-3. But when South next cashes the A-K of hearts and ruffs a heart -- on which West shows out -- he gets the break he's been looking for. Since East has thus far turned up with two spades, three clubs and six hearts, he cannot possibly hold more than two diamonds.

To complete the count, declarer leads a trump to the king and ruffs dummy's last club. When East follows to the club lead, his original diamond holding drops to one, giving South a sure thing. He simply cashes the diamond king (to guard against the singleton queen in the East hand), then takes the marked finesse through West to secure the slam.

Tomorrow: Bidding quiz.

Lifestyles

Bridge by Steve Becker

Good defense is mostly a matter of plain common sense. As a case in point, take this deal where South was in three hearts and West led the club ten, which held the trick after dummy and East followed low. West then continued with the nine, won by East with the queen.

This was followed by the ace of clubs, on which West discarded the deuce of spades, and then the king of clubs, ruffed by declarer with the jack. West overruffed with the queen, but South had no trouble scoring the rest of the tricks and so made exactly three hearts.

It might seem that the outcome was entirely normal, but the fact is that West could and should have defeated the contract. All he had to do was to discard another spade when South ruffed the fourth club with the jack. Had West done that, declarer could not have stopped him from eventually scoring two trump tricks to put the contract down one.

While it might seem normal for West to overruff the jack with the queen, the simple fact is that refusing to overruff assures West of scoring two trump tricks rather than one with his Q-9-7-5, regardless of South's trump holding or how he proceeds.

The hand illustrates once again that bridge cannot be played mechanically, and that a moment's reflection is likely to pay greater dividends than a rapid play.

Tomorrow: Countdown to 13 tricks.

Lifestyles

Bridge by Steve Becker

One of the neatest plays in bridge is known as the "loser on loser," whereby declarer finds a way of telescoping two potential losers into one.

Six diamonds was a poor contract, though it should be noted that the A-K of clubs facing a void was an unfortunate duplication of values.

West led a spade, and when East played the ten, the indications were very strong that West had led a singleton. Declarer won with the ace and was faced with the problem of how to get rid of one of his two spade losers.

The only information available at this point was that West had overcalled with one heart -- very likely a five-card suit -- and probably had only one spade. Starting with this as a basis, South embarked on a line of play designed to make the contract if it could be made.

He began by leading a heart to the ace and ruffing a heart. Then, after playing the ace and king of diamonds, he ruffed another heart. The A-K of clubs were next cashed, two spades being discarded from dummy, and a club was ruffed.

Dummy's last heart was then led, and when, as expected, East showed out, South discarded one of his two spade losers. West won but had to return a heart or a club. This allowed declarer to ruff in dummy as he discarded his other spade loser, and the slam was made.

The end result was due to careful planning. The loser-on-loser discard had to be timed so that the North and South hands would have no hearts or clubs left when dummy's last heart was led.

Tomorrow: Test your play.

Lifestyles

Bridge by Steve Becker

Experience is a marvelous teacher, but one of the dangers in playing the game for a long time is that it may lead to occasional carelessness in commonplace situations.

Take this case where South is in three notrump. Let's say South ducks the opening club lead and wins the next club with the king. He then plays a heart and, when West follows low, finesses the nine. If East takes his queen, which seems the natural thing to do, South has no trouble scoring 10 tricks. Whatever East returns, declarer takes a second heart finesse and makes the contract with an overtrick, scoring four hearts and two tricks in each of the other suits.

If East does not take his queen, South still gets home safely. He takes a successful diamond finesse, crosses to the ace of hearts and repeats the diamond finesse. Declarer thus scores two spades, two hearts, three diamonds and two clubs.

However, South would find it impossible to make nine tricks if West played the king of hearts on the first heart lead! This would limit South to just one heart trick.

Declarer might duck the king, hoping West also had the queen, or might take the king and attempt a diamond finesse. Either way, though, South can't make nine tricks.

West should surely play the king of hearts when the suit is first led despite the usual practice by a defender of playing second-hand low. General rules are always subservient to common sense, and in the present case, West should apply that invaluable commodity to the situation at hand.

West should reason that if South has the queen of hearts, the king is doomed, come what may. He therefore plays the king on the assumption that East has the queen, and hopes that by doing so he will limit dummy to one heart trick.

Tomorrow: Magic act.

Lifestyles

Bridge by Steve Becker

Basically, a defender's falsecard is designed to mislead declarer without fooling partner at the same time. On rare occasions, however, the intent is exactly the opposite, with the falsecard deliberately aimed at deceiving partner without trying to mislead declarer at all.

Witness today's deal, where South wound up in four spades after East had overcalled in hearts. West led the eight of hearts, but instead of making the normal play of the jack at trick one -- the lowest card from equals by a defender not on lead -- East played the king!

This violation of standard procedure by East was designed to create the impression in West's mind that declarer had the queen of hearts. East's purpose was to encourage West to shift to another suit --namely, clubs -- if West gained the lead.

Declarer took the first trick with the ace of hearts, crossed to dummy with a diamond and tried a spade finesse. West won and, having credited South with the queen of hearts after the play to the first trick, naturally decided to look elsewhere for additional tricks. The only realistic possibility seemed to lie in clubs, so he shifted to the club ten, whereupon East took two clubs and a heart to set the contract one trick.

Had East not intentionally deceived his partner at trick one, West might well have returned a second heart after taking the spade king. Declarer would then have made the contract, since East could collect no more than a heart and a club before South claimed the rest.

But, as East hoped, his partner fell right into the trap he had so skillfully laid for him.

Tomorrow: Bidding quiz.

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Lifestyles

Bridge by Steve Becker

Declarer's first aim is to make his contract. At no time should the matter of potential overtricks influence his plays, since the value of a game, a slam or even a partscore far exceeds the value of an overtrick.

Consider today's deal where South is in three notrump and West leads a club. East takes the king and returns a club to West's ace. West continues with a club to South's queen, East discarding a spade. How should declarer proceed?

There is no doubt that many players would at this point cross to dummy with a heart or a spade, lead the queen of diamonds and finesse. If they did this, they would go down one after West took the king and cashed his clubs.

However, this line of play is contrary to the principle stated above. There is no harm in crossing to dummy and leading the queen of diamonds, but it is wrong to finesse. The right play, after East follows low, is for declarer to go up with the ace.

As it happens, the ace catches West's king and South winds up making five notrump, but the fact that the king falls does not in itself prove the play is right. There is a far better reason than hindsight for playing the ace.

Declarer should conclude that if East has the king, he will still make three notrump (with an overtrick) by continuing the suit after the ace fails to fell the king. But if West has the king, the contract can be saved if the king happens to be singleton. This latter possibility is something declarer is duty-bound to protect against.

Tomorrow: It's all in the details.

Lifestyles

Bridge by Steve Becker

Familiarity with card combinations and how to deal with them can be helpful to the defenders as well as to declarer. Most combinations do not present much of a test, since they repeat themselves time and again, but the less frequent ones are sometimes a challenge.

Take this case where West led a club against four hearts. East won with the ace and recognized that attacking diamonds offered the best chance for the defense. So he returned the three of diamonds, West winning the trick with the queen after declarer followed low. It did not matter what West played next. Declarer later lost a trump trick and made exactly four.

However, East could have stopped the contract with a more judicious play at trick two. He had the right idea when he returned a diamond, but he chose the wrong one. He should have led the ten rather than the three.

Note the deadly effect of this play. If declarer goes up with the ace, the defenders eventually get two diamond tricks, as well as the trump ace. Equally, if he covers with the jack, West wins and returns a diamond to establish the setting trick, since East's K-8 are strategically positioned over dummy's 9-6. And if South ducks the ten entirely, so does West — and again the outcome is the same.

East's play of the ten, though it looks peculiar, can easily be justified. East reasons that if partner has any two diamond honors, the ten lead can do no harm. And if West has only one diamond honor — whether the jack or the ace — the ten play is again harmless.

But if West's honor happens to be the queen, the ten return is necessary in order to neutralize dummy's nine. The ten is therefore the correct play.

Tomorrow: Bidding quiz.