Tag Archives: Watch intermedates in hierarchy of each suit

Fundamentals of playing a notrump contract

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Here is another hand I misplayed recently at the club. Once again I played by seat-of-the-pants rather than using sound fundamentals for declaring NT contract. Here is the hand:

How would you play 1NT after opening lead of five of diamonds?

Start by counting your winners: 3Cs and 1 spade. Opponents have attacked diamonds, giving you a sure winner there. Look at the heirarchy in that heart suit. You should be able to set up two tricks once the ace and king are driven out. That gets you to seven tricks as long as diamonds are not splitting 6-2. You may even take 8 tricks if the spade finesse works.

Category: Exercises: Defensive Play | Tags: ,

A different perspective

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Here is a declarer play problem by Bob Jones. It appeared in his regular column on October 18.

Spades at trick one are deuce, four, six, and ace!. The excellent trump lead negates the possibility of ruffing a losing club in dummy. How would you go about holding your losers to three?

Hint: notice that your six trumps are higher than opponents’ remaining three. Try making dummy the master hand, ruffing heart and diamond losers in your hand.

You have to be careful to preserve entries to dummy to do so. Make sure you win the opening lead with a high trump in hand. That way the jack and nine of spades will be entries when LHO continues to attack trumps.

Try this:

  • Win trick one with ace in hand.
  • Cash the ace and king of hearts.
  • Give up a diamond.
  • Win the trump return in dummy.
  • Ruff remaining heart high in hand.
  • Go to dummy with ace of diamonds.
  • Ruff a diamond high in hand.
  • Go to dummy with ace of clubs.
  • Ruff remaining diamond high in hand

That gives you 10 tricks: 3 spades plus heart ruff and 2 diamond ruffs in hand, Ace and King of hearts, Ace of clubs, and Ace of diamonds.

Be alert for possible “dummy reversals”. Here was the entire deal:

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: , ,

Learning by studying errors

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In my opinion there were three errors when this deal was played: a bidding error, a declarer play error, and a defensive error.

 

Check out the bidding first. Before you look at my opinion, who do you think made the error?

 

 

 

 

I don’t like South’s bid of 3C. North showed the major suits with no extras. From South’s perspective it is a misfit, and time to get out. But the better sign-off is to take the suit preference to two spades. North will be happy you stopped at the two-level. And North will like your two spade honors.

 

Now you are South in three clubs. (Suggest you print the NS hands to more easily follow the play.) Can you hold it to down one? West led the ace of diamonds followed by the king of diamonds at trick two. The eight of hearts then went to East’s jack. East continued with the ace of hearts. You trumped with a low club and led a low club to dummy’s ace as the queen fell from East. Back to your hand with the king of spades. Then the jack of clubs revealed the 5-1 break. West wins the king and exits with the four of hearts. How do you play from here? (Cover up the EW hands and see if you can avoid South’s error.)

 

 

Give it some thought before reading my recommendation.

 

 

 

The key is to make sure that West is on lead (end played so that she will be forced to exit with a trump from 9-6 to your 10-8. Do that by cashing the queen of diamonds and ace of spades. Then lead the queen of spades, discarding the nine of diamonds from hand. West will be in and forced to lead a club at trick 12.

 

The actual South did not do that. Instead, South cashed the 10 of clubs and had to lead the nine of diamonds at trick 12. Thus losing the last two trick to the 10 of diamonds and nine of clubs. The mistake cost EW a top board in a pairs game: Plus 100 instead of plus 50 by most of the field.

 

 

 

West erred on defense, however. West trumped the nine of diamonds, crashing East’s 10. And West had to give up a trick to South’s eight of clubs. Painful to watch.

 

 

 

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play, Exercises: Defensive Play, Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags: , , , ,

Fundamentals of Declarer Play

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As South you opened 1NT in 3rd seat. 1NT gets passed out. Your mission is to plan the best chance for overtricks at matchpoints. Follow the play to the 1st two tricks and decide on your plan.

Trick 1: West leads the ace of clubs (A from AK), East plays the jack, and you play low.

Trick 2: West shifts to the three of diamonds, East play the nine, and you win with the ace.

 

Reminder: You need to employ two NT fundamentals:

What do you plan to do at trick three? Put differently, what suit is best to establish a winner now? Decide on your plan (be specific), and scroll down to see my recommendation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I recommend you lead the nine of clubs at trick three. That has the effect of establishing two club winners while creating two club entries to dummy (the eight and queen will become winners in the dummy).

What if West refuses to win the king, leaving you with only one sure entry to dummy? In that case lead the AK of diamonds at tricks 4 and 5. Then lead the ace and jack of hearts at tricks 6 and 7. Now your entry to dummy is set up when you next lead a club.

BTW, the defense might cause you a problem at trick 7. Do you see what that might be?

 

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: , ,

Declarer Play Puzzle

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The contract should have been six hearts (NS have a nine-card heart fit). Be that as it may, South now has to play 6NT? Opening lead is the jack of clubs, East following with the deuce.

South wins with the queen of clubs and notes that dummy has only one sure entry to the heart suit. What is South’s best chance to make 6NT? Please give me your thoughts in the comments.

 

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: , , , ,

Think Before You Play to the 1st Trick

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You are South in a contract of 1NT. Here is the hand and auction:

Opening lead is the three of clubs. East play the Jack. Do you hold up or win the trick? Decide what to do. Then scoll down to see my recommendation:

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I hope you won the trick. Notice the texture of clubs in dummy. The king and queen are only remaining cards ranking higher than dummy’s clubs. By winning the ace at trick one you are assured of two club tricks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you won the trick. Notice the texture of clubs in dummy. The king and queen are only remaining cards ranking higher than dummy’s clubs. By winning the ace at trick one you are assured of two club tricks.

 

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: , ,

Another on Counting your Losers

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You opened one heart in 2nd seat and West overcalled two diamonds. Partner had enough strength to make a negative double at the two level. Having 5-5 in the rounded suits increased the value of your hand. So, you were willing to go to three clubs for your rebid. Partner took the suit preference for hearts and you bid game. Opening lead was the king of diamonds.

 

Here is what you saw summary of the bidding:

You were in a good contract. How would you play to make four hearts? Your thoughts on opening lead:

  • West should have the ace of hearts.
  • Other than that you have the remaining high hearts.
  • You have the top three clubs, and there is a good chance they will split no worse than 4-2 (84%).
  • You should lose no more than two spades and the ace of hearts.
  • Hearts should split no worse than 4-2 (84%).

Do those clues shed light on how you should play? Please let me know by email or in comments if you are unclear on what to do at trick two.

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: , , , , , ,

The Power of 10s, 9s, and 8s

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Recommendation for newer players: pay attention to the hierarchy of cards in each suit during play. It’s much easier than you might think. The hierarchy itself facilitates recall of cards played (known as “watching the spots”). The idea is to keep track of cards that are rising to the top in trick taking power. Of course, practice is essential to developing the skill! But with a little practice it becomes easy.

Here is a prime example. I was North and fortunate to have a partner adept at watching the spots:

watching spots

You may wonder why I decided to accept partner’s invitation to game with “only” 13 HCP. Look at my (North’s) spots: 13 HCP plus a pair of married 10s and 9s to contribute to our trick taking. Perhaps I was a bit lucky when my partner showed up with all four (yes, 4!) 8s.

Now watch what happened. Heart deuce was led, and declarer used the rule of 11 to deduce that East had at most one card higher than the eight. When East played the jack South could count three sure winners in hearts. The outstanding ace of hearts was the only card higher than those in South’s collection. When the dust settled South had come to 10 tricks: one spade, three hearts, two diamonds, and four clubs. 10 tricks on 24 combined HCP bolstered by those trick taking 10s, 9s, and 8s. Cards take tricks, not HCP points.

Watch those spots and take advantage of your intermediates. Don’t miss out on opportunities presented.

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: , , ,

Watch those Spots!

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The play by South seemed pretty routine on this one. It looks like South will lose one heart, two diamonds, and perhaps two clubs and one spade.

spot watching

The ace of hearts was led by West, and South ruffed the next heart. Then South led a spade to the king and another back to hand, revealing a 2-2 break. At trick 5 South led a low club toward dummy, 10 from West, queen from dummy and won by East’s ace.

 

At trick 6 East continued with the king of hearts and North ruffed. At trick 7 declarer led a low club toward dummy’s king, West playing the jack and East the nine!

I watched in horror as declarer led a low club to seven in hand. To declarer’s surprise it won the trick. Declarer had not been watching the club spots. Cashing the eight of clubs and the remaining two clubs would bring in 11 tricks for a top board.

East erred by playing the nine of clubs when also holding the six.

South and East were not paying attention to the hierarchy of cards in the club suit. It’s hard to get newer players out of the mindset that any card lower than a 10 is “x” and inconsequential. It’s the hierarchy itself that facilitates remembering which card has risen to the top in trick taking power. After two rounds of clubs in this hand the eight had risen to boss club.

 

 

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: ,

Counting your tricks in no trump

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Here is a hand I observed recently on BBO:

Counting in NT

Put yourself in the South seat. It looks like you have two fast tricks in spades, two in hearts, one in diamonds (your singleton king wins at trick one), and two in clubs. You need to set up two additional tricks. It looks like diamonds are splitting 4-4, and that you will lose three diamond tricks. You have seven card fits in each of the other suits. What’s the best way to set up a ninth trick? Give it some thought and scroll down for my recommended plan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can hope for a 3-3 split in spades, hearts, or clubs. But clubs offer your best chance. Look at those nice intermediates that you posess in clubs: 10, 9, 8, 7 . Win the ace of clubs and return the nine, planning to overtake if West plays an honor. That will work whenever clubs break 3-3 or you catch West with a doubleton honor. It’s the doubleton honor that gives you a slight extra chance in clubs. Also, you will hold your loss to down one when clubs don’t behave.

Here was the entire hand:

counting in NT too

 

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: , , ,