Deals 45 - 48 : Bidding and Play

Lesson 15 - Links page

(Down - Deal 44)
Declarer (N *)
- 7 5 4 2
- A K 9
- K 8 3
- A Q 5
East
- Q 6 3
- 6 5 4 3
- J 10 9 7
- K 8
West
- K 9 8
- J 10 2
- 6 4 2
- J 10 9 4
Dummy (S)
- A J 10
- Q 8 7
- A Q 5
- 7 6 3 2

Deal 45 - Dealer is North - NS Vulnerable

Bidding : 1NT (N) - 3NT (S) Pass (N)
.

Opening Lead : Jack of Diamonds (E) = top of a solid sequence

Declarer (N) counts 8 sure winners : Aces of Spades and Clubs plus A K Q in both the red suits. His 9th trick can come from a double finesse in Spades or a single finesse in Clubs.

Declarer Play
Double finesse as best percentage play - Winning an extra trick when Opponents cards break 3-3
Declarer before playing to trick one considers his options. A finesse in Clubs will have a 50-50 chance, whereas in Spades the double finesse has a 75% chance of success.
Declarer therefore wins the first trick in his hand with the King, and then leads a small Spade. East plays low, Dummy plays the 10 and West wins the trick with the King.
At trick 3 West returns Partner's lead with a small Diamond, East plays the 10 and Dummy wins with the Queen. A small Heart lead from Dummy is won by Declarer with the Ace. At trick 5 Declarer leads a second Spade for to complete the double finesse. East plays again low and Dummy wins the trick with his Jack.

Having secured the tricks required and still with stoppers in all four suits, Declarer takes an extra chance on the Club finesse by leading a small Club from Dummy to Declarer's Queen. The finesse fails however as East wins with the King.
At trick 7 East leads a third round of Diamonds won by Dummy's Ace. Dummy then plays his Spade Ace, drawing all Opponents cards in that suit as they break 3-3. At trick 9 Dummy leads a small Heart to Declarer's Ace. Declarer then plays the last remaining Spade which is a winner, plus two more Heart winners and the Ace of Clubs while losing his last small Club to West, making 10 tricks in total.

Score = 40 + 3 x 30 trick pts + 500 bonus pts = 630 pts total



(
Down - Up)
North
- 10 9 8 6 3
- J 10 9
- 9 3
- K 7 5
Declarer (E *)
- A
- A Q 5 4
- A K J 5
- J 10 9 8
Dummy (W)
- 7 4
- 7 3 2
- Q 10 6 4 2
- A 4 2
South
- K Q J 5 2
- K 8 6
- 8 7
- Q 6 3

Deal 46 - Dealer is East - EW Vulnerable

Bidding : 1D (E) - 1S (S) - 2D (W) - Pass (N) - 5D (E)

Opening Lead : King of Spades (S) = top of a solid sequence

Declarer (E) counts 5 possible losers : three in Hearts and two in Spades. He can ruff one of his small hearts in Dummy, but the other tricks must be established by finessing. Also with his J 10 9 8 Spade holding he will always make an extra trick with the 4th Spade even if the double finesse fails.

Declarer Play
Double finesse as best percentage play   -   Refusing a finesse
Dummy and North play low on the opening lead and Declarer wins with his singleton Ace. After drawing the Opponents' trumps in two rounds with his Ace and King of Diamond, Declarer (at trick 4) leads the Jack of Clubs from his hand for a double finesse. South and Dummy both play low and North wins the trick with the King.
North with originally five Spades too (Partner overcalled Spades !) realises that Declarer is now void in the suit and therefore switches at trick 5 to Hearts, leading his Jack (leading up to weakness in Dummy). Declarer refuses the finesse (realising South must surely have the King) and wins with the Ace.

Declarer (trick 6) leads the Club 10, which wins the trick as all other players play low. Declarer leads the Club 9 next, which is covered by South's Queen, in turn captured by Dummy's Ace.
At trick 8 Dummy leads a small Spade which is ruffed by Declarer, who then in turn leads his last remaining Club which wins and on which Dummy discards a small Heart. Declarer concedes one Heart trick to South's King, but ruffs a return Heart in Dummy. The remaining tricks are won by his trumps. A total of 11 tricks.

Score = 5 x 20 trick pts + 500 bonus pts = 600 pts total



(
Down - Up)
Dummy (N)
- Q J 10
- 8 4 2
- A 9 6 3
- Q 6 4
East
- K 9 7 6 4 3
- J 10 6
- 8 5
- J 2
West
- A 8 5 2
- K 9 7 3
- 2
- 10 9 8 7
Declarer (S *)
-
- A Q 5
- K Q J 10 7 4
- A K 5 3

Deal 47 - Dealer is South - All Vulnerable

Bidding : 2C (S) - 2NT (N) - 6D (S)
South has a very strong hand and favourable distribution. When Partner shows 8-10 points and at least 2 Diamonds, he believes Small Slam in Diamond will have a very good chance.

Opening Lead : 10 of Clubs (W) = top of a solid sequence.
West should not be tempted to lead his Spade Ace. Especially in Slam contract, it usually plays right into Declarer's hand !

Declarer (S) counts 3 possible losers : two in Hearts, one in Clubs.The Club loser can be ruffed in Dummy. If the Opponent's Clubs break 3-3 Declarer's 4th Club 4th Club can be used to discard a Heart loser in Dummy. However this has only a 36% chance of success. A finesse in Hearts will succeed 50% of the time, but a ruffing double finesse of the Spades is by far the best chance of 75%. For this finesse Dummy needs three entries, which indeed it has : the Queen of Clubs plus two trump tricks.

Declarer Play
Careful use of Dummy's entries   -   Ruffing double finesse as best percentage play
Declarer wins the first trick with the Club Ace in his own hand (keeping his Club Queen entry of Dummy intact). He then leads and wins the next trick with the Diamond King, followed by a small Diamond to Dummy's 9. All enemy trumps have now been drawn and the lead is in Dummy.
At trick 4 Dummy leads the Spade Queen, East plays low, Declarer discards a small heart and West wins the trick with his Ace. West leads another Club (the 9) won by Dummy's Queen. At trick 6 Dummy plays the Spade Jack, East covers with the King and Declarer wins with a ruff.
Declarer now leads his King of Clubs followed by his last Club which is ruffed in Dummy with the trump Ace. At trick 9 Dummy leads his Spade 10 which is now high. Declarer discard his Heart Queen. The remaining tricks are won by Declarer's trumps, making 12 tricks in total.

Score = 6 x 20 trick pts + 1250 bonus pts = 1370 pts total



(
Top - Up)
North
- 9 8 7
- K 8 4 3
- K 8 7 4
- 10 5
Dummy (E)
- Q 5 3
- 9 5 2
- A J 10 2
- A 8 4
Declarer (W *)
- A K J 10 6
- A Q
- 6 3
- K Q J 6
South
- 4 2
- J 10 7 6
- Q 9 5
- 9 7 3 2

Deal 48 - Dealer is West - None Vulnerable

Bidding : 1S (W) - 2D (E) - 3C (W) - 4S (E) - 4NT* (W) - 5H - 5NT* (W) - 6C (E) - 6S
* Blackwood Convention : East shows 2 Aces and no King

Opening Lead : 10 of Clubs (N) = top of a doubleton
a small trump would also be a good lead. North must avoid leading his suits headed by single Kings.

Declarer (W) counts 2 possible losers : one in Hearts and one in Diamonds. There are finesse positions in both these suits, but the double finesse has the much better chance of success.

Declarer Play
Double finesse as best percentage play   -   Refusing a finesse
Even when you are not sure whether you need Dummy's entry, it is good to save them wherever you can. Declarer therefore wins the opening lead in his hand with the Club King. He then draws three rounds of trumps ending up in his own hand.
At trick 5 he leads a small Diamond, North plays low, Dummy the Jack and South wins with the Queen. South now leads the Jack of Hearts. Declarer refuses the finesse and wins with his Ace, then at trick 7 leads his second small Diamond. North again plays low, and Dummy's 10 wins the trick. Dummy then leads the Ace of Diamonds on which Declarer discards his Heart Queen. The Clubs and trumps win all remaining tricks. Total tricks made : 12.

Score = 6 x 30 trick pts + 800 bonus pts = 980 pts total


(Lesson 15 - Deal 49 - Links page)

Copyright © 2006 Michael Furstner (Jazclass).