Deals 69 - 72 : Bidding and Play

Lesson 20 - Links page

(Down - Deal 68)
Declarer (N *)
- 5 3
- A K Q J 3
- A K 8 4
- 8 5
East
- K Q J 9 7
- 8 7
- 7 6 5 2
- J 4
West
- 10 8 4 2
- 6 4
- Q J 9 3
-K 10 3
Dummy (S)
- A 6
- 10 9 5 2
- 10
- A Q 9 7 6 2

Deal 69 - Dealer is North - All Vulnerable

Bidding : 1H (N) - 3H (S) - 4NT* (N) - 5H (S) - 5NT* (N) - 6C (S) - 6H (N)
* = Blackwood Convention - South shows 2 Aces but no King

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

Declarer (N) counts 4 possible losers : one each in Spades and Clubs plus two in Diamonds.
He can reduce these to one, by ruffing in Dummy or developing Dummy's Club suit, or by a combination of the two.

Declarer Play
Blackwood Convention   -   Discarding a loser on a winner in an other side suit   -   Developing Dummy's long suit by ruffing
Declarer wins the opening lead with Dummy's Ace, then plays two rounds of trumps with his Ace and King, drawing all enemy trumps.
At trick 4 he leads his Diamond Ace followed by the King on which Dummy discards his small Spade.
At trick 6 Declarer leads a small Club to Dummy's Queen which loses to South's King. South now leads his Diamond Queen which is ruffed in Dummy with the Heart 9.

At trick 8 Dummy leads his Club Ace, followed by a small Club ruffed in Declarer's hand. All enemy Clubs have now been drawn
At trick 10 Declarer leads his last remaining Spade for a ruff with Dummy's Heart 10, who then cashes one of his Club winners on which Declarer discards his last remaining Diamond loser. The remaining tricks are won by Declarer's trumps, making 12 tricks in total.

Score = 6 x 30 trick pts + 1250 bonus pts = 1430 pts total



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

Deal 70 - Dealer is East - None Vulnerable

Bidding : 1S (E) - 3S (W) - 4S (E)

Opening Lead : King of Clubs (S) = top of a touching Honours

Declarer (E) counts 4 possible losers : two in Hearts and two in Clubs. He can develop extra Diamond winners in Dummy for discards in his own hand

Declarer Play
Ruffing finesse   -   loser on loser play
Declarer wins the opening lead in his hand with the Club Ace, then has to draw three rounds of trumps ending in Dummy) because the enemy Spades are divided 3-1.
At trick 4 Dummy leads the Diamond Ace, followed by the Diamond Queen for a ruffing finesse. North plays low, Declarer discards a small Club and South wins the trick with his Diamond King. Notice that the ruffing finesse, when it fails functions as an effective loser on loser play.

South, at trick 6, cashes his Club Queen winner, but his following Club lead is ruffed by Declarer. At trick 8 Declarer leads a small Heart to Dummy's Ace, who then plays the two established Diamond winners (J and 10) on which Declarer discards his two Heart losers. The remaining tricks are won by Declarer's trumps, making a total of 11 tricks.

Score = 5 x 30 trick pts + 300 bonus pts = 450 pts total



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

Deal 71 - Dealer is South - NS Vulnerable

Bidding : 1H (S) - 4H (N) - Pass (S)

Opening Lead : King of Spades (W) = top of an interrupted sequence

Declarer (S) counts 6 possible losers : three in Spades, one in trumps and two in Clubs. He must reduce his Spade losers with ruffs in Dummy.

Declarer Play
Ruffing in Dummy before drawing trumps   -   Using a ruff as entry to Declarer's hand
The opening lead is won in Dummy with his Spade Ace. Dummy then leads a small Diamond to Declarer's Ace. At trick 3 Declarer leads a small Spade, ruffed in Dummy. Dummy now leads a second Diamond to Declarer's King, who in turn leads another Spade for Dummy to ruff.

At trick 6 Dummy leads a third Diamond which is ruffed by Declarer (to regain the lead), who then leads his last remaining Spade for a third ruff in Dummy. At trick 8 Dummy leads a small Club, North plays the Ace which wins. East now leads a trump, Declarer plays low and South wins with his King. The remaining tricks however are all won by Declarer (King of Clubs plus his remaining trumps), making a total of 11 tricks.

Score = 5 x 30 trick pts + 500 bonus pts = 650 pts total



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

Deal 72 - Dealer is West - EW Vulnerable

Bidding : 1S (W) - 2S (E) - 3S (W) - 4S (E)

Opening Lead : Queen of Clubs (N) = top of an interrupted sequence

Declarer (W) counts 5 possible losers : one in trumps if they split 4-1, two in Hearts, on in Diamonds and one in Clubs. All ruffs are likely to be in his own hand, preventing losing tricks but not generating new ones.

Declarer Play
Promoting a trick by covering an Honour   -   Loser on loser play   -   Safety play
Dummy covers the Club Queen with his King and South wins the trick with the Ace. Dummy's 10 is now promoted to a possible winner.
South returns Partner's lead by playing a small Club at trick 2. Declarer refuses the ruff, discarding a small Heart instead. North wins with the Jack, Dummy plays low, his 10 now established as a winner.
Any side suit lead North now makes will cost his side, his best bet is leading a trump. Declarer wins the trick in his hand, then (at trick 4) draws two more rounds of trumps ending in Dummy with the Queen.

At trick 6 Dummy plays his Club 10 winner on which Declarer discard his second Heart loser. Dummy then leads his Diamond 10, South does not bite, playing low, Declarer wins with the Ace. At trick 8 Declarer leads another small Diamond back to Dummy, who plays low again* and South wins with the Jack. All remaining tricks are now won by Declarer's side, in trumps, Diamonds and the Ace of Hearts, a total of 10 tricks.

*
Playing low in Dummy on the second Diamond trick is a safety play against the enemy Diamonds splitting 4-1, with North holding Q J x x. It prevents North making 2 Diamond tricks.

Score = 4 x 30 trick pts + 500 bonus pts = 620 pts total


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Copyright © 2006 Michael Furstner (Jazclass).