Phillip Alder Bridge

Saturday, August 4, 2007

From point-count to defensive tricks

North

	J 3
	J 9 8 4
	K Q J 10
	A 6 5

West

	9 8 7 5 4
	A 5
	8 6
	8 7 4 2

East

	10 6 2
	K Q 10 2
	7 5 3 2
	K 3

South

	A K Q
	7 6 3
	A 9 4
	Q J 10 9

Dealer: South
Vulnerable: Neither

South	West	North	East
1NT	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	3NT	All Pass

Opening lead:

     Stephen Leacock, a Canadian writer and economist who was born in England and died in 1944, said, “I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
     That is so true, and has been paraphrased by many people.
     This week, we have been looking at how a defender can use the auction to place missing key honors. But even then, he might need to get lucky, finding partner with a crucial card.
     You are East, defending against three notrump. Your partner leads the spade nine. Declarer takes the trick with his king and runs the club queen to your king. What would you do now?
     First, read partner's lead. A nine is always top of nothing. Remember boston: bottom of something, top of nothing. This marks declarer with the top three spades.
     Next, check the points. Declarer has 15-17, dummy holds 12 and you have eight. That leaves a measly 3-5 for your partner. What could he hold?
     Neither a king nor a queen, because you can place all of those. Partner must have an ace.
     If West has the diamond ace, declarer will get home. But if you are lucky and find partner with the heart ace, you can defeat the contract ... if you are careful to make the most of that luck.
     You must shift to the heart two.
     The low lead (boston again) tells partner that you are trying to take tricks in this suit. He should win with his ace and return his remaining heart, giving you four hearts to join the club king.