A BRIDGE CLINIC

Southland Times, Issue 22074, 22 July 1933, Page 11

A BRIDGE CLINIC

AUCTION AND CONTRACT MORE ABOUT TRUMPS.

(By

Horatius).

Last week there was a hand at play to show the manner in which an established suit may be used to force the Declarant into a ruff where he may he over-ruffed. South held K-Q-8 in Hearts (trumps) and West held 9-7. East, trumping West’s good Ace of Spades, led the Queen of Clubs through South, knowing that both south and West were out of that suit. Now if South ruffed with the 8 of Hearts, West overruffed; if South ruffed with the Queen, West discarded from suit and held 9-7 over South’s K-8 of Hearts! This play is not owned exclusively by the defence. Quite recently I saw a hand in which the Declarant made his game by going into Dummy, who was void of trumps, in order to lead winning cards in a suit through a defender known to possess powerful trumps. Let us say that North was Dummy and held J-10 of Diamonds, both good, and also A-K of Clubs, Spades being trumps. Declarant (South) held 9-7 of trumps, and two small Clubs. East held a Club, a good Heart and J-8 of trumps. Nov/ it is obvious that if South has to lead trumps, East will take both and make the Heart. Therefore, South went into Dummy with the Club and led a Diamond. If East ruffed, South could overruff or discard the Club. When East played the Jack of Spades, South threw the Club and made two trumps. Where East used the 8 of trumps, South played the 9 and led the Club, forcing East to ruff and leaving the 7 of Spades good. This is not difficult play, but when it is understood, it may be developed to meet more difficult situations.

Be careful to unblock where necessary. Unblocking must be done quickly when the need rises, because the chance will not come again. Holding A-K-Q-2 in your own hand and J-10-9-8-7-6, the play of the 2 on the first lead is fatal—the suit is blocked. Play A-K-Q and then the 2. But if you have A-J-2 and the Dummy has Q_9_7_6-5-4, you must be watchful. Say the enemy leads the 10 round to your hand, and you use the Jack? Now the suit is blocked. If you lead the Ace to clear the suit, the enemy holding the K-x-x- will use the King on the third round and you will have no more to lead. But if you put the Ace on the 10 and lead the Jack you may force his King. Also be careful when you are short in your suit, to establish it before the re-entry cards have gone. Recently a long Diamond suit was lost because it was not definitely established before the re-entry cards were used. The re-entry in this case was K-Q-x of Spades. Before the Diamonds were definitely established, the Spade suit was led and, as the Ace was behind the Spade triad, the re-entry was snuffed at the right moment. The lead to the Spades resulted in the King making and then a Diamond was led to clear up that suit finallv; but the damage was done—next time the Spade was led the Ace killed the Queen and farewell to the Diamonds! Here is a common situation:

the bidding at Contract was

West leads the King of Hearts. How should South play? Here South’s one anxiety is the Spade suit. West, having bid strongly, has a long suit of Hearts, and probably the Ace of Clubs. In spite of East’s passing he was prepared to go to Five Hearts, risking a penalty. Therefore, he can be credited with six Hearts, which means he is short in ;ome other suit, and as he sought a ?et it is presumed that the Spades ire short. Therefore, South leads the i of Spades to the King. If West plays he Queen all is well. If he plays some ither Spade, the King goes in, and North leads the 10. If East does not cover, South should run the 10. ELIMINATION PLAY. Here is a hand in which the Declarant lays the foundation of an eliminaton play necessary for the winning of a contract, and then makes the wrong 'uess at the finish. It is from actual

C: A-4 South was the dealer and neither side was vulnerable. The bidding was:

North suspected South’s Diamond bid as a psychic and gave the one raise to see what South would say. South’s Three No-Trumps showed considerable strength and a stopper i.i Spades, so North jumped to Five Diamonds and South decided the Little Slam was worth the risk, because the bidding suggested a squeeze play as possible. West opened the Jack of Hearts, and South won the trick, drew the trumps, and trumped two Spades in the Dummy. A. second round of Hearts now disclosed the distribution of that suit to him. The hand was perfectly eliminated, but Declarer still had a guess. He could either play West for the King of Clubs and throw him in with a Heart, in which case a Heart return would give him a ruff and discard, or else West would be forced to lead away from the Club King; or, if East had the Club King the play of the Ace, followed by a small Club, would force East, who had no more Hearts left, to lead a card which would give the necessary ruff and discard. South, due to East’s Overcall of two Spades, placed the Club King in the East hand and accordingly played the Ace and a small Club. West, of course, won the trick and cashed a Heart trick, which set the contract. The winning play, of course, would have been to throw West in with the Heart. Here is an adventure in bidding of a Toronto player (L. M. Wood) who has a reputation for psychic bidding:

East was the dealer and N-S were vulnerable. The bidding was:

soon as North makes his bid, East knows that N-S have great power. His Two Diamonds is made on the assumption that North has strength presumably in Spades and maybe Hearts. North promptly discloses his Ace to East and rebids his strength. Four Diamonds is to jog North along, and North, who overlooked the fact that he had never supported South’s Hearts, went to Five Clubs, expecting South to say something more. But South, noting North’s second bid of Clubs and silence as to Hearts, as well as East’s reputation for bidding psychics, concluded that North held the Clubs in strength and decided not to risk a trap in Hearts. North, of course, ran into an unfortunate division of the trumps, and succeeded in making only four tricks. East chalked up 1400 for his side while North and South were explaining the matter to each other. Moral: Remember to support your partner’s bid if you can some time in the bidding. Also remember that he has to “read” your bids and if you give inadequate signals he will misread what you are trying to tell him.

West dealt and bid One No-Trump, being a believer in weak No-Trump openings, and South doubled. North said Two Hearts, and last Two Spades. South raised the bid to Four Hearts and West called Four Spades, which South overcalled with Four No-Trumps, which was doubled by West. West opened with the 7 of Spades, how should South play the hand?

West led the 9 of Clubs. How should South plan the play? West sees that he must to use the cross ruff and at the same time attempt to set up a trick in the long Hearts. This means that the King of Trumps must be kept in Dummy as long as possible. South wins the Club with the Queen and leads the 2 of Hearts to Dummy’s Ace, after which Dummy's 4 of Hearts is led and ruffed. South leads a low Spade which East wins with the Ace and leads Diamonds to cut down the ruffing chances. South’s Ace goes in and then another Spade Is led for the ruff; followed by another Heart Then Spades and Hearts are ruffed. This should set up the fifth Heart In Dummy. West leads the Ace of Clubs, and if it is trumped. North and South win three tricks. If West trumps Spades will be led and East will trump with the 5, to lead the King of Diamonds and the Heart. The secret of the play is the Heart lead at the second trick to establish the suit before the Spades and Clubs prove troublesome. South must win the first Diamond lead with the Ace, because any other play will force the King from Dummy and the last Heart trick cannot be made.

S. W. N. E. 1st Rd. IS 3H 3S No 2nd Rd. 4S 5H 5S No 3rd Rd. 6S No No No

S. W. N. E. 1st Rd. ID No 2D 2S 2nd Rd. 3NT No 5D No 3rd Rd. 6D No No No

E. S. W. N. 1st Rd. 1C 1H No 2C 2nd Rd. 2D No No 3D 4th Rd. 4D No No 5C 5th Rd. No -No No East’s first bid was a physic, and as

LAST WEEK’S PROBLEM. South North S: 5-4-3 S: J H: 2 H: A-9-8-5-4 D: A-J-10-9 D: K-5-4-3-2 C: A-Q-8-4-3 C: 5-2 The bidding was:— E. S. W. N. 1st Rd 1C ID IS 4D 2nd Rd 4S No No 5D 3rd Rd No No No