This week I’ve treated guessing situations. When a good declarer has a guess — say, for a missing queen — he relies on good technique or clues from the bidding and play.
Cover today’s East-West cards. When North doubled West’s weak two-spade bid, your three hearts, by agreement, promised a few points.
West leads the queen of diamonds, then the jack and nine. East covers dummy’s king, and you ruff. How will you play the trumps? Are you in any hurry to guess?
SPADE FINESSE
Finesse with the queen of spades, lead a club to your king and return a club. If West ruffed, he would be ruffing a loser; but he follows, and dummy’s ace wins. Take the ace of spades and ruff a spade. East discards a diamond.
You have a count: West has shown six spades, three diamonds and two clubs. Lead a trump to the ace and a trump to your ten. If West wins, you don’t care: He will have to lead a spade, and you pitch dummy’s club loser and ruff in your hand. You make your game without guessing.
DAILY QUESTION
You hold: S A Q 4 H A J 6 2 D K 8 3 C A 4 2. The dealer, at your right, opens two spades (weak). North in today’s deal doubled for takeout with this hand. Do you agree with his action?
ANSWER: North gave himself a chance to find a 4-4 heart fit. If South had “advanced” with three of a minor, North would have tried 3NT, counting on South for a few points. North might have overcalled 2NT, showing at least the values for a 1NT opening bid but with spade strength.
West dealer
Both sides vulnerable
NORTH
S A Q 4
H A J 6 2
D K 8 3
C A 4 2
WEST
S K J 10 9 5 2
H Q 7
D Q J 9
C 8 5
EAST
S 8 6
H 8 4
D A 10 7 6 5
C Q J 10 9
SOUTH
S 7 3
H K 10 9 5 3
D 4 2
C K 7 6 3
West North East South
2 S Dbl Pass 3 H
Pass 4 H All Pass
Opening lead — D Q
©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)
Related Posts:
- US-required bridge inspections don’t test for ship strike. Then, one hit the Key Bridge. News When the Francis Scott Key Bridge was inspected in May 2021, it earned high marks. Its railings and guardrails met modern standards. Its foundations were “stable” and didn’t show signs of erosion at the riverbed. The protection around its piers was “functioning,” the best grade in that category. It wasn’t,…
- US-required bridge inspections don’t test for ship strike. Then, one hit the Key Bridge. News When the Francis Scott Key Bridge was inspected in May 2021, it earned high marks. Its railings and guardrails met modern standards. Its foundations were “stable” and didn’t show signs of erosion at the riverbed. The protection around its piers was “functioning,” the best grade in that category. It wasn’t,…
- US-required bridge inspections don’t test for ship strike. Then, one hit the Key Bridge. News When the Francis Scott Key Bridge was inspected in May 2021, it earned high marks. Its railings and guardrails met modern standards. Its foundations were “stable” and didn’t show signs of erosion at the riverbed. The protection around its piers was “functioning,” the best grade in that category. It wasn’t,…
- Bridge: April 23, 2024 News Cy the Cynic says that the secret to happiness is having a bad memory. Maybe so, but you can’t draw inferences as declarer if you can’t recall an auction from a few minutes past. Today’s South opened one heart after three passes. When North raised, South tried for game though…
- Bridge: April 24, 2024 News Declarers often face difficult guesses. Nobody guesses right all the time; that’s the nature of guessing. But inferences from the bidding or play may be helpful. In today’s deal, North’s raise to two spades, with three jacks and no shape, was questionable. Against four spades, West led the nine of…