Article Collection 7A50 by Richard Pavlicek
Article Collection 7A50 by Richard Pavlicek
Wrong EndingSouth’s jump overcall in the passout seat was not weak but showed the ability to win seven tricks in spades (one less than the actual bid). North rated to provide three more, so he raised to game. The bidding was perfect, but declarer slipped in the play.
4 
by South
Both Vul | A Q 3 6 4 3 2 A 8 3 7 4 2 | |
| 4 2 A K Q 9 8 Q 10 2 K 10 9 | ![[W - E]](t.gif) | 7 5 J 7 5 J 9 7 6 J 8 6 5 |
| Lead: K | K J 10 9 8 6 10 K 5 4 A Q 3 |
| West 1 Pass | North Pass 4 | East Pass All Pass | South 2 |
Declarer ruffed the second heart lead and drew two rounds of trumps ending in dummy. With trumps breaking 2-2, declarer next followed standard elimination technique: heart ruff; K; A; heart ruff; then he exited with his last diamond. The idea was to force West to lead a club into the A-Q.
Alas, West was alert to this and unblocked his Q on the second round, allowing East to win the third diamond with the jack. East then carefully led the club jack (to retain the lead if South ducked), and the contract was set. Where did declarer go wrong?
A much better plan is use hearts as the throw-in suit, and this doesn’t even require trumps to split. The proper technique is to discard a diamond (loser on a loser) at trick two. Assume West shifts to a trump (best).
Of several paths to success, probably best is to ruff a heart and lead all your trumps, coming down to five cards. North keeps 6 A-8-3 7, and South has K-5 A-Q-3. Next cash the top diamonds ending in dummy, forcing West down to three cards. If he keeps a high heart and K-x, exit with the last heart to endplay him; otherwise the K must drop.
Elusive 12th Trick and West overcalled 1 . The first bid of 1 was easy, of course, but the question was how to ask for heart control en route to a slam in diamonds. At the table she just used her women’s intuition.
6 by South
| E-W Vul | A K 8 4 3 9 2 A Q 7 6 A J | |
| Q 10 A Q 10 8 5 4 8 5 4 2 3 | | J 9 7 6 2 J 6 — 10 9 7 6 5 4 |
| Lead: 3 | 5 K 7 3 K J 10 9 3 K Q 8 2 |
| West 1 Pass | North 1 6 | East Pass All Pass | South 1 2 |
The auction was a reasonable gamble since South was a favorite to hold the A or K (or a singleton or void) in view of what North held. Within the confines of standard bidding, there is no specific way for North to ask for heart control. (If the trump suit were a major, a raise to five would be perfect.)
The slam was excellent, and with normal breaks it would make easily. Alas, the little birdie was sad, as her partner couldn’t cope with the foul distribution and went down one. Poor little birdie.
Proper play would overcome the bad breaks. Win the A and lead a diamond to hand to reveal the 4-0 break. Next win the A; ruff a spade (high); lead the 3 to the seven (unless West plays the eight); ruff a spade; then overtake the last diamond to draw trumps.
In the five-card ending North holds K-8 9-2 J, and South holds K-7 K-Q-8. East was forced to pitch both of his hearts to keep J-9 10-9-7 to protect both black suits. Finally, cash the K and J, then exit with a spade to East, who is forced to give you the last two tricks in clubs. A stepping-stone squeeze.
Oh, by the way, I would marry that little birdie again, and again…
Wasted Deuce, so I passed and South tried 3 NT. I gave a fleeting thought to bidding 4 as some kind of “delayed Michaels” for the majors, but then I remembered I was still on planet Earth and passed again.
3 NT by South
| None Vul | K Q Q 6 4 A K Q 8 7 6 3 2 | |
| 5 10 9 2 4 3 A Q 10 9 8 7 4 | | A 10 9 4 3 A J 8 7 3 10 9 6 — |
| Lead: 10 | J 8 7 6 2 K 5 J 5 2 K J 5 |
| West 3 All Pass | North 3 | East Pass | South 3 NT |
Partner found a great lead in the 10, ducked to the king; then South led a spade to the king and ace. Having no clubs, I returned the 10 hoping it might hinder declarer’s communication, won by the queen. Declarer next cashed the Q, revealing the bad break, and paused to consider his options. Eight tricks were easy, and a ninth might come from an endplay against me. It was apparent from the bidding and play that I held the A and a club void.
Accordingly, declarer cashed two more diamonds ending in hand and won the J. His plan was to exit with a spade, losing the last two spades and forcing me to give dummy the Q and the last two diamonds. It was easy to see this coming, so I unblocked the 9 under the jack in order to stick declarer back in his hand with the fifth spade. Declarer now had to lose the rest — down two.
Declarer’s plan was sound and would have succeeded if he hadn’t wasted the 2. Everyone has heard the maxim, “Aces are meant to take kings,” but high cards do not rule the world. It could also be proffered that, “Deuces are meant to lose to threes.” Remember this deal the next time you routinely play a low card.
Little Known Facts
Enough silliness. Zia became declarer in 6 NT on the auction shown. The response to 4 NT may seem strange, but it was the “1430” variation of Roman key-card Blackwood (clubs was the key suit) and 5 showed zero or three key cards.
As West, what would you lead? If you chose the 10, you’d have plenty of company.
6 NT by South
| N-S Vul | K 3 2 7 3 A 4 A K Q 10 8 4 | |
| 10 9 8 5 4 A J 10 J 10 8 2 7 | | J Q 9 8 6 5 Q 9 5 9 6 3 2 |
| Lead: 10 | A Q 7 6 K 4 2 K 7 6 3 J 5 |
| West Pass Pass Pass All Pass | North 1 3 4 5 | East Pass Pass Pass Pass | South 1 4 4 NT 6 NT |
West led the 10, which against Zia is like throwing raw meat into a shark tank. Zia captured the stiff jack with the ace, and promptly led back the six, ducked all around. Thank you very much; 12 tricks.
In the postmortem East admonished his partner for not covering the 6 with the eight, but Zia had an answer to that as well. On the run of the clubs and top diamonds, Zia would come down to three cards, Q-7 and K. West is obliged to keep 9-5 and A, then Zia would exit with a heart for the endplay.
You might wonder about the title of this article, and I suspect you may learn something. If you look in the ACBL Bridge Encyclopedia under Opening Leads, it gives fourth-best as the proper lead from 10-9-8-x-x. In order to lead the 10, the suit must be at least 10-9-8-6-x. I’m not sure I buy this, but it would have sent Zia packing on this deal.
Foiled Again, then I doubled the 2 raise for takeout. My son Rich, South, had excellent distribution and used good judgment to jump to 4 since he was obliged to bid 3 with nothing.
| N-S Vul | 3 A K Q A 9 3 2 A 8 7 4 3 | |
| J 10 9 3 10 8 7 4 K Q J 9 5 | | A K Q 5 2 10 9 7 K J 6 10 2 |
| 8 7 6 4 J 8 6 5 4 2 Q 5 6 |
| West 2 All Pass | North 1 Dbl | East 1 Pass | South Pass 4 |
Suppose West leads the K to the ace; then a spade is taken by East, and the obvious trump shift is won in dummy. Leading a diamond now works with the king right and diamonds 4-3, but it seems better to ruff a club. You next lead a spade and…
Whoa! The appearance of East’s 10 suggests a 5-2 club break, which means you will be unable to establish the long club; and a crossruff will fall short if East uppercuts on the third round of clubs (you must overruff, else a trump return beats you). If you routinely ruff the spade, there is no way to succeed.
The neat solution is to pitch a diamond on the second spade, which effectively rectifies the count for a later squeeze throw-in. Nothing can stop you, but suppose East wins and leads a second trump. The play continues: club ruff; spade ruff; club ruff; then draw the last trump. Assuming East has kept the K guarded, exit with a spade for the endplay.
Alas, Rich never had the chance. West, multinational-champion Richard Schwartz (yes, three Richards in this game), used superb reasoning to find the only lead to defeat the contract against any play: a trump.
Two Missed Boats K-Q was now worth two tricks.
3 NT by South
| None Vul | Q A K 6 5 9 7 6 4 2 A 4 3 | |
| 4 3 2 9 8 2 K Q 8 Q 9 7 5 | | A J 10 8 6 5 10 7 4 3 J 6 2 |
| Lead: 4 | K 9 7 Q J 3 A J 10 5 K 10 8 |
| West All Pass | North 1 | East 2 | South 3 NT |
East won the A and continued with the jack, as South held up his king and pitched a diamond from dummy. Realizing the futility of establishing spades without an entry, East wisely shifted to the 2; eight, nine, ace. Declarer then lost a diamond finesse to my king (the falsecard seemed wise since I was marked with the king).
I knew that partner would not shift to the 2 from 10-x-x (he would lead the 10) so the layout was clear. It was imperative to establish a club trick before my Q was dislodged, and I also had to guard against a possible endplay; hence I led back the Q to preserve partner’s jack. It made no difference whether declarer won or ducked; he could come to only eight tricks.
Luckily for us, declarer missed the winning line: He should duck the first club (let me hold the 9). Then no matter what I return, he can win the K, K and cash all four hearts, coming down to 10 A-J-10. I’m squeezed! If I pitch a diamond, he establishes diamonds with one loser; if I pitch a club, he cashes the A then finesses the 10 to endplay me.
While declarer was left standing on the dock, it is also worth noting that East missed a subtle opportunity. With an entryless hand, a spade continuation could hardly do any good, but an immediate club shift might. Indeed, this would seal declarer’s fate no matter how he played. Try it. Evidently, partner only missed a small boat, as it returned to the dock to pick him up.
What If in History? opening showed 4+ cards (four-card majors), and the problem was what South should do over North’s 3 . The modern consensus was to bid 3 NT as shown.
In 1979, Paul Soloway held the South hand (playing with Bobby Goldman) and chose to pass 3 , surely sensible in view of the misfit and the lack of any trick source in notrump. With diamonds 3-3 and both hearts cashing, Goldman came to 10 tricks by ruffing clubs in hand. Alas, this meant a 10-IMP loss when the Italians bid 4 at the other table after a strange auction that suggested a misunderstanding.
3 NT by South
| N-S Vul | A Q J 8 6 4 8 7 5 3 Q 6 2 — | |
| 10 9 5 3 2 4 2 9 4 3 J 10 9 | | K 7 Q J 10 9 10 8 5 A K 8 2 |
| Lead: 4 | — A K 6 A K J 7 Q 7 6 5 4 3 |
| West Pass Pass All Pass | North 2 3 | East 1 Pass Pass | South 2 3 3 NT |
So what if? Suppose the contract is 3 NT, and West leads his partner’s suit. It looks pretty hopeless, but a clever technician like Soloway would cash four rounds of diamonds immediately. East would pitch a club, then Soloway would exit with his last heart for an endplay. East can win two hearts and two clubs, but then must either give dummy three spades or South three clubs — making 3 NT.
But wait! East was none other than Giorgio Belladonna, the master of endplay magic. Like Felix the Cat, he would reach deep into his bag of tricks and pitch the club king on the fourth diamond (a spade also works). Retaining both low clubs, Belladonna could then reach West in clubs to foil the endplay — down one.
Self-DestructingThis deal will self-destruct in 10 minutes.
3 NT by South
| None Vul | 6 5 4 Q 9 2 A K 8 6 4 9 2 | |
| A K 8 7 A J 8 6 5 9 5 6 5 | | 9 2 7 3 J 10 7 3 J 10 8 7 4 |
| Lead: 6 | Q J 10 3 K 10 4 Q 2 A K Q 3 |
| West 2 | North 3 NT | East All Pass | South 1 NT |
West’s 2 overcall is Landy (showing both majors) and he leads the 6, which you presume is fourth best. The lead gives you a free finesse and ensures eight tricks (two hearts, three diamonds and three clubs), but great care is necessary to enjoy a ninth trick.
The first key play is to win the heart king, else West could prevent you from reaching dummy later in hearts. There is not enough time to establish a spade trick (West would set up his hearts first) so you correctly work on diamonds by winning the queen and crossing to dummy’s king. You next lead the A, right?
Wrong! If you did, you would self-destruct! You can safely pitch a club on the A, but when you next give East his diamond trick your hand would be squeezed: You need to keep both hearts to reach dummy, and obviously you can’t afford to pitch a club winner; if you pitched a spade, East could shift to spades and West could establish his long spade to set you.
The correct play is to concede a diamond on the third round (or second round), keeping a high diamond in dummy. Now the defense is helpless to stop you from winning nine tricks.
Cash and Carry opening, the potentially awkward rebid (3 over 2 ) made this unappealing. Further, holding short spades the chance of being passed out in 1 was too small to worry about.North’s jump raise was weak (inverted minors), and East was not to be shut out (I knew the spade suit would show up somewhere). I needed so little for slam, and Blackwood would be a waste of time, so I just took the plunge. Oops. Dummy had the wrong hand, with three apparently useless queens.
6 by South
| None Vul | Q 5 3 5 Q 9 6 5 4 Q 9 5 3 | |
| 10 7 4 2 J 9 3 10 3 J 7 6 2 | | A K J 9 8 10 8 6 4 2 2 K 4 |
| Lead: 4 | 6 A K Q 7 A K J 8 7 A 10 8 |
| West Pass All Pass | North 3 | East 3 | South 1 6 |
West led the 4 (third-best from an even number) to the jack, and East tried to cash the king. Despite the disappointing dummy, there was a chance that did not require a miracle. I needed the K to be in the same hand as the heart length (and hearts not 4-4); then that defender would be squeezed.
After ruffing the second spade high, I won the K, then led the J to the queen and ruffed the last spade. Next came the A, and my last diamond to dummy to finish the trumps. Bingo! I got lucky as East was forced to abandon his heart stopper, then my 7 won the last trick.
Actually, I was more than lucky; East was a benefactor in leading the K at trick two. This is sometimes known as the cash-and-carry defense: Try to cash it — get carried away. If East instead shifts to either red suit, it would be impossible to ruff both spades and execute the squeeze. Try it.
Forced Discards Solve ProblemA lively auction ensued after South opened one spade. West made a skimpy takeout double, and North raised to three spades as a preemptive measure. East bid four hearts, South bid four spades, and this was passed around to East who doubled for penalty. West, having so little defensive strength and a void in spades, opted to remove the double to five hearts (obviously an excellent decision). This came around to South who persisted to five spades, passed out.
5 by South
| E-W Vul | Q 9 6 5 4 3 10 6 3 A 9 8 2 | |
| — J 7 6 5 K 9 7 5 4 K Q 7 6 | | 10 2 A Q 9 8 2 Q 2 J 10 5 4 |
| Lead: 5 | A K J 8 7 4 3 K 10 A J 8 3 |
| West Dbl Pass 5 All Pass | North Pass 3 Pass Pass | East Pass 4 Dbl Pass | South 1 4 Pass 5 |
West led a heart; East won the ace and continued with the queen to South’s king. The problem, of course, was to avoid the loss of two diamond tricks.
One possibility was to attempt to “strip the hand” by ruffing out the clubs, eventually finessing a diamond into West and hoping to force West to return a diamond. Declarer wisely rejected this plan — with West almost surely void in spades, there were insufficient entries to dummy to ruff out the clubs and return to dummy to lead a diamond.
Declarer embarked on a different plan: He led out six rounds of trumps. This was too much for West. Having no definite clue as to the actual distribution, West finally discarded down to two diamonds and three clubs, after which it was an easy matter for declarer to concede a diamond to establish his last diamond.
Notice that declarer could always make the hand by guessing the diamond situation, even if West keeps three diamonds. But leading the trumps increased his chances and eliminated the need to guess.
Bringing home this contract was worth 11 IMPs since the identical contract was defeated at the other table. That declarer tried the aforementioned strip procedure and, when it fizzled, tried leading a diamond to the eight.
Copyright © 2004 Richard Pavlicek. All rights reserved.