Ted Horning has written the daily syndicated column Canadian Bridge with Torstar Syndicate for over eighteen years-6600 columns and has been teaching bridge for more than thirty years. He has represented Canadian in different World Championship events.
IMPs Dealer North. Both Vul
|
 Q 7
 A J 3
 K Q 10 9 8
 10 3 2 |
| A 8 6 5 2
Q 10 8 7 6
A 6 2
— |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
|
1 |
Pass |
2 |
| Dbl |
Pass |
2 |
3NT |
| Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
|
Opening lead:
5
Dummy’s
Q captured the first trick. East followed with the
J and South the three. Dummy’s
10 followed. East’s King was taken by South with the ace, West discarding the 6
J.
South now presents a mild surprise by leading the
5, instead of a diamond.
Plan the defense for West.
Play the
Q. Think the situation through. The bidding and play at trick one revealed that South has only two spades. His
K will drop next time and West can only hope that East was paying attention to the spot cards and will unblock later if you cash the
A.
However, that isn’t the entire problem. If South has six clubs in his hand, he may be able to win nine tricks without another spade trick and without any diamonds tricks.
Look at the situation this way. If south needs to take the heart finesse, he will certainly do so, in light of your vulnerable take out double. You can´t prevent South from winning three heart tricks if that is his intent and it doesn’t matter whether you play the
Q or low heart.
On the other hand, what if South has only two hearts ( K -5) and requires two entries to the dummy rather than three heart tricks? In that case, you must play the
Q now to deprive South of a second heart entry. If you play low, South can finesse
J and later, overtake the
K with the
A, to obtain those entries.
Hand like this should alert you to the fact that certain bridge maxims such “
as second hand low” are only generalities. They are not substitute for thought.
The complete deal:
|
Q 7
A J 3
K Q 10 9 8
10 3 2 |
|
| A 8 6 5 2
Q 10 8 7 6
A 6 2
— |
|
J 10 9 6
9 4 2
5 3
K 9 8 6 |
|
K 3
K 5
J 7 4
A Q J 7 5 4 |
|
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