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Plotting the Play.

As a defender, you cannot always predict what will happen over the next 12 tricks but sometimes you can. If you can, then perhaps that will help you with your defence.

 

 

1 by North was a Precision 1 (16+ any shape) after which the rest of the bidding was natural, 2 promising at least 8+ hcp. West leads 4, attitude style (low like). At trick 1, South will play 10.  Like a good declarer, take stock and plan the defence.

It looks like your partner rather likes diamonds as they led 4 and you can see both 3 and 2. Take a second or two and see what would happen if you returned 8. We can assume our partner has Q and so can probably win the second trick (as declarer will duck to cut the defence communicating in diamonds) and will then win the third round of diamonds with dummy’s ace.

Next will come five rounds of clubs, giving South 5 tricks in clubs, A, K and presumably one trick in spades. They need one more trick from somewhere to make 9. They might and indeed were able to conjure up a ninth trick as the above was the way the defence went after East won the first trick with A, continuing with 8. These were the 4 hands:

 

After winning the third round of diamonds in dummy, discarding a heart from hand, South played off the five club winners, finishing in hand. West would not enjoy finding 5 discards, the best they could do being 2 spades, a heart and those two diamond winners. East discarded two spades.

The fifth club was won in the South hand and J ducked to East’s king. Back came a spade which South could duck (as diamonds did not pose a threat). West won to return a spade won with A. 10 then proved a very successful if slightly fortunate play for South. 9 tricks.

Now, East could not foresee exactly how South would get their 9^th trick but the odds seemed to favour South if the play went as planned. East did have an alternative play at trick 2, J. Now, this would not be successful if South had Axx as it would present South with two spade tricks. However, if desperate, South could play a low spade from hand themselves, if that was indeed the layout. Switching to a spade at trick 2 would also be successful if West held A xxx.

On the actual lay-out, South has no option but to duck the spade switch at trick 2, win the return and run the clubs. West can now discard one spade, two nervous hearts and two diamonds as South cashes their winners for one down.

West had done well not to lead a spade as with Q scoring at trick 1, South can come to 9 tricks by playing J from hand, not even requiring a magic lie of the heart suit. Switching to a spade at trick 2 was not guaranteed to defeat the game but seemed a better bet than struggling with communications after discarding to 5 rounds of clubs. A little more thought by East at trick 1 might have brought a better result for the defence.

Which one: which level?

 

The game is Pairs….and it is your bid.

Richard Solomon

 

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