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A Touch of Discarding: touch or tough?

It’s not the part of the game that most players enjoy. Declarer is in 3NT and has a long suit to run. They know it is a good idea to do that not just because they score tricks but also they might get some helpful discards from the opposition.

So, today, we will put you in the West seat. You are playing Pairs where overtricks are very meaningful. Restricting them is as important as beating the contract. We will begin “at the begin” with your choice of opening lead.

 

Your first decision is a choice of opening lead. South has not been very revealing. 1 promised at least 5 and 2NT was a good old-fashioned flat 11 count. No Jacoby here! So, your choice is?

The typical feeling is anything could be right but is usually wrong! So, with such thoughts in mind, you lead your fourth highest club. Well, it could be right!

You have a feeling of doom when declarer plays low from dummy. However, your partner’s 10 wins the first trick. They follow that up with Q and you allow K to score in dummy. Then comes the inevitable….five rounds of spades, declarer having Kx. That means two discards each for you and your partner. Partner plays 5 (low encourage) , South 4(after throwing a low club a round earlier) and you choose a comfortable 8.

On the 5th spade comes 2 from your partner, 6 from declarer and you?

The “safety” discard is your remaining low club though you may soon find it is not be so safe after all. 

Declarer then plays A and a low heart to the K…. and you?

 

Do you follow low….or jettison Q? South has not taken a finesse in either red suit. They have now shown you both major suit kings and surely have the A to make up their point tally.

It is time to throw your Q. By throwing a winning club and by your partner’s negative interest in diamonds, South should realise you are protecting K. Also, they can probably interpret the correct club position: it would be harder for South if East had played 10, then J. They rather indicated a holding of QJ10) If you retain Q, it will win the next trick. You can cash your A but will then have K9 left and will win neither of them. Five spades, a club, and two tricks in each red suit gives South a very useful overtrick. If you throw Q, declarer cannot take more than 9 tricks.

How do you know to throw Q? It is not certain but your partner told you so by their diamond discards. In such a situation where one defender discards cards in one suit, they are likely be preserving an honour in another, hearts. If East had no hold in hearts, not even Jxx, they should say they have no hold there, highlighting your need to look after that suit.

In such situations, where a defender does not discard in a suit, they are likely to have something worth keeping there, an inference often missed by a defender.

South did well not to take a diamond finesse which was almost certainly not working. They had 9 top tricks without a finesse (5 spades, AK, A and a club) and had the Q been thrown, they may well have cashed that high diamond to be sure. Cashing A ensures just 9 tricks but unless West was aware to a possible end-play, they gave (no Q was played) South the chance of an overtrick and a good match-point score.

Richard Solomon

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