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“Applauding” good defence.

It’s nice to see players win with good play or defence. There is a small exception to that feeling.

 Which card as West would you lead at trick 1 with the following hand? Oh, and what about trick 2?

 

 

Yes, we are showing you dummy before your opening lead! That must help with respect to that opening lead!.
1 promised at least 3 clubs and after your overcall and North’s take-out double, South’s 1NT showed 15-17 hcp. Maybe you should not have bid your flimsy suit twice but with a bit of shape to your hand, you decided to do so.

South then appeared to own up belatedly to 4-card heart support and that encouraged North to raise to 4. So, your lead is?

We do not normally lead an ace without holding the king in that suit against a suit contract. Naturally, there are exceptions. One is to give your partner a ruff in a suit, especially likely where you have length in that suit. Another is to get a ruff yourself where you are short in a suit, like perhaps ace and one more or even just the ace alone.

So, you led the A and your partner followed with a rather discouraging small card. What next? Well, you want to find a way to your partner’s hand so that they can play a second round of clubs. Although the bidding had not been quite the same at other tables, the final contract and opening lead were. Yet, at trick 2, other West players switched to a low spade and hoped. They were to be disappointed!

 

After the spade switch, the declarers soon drew trumps in three rounds and then played a diamond to the queen. When J appeared, they continued the suit and lost just the ace, making an overtrick, -450 for the defenders.

The spade switch might have been the best defence at trick 3 but not at trick 2 even if East had supported spades. There could be little harm in trying one’s other ace first. It was possible that East held K and that might be the entry to partner’s hand. If that looked unlikely, then maybe try a low spade at trick 3. Normally, we would not be leading aces without kings but this was not a normal situation. We were desperate to get a club ruff.

When we led A, East followed with J. With only 4 diamonds in the East and South hands, it looked like East could hold KJ doubleton…or even better the true holding.

So, at trick 3 you led 2, your lowest diamond which confirms what East must already suspect that you want a club return. (When giving a ruff, a really low card suggests a return of the lower non-trump suit.) Back comes a club, to be followed by a second round of clubs, then a third round of diamonds and a third round of clubs. Each trick was won by a small trump. In total, the defence took two aces, two diamond ruffs and two club ruffs. Great defence. The contract was beaten by 3 tricks! At this table, East-West had the only score on their side, amid a row of North/South 450s.

Oh at trick 7, South had won the lead for the first time and in a somewhat sad voice said “ claiming the rest of the tricks by drawing trumps”. There were not many left to draw!

West at this table explored as many options as they could in order to get their ruff. That meant retaining the lead at trick 2. They were to be duly rewarded.

So, why was this the small exception to applauding good defence? Guess who was South!  

Richard Solomon

p.s. nice defence from Chris Woods and  Brad Tattersfield. 

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