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In whom do you trust?

Tricky Trick 3!

Often it is the opening lead which sets declarer onto a path of success or of failure. Not so, today. It’s all about what happened at trick 3. Are you going to succeed or fail?

 

You open a Multi 2 with the intention of showing a strong single-suited hand with diamonds, strong but not-game forcing. 2 was “pass or correct” style. Playing in diamonds, you have a minimum 9 playing tricks. Maybe your second bid was going to be a semi-gambling 3NT but you thought better of that when East chimed in with 3.

You did not fancy passing out 4 and tried your luck in 5. Partner produced trick number 10 (A ) after West led J. You played low from dummy though East overtook with K and then played A, with West contributing 10. At trick 3, East continued with 6. What do you play as South?

Your options seem a bit limited. You have already lost two tricks and barring a doubleton QJ in an opponent’s hand, have a loser in that suit too. You have been offered the chance of a ruff and discard, by simply throwing 10 from hand and ruffing in dummy.

That is fine as long as West follows with a heart. If not, they do probably have a diamond higher than dummy’s 6 and you will be down. Is there any other way?

At the table, South did discard 10 and found they had lost trick 3 as well. Yet, at the point East played the third round of hearts, South could have made 11 tricks.

One way was to ruff with 9 in hand and discard a club from dummy. Play then one top diamond to be followed by three rounds of clubs, ruffing the third round in dummy with 6. That would have worked on this day, though not had East a second diamond higher than 6. (Note to partner: please next time ensure you hold 8. That would have saved a whole amount of stress!)

Another was to accept that East knew what they were doing in playing a third round of hearts. So, discarding from hand would be wrong. South could ruff high and play out another 5 rounds of diamonds. If East held 7 hearts, they had to be short in at least one suit.

 

Had East held Q, there would not have been a squeeze. However, ruffing high and then playing off another 5 rounds of trumps would have left the following 5-card ending:

Already, West had uncomfortably had to discard a low spade. Had they discarded a club, South would already have made 11 tricks. However, the 4 completed the squeeze. If West discarded another low spade, the Q would make a very early appearance when K was played and dummy’s remaining spades (declarer overtaking) and AK would have given South their contract.  

Does that mean then that 5 was cold? The answer is “certainly not”. After cashing their two heart winners, playing a third round of hearts if West had as little as Jxx, promotes a diamond trick for the defence. However, on this day, South could not make 11 tricks if East had switched to a spade, thereby taking declarer’s entry to dummy early and thus ensuring their partner would not be squeezed.

That would not work had South held Kx though just perhaps with that holding, South might have passed 4. Whoever said defence, or declarer play, was straightforward? We know better.

4 may initially seem a reasonable contract but 2 top hearts followed by a diamond switch leaves declarer annoyingly stuck on dummy and would have to concede a diamond ruff as well as Q, let alone a club! 

Meanwhile, back in 5, South had to trust that East knew what they were doing in playing a third round of hearts and envisage that while K was still in their hand, that there were squeeze opportunities.

Trusting the opposition. That may not come naturally! Only, of course, if it is to your advantage to do so!

Richard Solomon

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