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Does it really matter?

An innocuous choice.

Well, is it? You might think so but it could be the key to success or failure on the following board.

 

You struggle to 3NT after your 1NT rebid shows 15-17. Partner musters an invite and you accept with relish, with a flat maximum. West leads 7. Your relish disappears somewhat at the sight of dummy! The big question is which cards do you play to the first trick?

Counting to 9 tricks looks a bit tricky. On top, you have 3 diamonds, 2 hearts and a club which is far short of what you need. Also, you would not like your opponents to find a spade switch too quickly.

If East held A then you should normally score 3 tricks in each minor which brings you closer to 9. Certainly, you appear to need at least two club tricks. So, it would seem best to start with a low club from dummy. Yet, in such a situation, it might pay to keep your options open. You have more entries to your hand than to dummy. So, at trick 1, create an extra entry to dummy by playing J and low from your hand.

A low club from dummy goes to your K which wins the trick. It seems like East has the ace. So, return to dummy…but with which suit? While the diamond suit does not appear too threatening, you should not set up even “slow” tricks for the defence if you do not have to.

So, return to dummy with a heart to K on which East plays Q. You play a second club. East plays 10. You put in Q….and suddenly the deal takes a sinister turn:

 

A good duck of K by West. They now take the ace and switch to 10, another good play and that is followed by a low spade from East. With the spade suit wide open, your count of tricks is 1 in each black suit and 3 diamonds. Suddenly, your only hope is the heart suit. Can it provide 4 tricks?

Well, you have to cash A and down comes J. You are nearly there, as long as you still have A in dummy. West will not help you by covering when you play 8 and you need that A to reach dummy to cash the high 10. K was trick number 9. Lucky? Certainly. Something you could foresee at trick 1? Unlikely. Yet, keeping your options open at trick 1 by playing J and then crossing to dummy with a heart, not a diamond, turned out to be a great idea.

What of the spade suit?

The spade suit is interesting. An initial spade lead will defeat the contract. (4 spades and A). Well, it might. A works well for the defence as long as East ducks the second round. 5 also works, again if East ducks at trick 1. 10 seems the best choice, an “unblocking card” and this time makes the duck from East easier.

West’s initial duck of A might have backfired had South played them for doubleton ace though it would be entirely reasonable for South, if not holding J, to place the A in the East seat, as happened. Also, South might have started the heart suit with A, giving them an immediate guess on how to play that suit when an honour appears from East. The initial play of a heart to the king would not cost unless West held both missing honours.

Ultimately, if West can find a spade switch when in with A, then declarer is under a lot of pressure…and the success or otherwise of the contract will depend on which diamond you played at trick 1.

Richard Solomon  

 

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