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THE “MISSING” HEARTS

Have you heard that defence, maybe declarer play, even bidding too, is about “counting”? Right from the time you sort your cards (are you sure you have 13?), you are counting…high card points, declarer’s points, the length of declarer’s suits. The list could continue on….

On the following deal, West had to delve very closely into the heart suit as one slip and the declarer would make his contract. This is the problem that West faced:

 

South’s rebid showed 18-19 balanced and did not deny a major. North pushed on to game. West led the 2 to East’s ace and South’s 3. East returned the 5 to South’s 10 and West’s jack. What should West play at trick 3?

If the 10 is a true card, then you can play either of your hearts and force out South’s king (if they hold it), setting up your fourth heart as a defensive trick. Easy? Well, just check. Count out that heart suit. You have seen 8 of them, hold two more yourself. There are only three missing, the king, the nine and the four.

Has your partner got the king? Remember, as a defender, you return the original fourth highest card in the suit led by your partner, if you are lucky enough to have held four. So, if East has four or five to the king, they must have held AK95 (4). Yet, on your H2 lead, they played the ace…denying the king. No, the king is with South.

If you are correct to return now 7, your partner must hold the 9. Otherwise, you have given declarer an extra heart trick by leading into K9. If East has the 9, they must have held A954…and yet they returned the 5, original third highest! If East had held only three hearts including A and 9, they would return “present count”, the higher of two remaining cards. That did not happen either. You must be very suspicious about the location of the 9. It really looks like South holds it.

What then 4? If South held 4 as well as the already played 3, they could have played it on the second round, as dummy’s 8, along with the 9 which you must suspect is in declarer’s hand, makes a sequence of 3 cards, 8,9,10. There was no need for declarer to play the 10. The H4 would have done...meaning that South have later played 9 or 10 later to get a second trick in that suit.

So, take stock. Since declarer is now known to hold HK9, you must not continue the suit. As South could not have started with more than 4 hearts, you know that your partner’s original holding was A54, which ties in with the return of the 5.

So, what to exit at trick 3? A spade looks relatively safe…and this is what West did. Here are the four hands:

 

Declarer won the spade in hand and knocked out the A. Back came the 4. South could not make 9 tricks. He had to lose three heart tricks along with one in each minor. Had West played back a lazy heart at trick three, South would have two heart tricks and 9 in all. Counting, counting, counting…..and care. No wonder they say defence is not easy. “They” are most definitely correct.

Richard Solomon

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