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PLAY and DEFENCE for Improving Players
WELL BID….and WELL PLAYED?
When you make the right decision in the bidding, you want to follow it up by playing the hand correctly. Hopefully, that means making your contract!
So, plan the play in the following 3NT contract. While overtricks are nice to have, try to ensure 9 first.
| North Deals Both Vul |
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| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 2 ♥ | 2 NT | |
| Pass | 3 ♥ | Pass | 3 ♠ |
| Pass | 3 NT | All pass |
2
promised five hearts and five cards in a minor suit, 6-10 high card points. 3 was a transfer showing five spades. West led 
Q with East playing 6 at trick 1. Over to you?
The play
Declarer won the K in dummy to try to protect the diamond suit from being set up for the defence next time round and played a spade to the 10, which held the trick. Both defenders followed low to the 
A with West winning the third round of spades with the king. Dummy became a distant memory…no entry! Even worse, East’s low club discard (“low” encouraging”) told West what to do. West played 
9. Whether or not declarer put up Q, they were doomed.
South scored two tricks in each major and diamonds and the A for down 2. That was a shame as passing 3NT was the correct decision as these were the four hands:
| North Deals Both Vul |
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| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 2 ♥ | 2 NT | |
| Pass | 3 ♥ | Pass | 3 ♠ |
| Pass | 3 NT | All pass |
IF ONLY...
With a spade, a heart and two club losers (or a club and a diamond ruff), 4 had to fail. So would 3NT had West found an initial 9 lead…but they did not. Let’s count tricks for South in 3NT at trick 1. With the KQ likely to be with East, South could count on four spade tricks, two in each red suit and the A (with the K with West as a fall-back if something unpleasant happened in the heart suit.)There would be a chance of an easier 9 tricks had East held the K though the bidding suggested otherwise.
So, preserve that vital certain entry to dummy as you will need four spade tricks. Win the first diamond in hand and play A and a second spade. West will win the third round and switch to the 9, knowing that diamonds are not going to run. South plays low from dummy and wins the A. Is it too much to expect that East holds the K, since they ask for the suit to be led? Therefore, cross to dummy with A and run the remaining spades throwing diamonds from hand.
Play a heart off table and insert the jack if East plays low. If East plays an honour, duck as East must play back a heart or cash K. You know East has no more diamonds. The defence can take at best two clubs, a spade and a heart if they exit a second round of hearts. You may even make an overtrick!
Weak two suited openings have their drawbacks on defence which South could have exploited here. As is so often the case, the play at trick 1 was vital. Were you on the right track?
Richard Solomon
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