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Counting to 10.

We all know that playing Pairs is so much about making overtricks or sometimes conceding less undertricks than the rest of the field. Certainly, you score very few match-points for your perfectly correct contract of 5 when there was an alternative, 3NT making an overtrick or two!

Yet, that first statement above is not as true as you might think. So often, just making your contract is the key. Sometimes, the overtricks will follow but, especially, where the route to success is not easy and obvious, being mindful of making the minimum you need for a plus score should be your main aim. When in 4, that should be 10 tricks…

 

West led the 8. Plan the play.

The bidding and contract seemed quite reasonable though perhaps you would rather have given your partner the problem playing in the 6-2 heart fit. No time for such thoughts.

Declarer won the lead in hand (neither jack nor queen were played), cashed A and took a losing heart finesse. Back came a second club (once more jack and queen remained unplayed), the king winning in dummy and a heart was played to the ace….and the roof fell in!

 

West ruffed and continued with a high diamond, ruffed….but there was no safe way back to hand with declarer eventually losing three trumps and a heart (or if South ruffed with 10, 2 spades, a diamond and a heart). Unlucky? Perhaps. Losing finesses to singleton kings is not the forerunner to a 40 million dollar Lotto win! Yet, need it have happened? Let’s take stock….before playing to trick 1.

Planning…..

You need 10 tricks. You can afford to lose three. While in many similar hands, you can draw trumps, concede a heart and run dummy’s hearts, that just will not work here. You are faced with two diamond losers and need to do something about them before you even think of tackling trumps.

What can you glean from that opening lead? West, who overcalled, could have led their suit if it was headed by KQJ. They did not. Therefore, there is a real chance that one of those honours is with East. Also, while West might be trying a singleton lead or a sneaky Q98, if we believe the 8 as a true card, then East also has the Q. All of this rather points to West having both major suit kings for their overcall.

So, what are our three losers? How about two trumps and the K? Ruff those two diamonds early and then hope trumps break evenly..any 3-2 break will do...even a few 4-1s!

Time to play…

Oh, the opponents are getting restless. We have not yet played to trick 1. We are going to need at least two entries to hand after we play A. So, win trick 1 in dummy with the king.

Play A and then a club to the ace. If that is ruffed, we have to hope that is one of our two trump losers! No such worries today.

Ruff a diamond and play a heart to the…. remember, we can lose a heart…ace! Glad you did?

Ruff the other diamond and leave dummy with a club. East can overruff…but you can now afford three trump losers and still make your contract.

It was much easier, with a much more satisfying result when you planned at trick 1, planned and played for 10 tricks (yes, even at Pairs)…rather than for as many as you can get. As you can see, this time, as long as you ruffed with 7, you will even make an overtrick!

and a bidding problem for a sunny Sunday (hope it is where you are, too):

 

You are playing Pairs. 1 promises at least a 5 card suit. What do you bid as South? See you tomorrow.

Richard Solomon

 

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