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                                                Surviving Bad Luck.

You can, well sometimes. Bidding to 7 with 10 trumps between your two hands but that one opponent has Qxx and you could not even finesse as the trumps were behind your AK. That’s the kind of bad luck which you just have to smile over. Of course, the opponents misbid to 6! Are you still smiling?

Take the following deal where declarer found the lay of the opponents’ cards was not to their liking. With a small precaution and ultimately some good fortune, they could still have survived.

You reach 3NT by natural means and receive the lead of the unbid suit, 3. East will play Q if you play low from dummy. The opposition will play only spades if you duck. How do you plan to play to make 9 tricks?

That spade lead is a little annoying because you want to use the AK to communicate between your two hands. Never mind, win the lead in dummy and start of with clubs. Naturally, the opponents are going to hold up their ace for as many rounds as they can because they know that makes life difficult for the declarer. Had one opponent A singleton or doubleton, you would have an entry in clubs (4 club tricks, AKQ, AK = 9 tricks..easy.).

No joy.

They held up their A until the third round before exiting another spade. Never mind, all was not lost. If diamonds broke evenly or even if one opponent held JT doubleton, you could count seven diamond tricks along with two clubs and AK. That’s 11 tricks.

No joy.

After three rounds, one opponent still held J.

Was all hope lost? Well, it should not have been, had you taken one little precaution.

South did not realise that although they suffered two pieces of bad luck on this board( A97..3-card suit and the 4-2 diamond break) that they had actually at least three pieces of good fortune! You just had to earn the good luck!

The first piece of good fortune was that West had not led Q because after that lead, and J continuation, no amount of wriggling would give declarer 9 tricks.

Good fortune number 2 was that it was East who held A and therefore the defence would not be able to switch to hearts.

Good fortune number 3 was that it was East who held J732 above. Had it been West, it would have been “game, set and match” or at least “game” over!

Yet, despite apparent good fortune, South failed in 3NT. Why? What was the required precaution? Ducking the Q at trick 1.

After discovering the bad diamond break, all South could do was to exit a 4^th round of diamonds to East. East won and played their remaining spade to West who had the Q on the table with indecent haste to beat the contract.

Yes, a fourth piece of good luck. It was West who held four spades. If it had been East, two spades, a diamond and two aces would have been a trick too many for the declarer. South had to lose a spade trick and it was far better to lose it to the hand which could not attack hearts.
   Light....

...at the end of the tunnel

South was not after 13 tricks. They could afford, even playing Pairs, to duck the first round. Such a duck might prove unnecessary but ultimately proved vital.

Attack Diamonds first?

Ducking a spade could prove fatal if it was West who held A and if the defence could take three heart tricks along with A and the spade. Nothing is certain.

However, was South right in attacking clubs first of all? Had diamonds broken favourably, they could have been accused of turning 9 tricks into 8 because they could have scored 7 diamond tricks and AK. Even then, when the diamond news was bad, they could try clubs and would still have the A in dummy as an entry to the remaining clubs. The down-side of this plan was that three hearts had to be thrown on the top three diamonds, meaning if West held A, they would rely on West also holding the A.

Even ducking the spade might therefore be wrong in that East might be able to switch to a club to their partner’s A and then score a snappy three heart tricks..one down.

Lots of “ifs and buts” but most of the lines seem to survive an initial spade duck at trick 1. Not only did the spade lead threaten declarer’s communications but the duck at trick 1 was necessary to sever the communication of the defenders in the same suit.

and your next play is?

1NT is 12-14. You lead 4th highest of your longest and strongest with partner contributing J and declarer's ace winning the first trick. Declarer plays 9 which you win with the K as partner follows with 2. Your system is natural count if given. What do you play to trick 3?

Richard Solomon

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