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Double Trouble?

Well, you doubled. So, you had better defeat this contract. You have the strongest hand at the table and have two certain tricks.  

 

 

A fast and furious auction with your partner being a late arrival but then pushing the auction to the 5-level, even at adverse vulnerability.

You lead 7 taken by dummy’s ace. Declarer plays a second heart which is ruffed in the South hand. Next comes 4 which you win with your ace, partner following with 5. What now?

Your partner’s bidding indicated a lot of hearts and not much else. They could have bid over 2 but seemingly did not have enough strength to do so. When declarer ruffed the second round of hearts, we knew they had 7 hearts headed by the KJ. It would be wishful thinking to believe they had a second spade trick for your side.

So, is this time to go looking positively for a third trick or will it come naturally? It does seem right to take some aggressive action. The options are a ruff and discard heart which does not appeal (but would have defeated the contract), a diamond, which is certainly right if declarer has the missing J or a club.

Who has the Q? It could be East but more likely it is South. So, a club seems to help declarer too….unless...

“Unless” partner is very short in clubs or if we really go super aggressive and put the K on the table, removing a vital entry to dummy before declarer can set up the diamond suit. As it happens, our “unlesses” were both correct.

 

 

The effect of the K would be devasting for declarer. If they duck, they are certainly one down, with A still to come. So, they have to win and try to set up diamonds, an impossible aim. Declarer would cash K and ruff a diamond to play a trump.

West continues clubs with the contract going down whether or not East ruffs this card.

It is always a nervous feeling playing a club, any club, in West’s situation. It is certainly required if East holds Q and also if not. Since you hold JT, playing K is a little easier to find.

West actually continued diamonds when in with A. The contract would still have been defeated had West switched to the K but that did not eventuate.

Sometimes, you just have to be brave…and spectacular!

5 by East is an interesting contract, too. If South leads their singleton diamond, it would seem to have no chance even if East takes dummy’s ace. However, K lead gives declarer some hope if they play a trump at trick 2. North can win and exit a trump which declarer wins in hand and then plays their club for the all-important guess. North’s only safe exit is a spade, ruffed in dummy. K to be followed by a club ruff though no Q appears and East has to fall back on the losing diamond finesse.

Exciting times.

“Bread and Butter.”

Not all boards are that exciting. Let’s drop down a few levels for tomorrow’s problem.

Teams. Nil Vul.

 

What’s your bid if any with this East hand?

 

Richard Solomon

 

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