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No luck involved.

Well, you might think you would be unlucky if you failed in today’s contract. However, on reflection, you might feel you were not so unlucky and deserved your poor result. Have a look.

 

 

 

You open a 15-17 1NT and are not upset by your partner’s transfer to spades. You accept the transfer, hear partner bid 3NT and convert back to 4. West leads 10 on which East follows. West started with three spades. Plan the play.

You have to lose a trick to both red aces and if East has the A, your contract will be secure even if you misguessed in clubs and lost to the Q. However, where West holds A, you would not want to lose to the Q as well as that would be 4 losers.

So, West has been annoyingly passive with their opening lead. A kinder opponent would have started with a heart or a club! Nevertheless, you can give game your best shot. It would seem a good idea to draw trumps and lose a trick to the A. Our opponents might still help us out with the other suits.

On the second and third round of spades, East throws two rather discouraging diamonds. So, you play a diamond to the 10 and, sure enough, West takes their ace. No joy from West as they return a diamond. So, you win, play a third round of diamonds and take stock. East discards a low club on the third round of diamonds. They have started with one spade and four small diamonds.

You can now finesse the Q either way and hope to get some good news in either that suit or in hearts. However, finessing one way is infinitely better than the other. Finessing East for the Q must be better. Even if that finesse loses, there is a chance that West has no more clubs. Play A and then small to 10 and if West started with doubleton queen, they will have to open up the heart suit for you, no matter where the A is. West did not have that holding but this was the lay-out:

 

 

Finesse successful and thus you could afford 2 heart losers and still make your contract.

Had West held originally Qxx, you would have wished you had played three rounds of clubs, leaving West on lead. Indeed, that would have been a successful way too of making the contract had West held just doubleton queen.

Neither the finesse nor playing three rounds of the suit are guaranteed to work and this time only the finesse does work. However, what might seem an even-money guess on where the Q was, was a little better than even money. Had West held the Q, they might still have been able to beat you. Yet, you knew that East had only five cards in diamonds and spades, meaning they were more likely to have club length than their partner. So, place the Q with East and if West did hold that card, hopefully it would be doubleton.  

Alas, on the actual deal, finessing through West or indeed playing three rounds of clubs both proved to be wrong lines this time

not your day!

Here's hoping you recorded a plus with the North-South cards.

Tomorrow, being Friday, we look at a deal through a new player’s eyes. “Friyay play! A great day!”

Richard Solomon

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