Thursday, December 10, 2009

Arranging things in order

The IBPA newsletter is a rich source of intersting bridge deals. This is one of them:

9 5
9
K J 10 9 8 4 2
9 6 4
Q J 10 8 3 7 6 4 2
A 6 4 7 5 3 2
7 3 A 5
10 8 3 K 7 5
A K
K Q J 10 8
Q 6
A Q J 2

North opened the bidding with 3 and South bid 3NT. West led the Q taken by declarer.

Beginning bridge classes teach you to count your tricks. South could see if he knocked out the A, he would have only seven tricks. If he led the Q first, the defense would have to duck. That would still only give him eight tricks -- no good.

The line that gives you a chance is to lead the Q and overtake with the king. The defender's must duck. Next, declarer can lead a club to the queen. When that wins, he can switch his attention to the heart suit. Driving out the A yields four hearts, two spades, two clubs and one diamond for nine tricks.

It's all about counting your tricks and developing a plan -- one that does things in the right order.

3 comments:

  1. I knew that. A plan is what built the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, oh. I don't think that's what you're talking about! ;-)

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  2. The upside is the AD might just fall.

    There are 2 aces of hearts in the deck, btw. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Jacob: haha

    @warren: thx, typo, fixed it now.

    ReplyDelete