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