Contract in Jeopardy

Grief upon this Christmas Wreath,

Poked by the pain of the pine,

Once the lights held glow,

Cracked bulbs now never shine.

The spade lead puts South in danger of losing a spade, a diamond and two trump tricks. A club or a diamond lead would have been much more helpful.

South won with the ªA, led the §4 to the §A at trick two and finessed the §J next. When this scored South discarded dummy’s spade on the §K. The fall of the §Q did declarer no harm. He ruffed his spade loser and played the ©A and another heart to land his game.

This play is superior to the ruffing finesse in clubs. With diamond to loose and two likely trump losers, declarer cannot afford to lose a black trick. The ruffing finesse loses when East has the §Q and also puts the contract in jeopardy when West has the §Q, for then South has to ruff twice in dummy. Which risks an overuff and may lead to an extra trump loser.

 What do you call a kid who doesn't believe in Santa? A rebel without a Claus. 

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Focus On Best Line

I wish you all A Merry Christmas.  Christmas is not season, it’s a feeling to care and share.

In the above deal when West lead the ©K, a cursory glance suggests that ruffing spades in dummy, cross ruffing, or suit establishment all seem potential lines.

However, the solidity of dummy’s diamond suit suggests that this is where Suth will find extra tricks, but he has only one entry to dummy - §Q.

To preserve this entry, it is essential that the declarer does not indulge in ruffing any spades on the table, since this will shorten his holding and make it impossible to land the lead there when he needs it.

South should not finesse West for the ¨K, even though his overcall might suggest that he is more likely to hold ¨K than his partner since, if this is wrong, the contract is defeated.

Instead, south should win trick one with ©A and lead ¨2 to dummy’s Ace.  ¨Q is led next and, when East plays small, declarer pitches his ©4 – a classic ruffing finesse.  West wins but, whatever her leads, South can take control, cash §AK and cross to dummy’s §Q to play out all his winning diamonds, throwing his spade losers from hand.  One must focus on the best possible line of play.  Even one rash flourish can cost you your contract….

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Combination of chances

It’s the wedding season again! An Indian wedding is a grand occasion, lavish with a lot of noise and show. The music and dance all are a part of this extravaganza. It’s almost like a festival.    

South’s 3♠ call was a slam try with a long suit. North showed himself amenable to the  idea of a slam an advance cue bid of 4♣* West led ♥K, not obliging with a minor-suit lead. At first glance, it looked as if south will have to guess the ♣Q for the contract. He could discard one of his small clubs on the ♥A but that will not be enough to avoid the club finesse. Is there another way? How will you play?          

The play offers the best combination of chances but the actual declarer made the slam by ruffing the opening heart lead and guessing that West held the ♦A. He played the ♦4 a trick two and West had no reply as cards lay. In fact, he ducked and declarer discarded the ♦K on the ♥A. Had West taken the ace declarer would have ditched two clubs on the ♦Q and ♥A. You should always combine your chances.

Marriage is a workshop…

Where husband works      

And wife shops…   

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Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora

Extra Candle

It’s December, the last month of the year. It’s a month of winter, the holy month and the time for many celebrations.

In what order South played this hand to  make this remarkable contract?

He won the ♥A, cashed the ♣AK and the ♦A.  Crossed to dummy in trumps and played ♦K discarding the ♥8, diamond ruff. When the ♦Q did not appear he ran the trumps. When he led his last trump, he was down to ♠ 65, ♥J, ♣2. Dummy held, AK9, ♦J.

Since West was dealt the ♦Q, he was actually squeezed in three suits earlier. But let's assume that the ♦Q was safely tucked away in the East hand. What could West keep when South led the last trump? Not three spades and the ♥Q. South knew which cards were good. If South hadn't seen the ♥Q, he discarded dummy’s ♦J and cashed the three spades. West was squeezed in the majors; the ♦Q was the extra candle on the birthday cake! You know you’re getting old when you get  that one candle on the cake. It’s like, ‘See if you can blow this out.’

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WHICH RED SUIT?

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