THE HONOR IS MARKED

SOMETIMES the location of a particular honour is marked from the bidding. 

Here South won ♣A and returned a club. West did best to win and returned a spade which South won in his hand; ruffed a club, returned to ♦A, ruffed his last club, back to ♥K and played all of his remaining spades. As he was about to play his last spade, he had last three cards in his hand, a spade, low heart and ♦10. Dummy had ♦Q and ♥AJ. On the play of last spade, West had to reduce to two cards and one must have been ♦K, the other a heart. Declarer discarded ♦Q from dummy and led a heart at trick twelve. West followed with a low heart and South hopped up with ♥A. West’s other card was ♦K. And obviously, ♥Q dropped doubleton from East. 

'In this world, there is a place for every man, but every man must know his place'.

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Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora

CRUCIAL ENTRY

AMIDST a Long spell of bad cards, it is easy to fall into the rhythm of mindlessly following suit. However, the brilliance of bridge is that at any time one meticulous play can transform not only the fate of the contract, but your entire score.

West led ♥9 and East took his Ace and returned ♥7. South won, drew trumps and then led ♦7.

West played low: declarer tried ♦10 from dummy and East won with ♦K. East played ♥Q, which declarer trumped. Now, South led his diamond nine and West rose with diamond Ace. However, when West led a club, declarer could rise with Ace and discard his club Queen on the established diamond Queen, securing his contract.

When the diamond is first led, West must rise with diamond Ace and switch to a club. Now, if declarer plays low from dummy, he loses the trick and, if he rises, he has lost his crucial entry back to dummy.

Defination: Texas Transfer – relocation to a branch office in Dallas.

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Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora

A SMALL POSSIBLE GAIN

NO matter what the weather is like, when you get the juicy deal from ‘Apro’ Dara straight from Washington DC. It really brightens your Sunday. 

In the above deal, South jumped to show decent values and West prudently opted to defend rather than bidding on. West was vulnerable but sitting over South with a strong hand. The risk was high for only a small possible gain. 

West could count four defensive tricks. Since West hand contained only one trump, he focused on his partner’s trump length, even if low, might be promoted into a trick. 

West continued with ♦K and then ♦J. Declarer trumped with ♣J in dummy. South led ♠2 to his ♠J in hand. West grabbed his ♠A and laid down a fourth diamond. Now, to avoid dummy’s ♣6 being over-ruffed, declarer had to ruff with dummy’s ♣K. When trumps split 4-1 declarer gave up ♥A, finally conceding the fourth round of trumps to East’s beautifully promoted ♣8. 

A happy partnership is a matter of give and take. You give in and your partner takes the credit.

Blog          : http://www.hemadeora.blogspot.in

Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora

DUCK THE FIRST TRICK

Finally, monsoon is here for Mumbaikars. Parched earth welcomes it after a long summer. 

AT the table, when East played low, declarer won with ♠K, crossed to dummy with ♣A and led ♦Q for the finesse.When West won ♦K and led ♠7, South couldn’t avoid losing four further spade tricks, and was therefore defeated. 

The diamond suit is key: if the finesse is right, all is easy but, if West holds ♦K, South would want him to have no further spades to lead. So, South can afford to duck the first trick. Because West cannot hold more than two spades since East had bid 1♠. 

West will lead his second spade and East’s ♠A will take South’s ♠K, but now, if East leads another spade, dummy’s ♠10 becomes a stopper. 

This deal is courtesy, ‘Apro’ Dara. 

What do you get if you mix ducks with fireworks?? 

‘Firequackers’.

Blog          : http://www.hemadeora.blogspot.in

Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora