After opening 1 in fourth chair, you hear partner raise to 2.
Should you bid 2 now, in the hope of finding a better game than 4?
Or should you go directly to 4?

 South You
   A J 10 8
   A K 10 6 4
   K Q 7
   2

There is something to be said for a 2 bid. Partner may have raised
you with four spades and three hearts, and 4 may play better than
4. Against this, you would love for West to lead a spade against 4,
so you don't want to inhibit the lead by bidding the suit. Either
approach may work, but today you decide on 4.

West leads the king of clubs and this is what you see....

 South You
   A J 10 8
   A K 10 6 4
   K Q 7
   2

East encourages and West continues with the ace of clubs. You ruff
and lay down the ace of hearts, everyone following low. What next?

 South You
   A J 10 8
   A K 10 6 4
   K Q 7
   2

South — 1 4

West pass pass all pass

North pass 2

East pass pass

Opening lead: K

If the heart queen falls, you are OK. If the queen doesn't fall, you
need to avoid two spade losers. Suppose you cash the king of hearts
and East shows out. You play to the ace of diamonds and finesse in
spades. West may win the trick, cash the queen of trump and lead
another club, endplaying you in your hand.

A better idea is to go to dummy now, before playing a second round of
trumps. Take the spade finesse. If West wins and leads a club, you
ruff, try the king of hearts, and if the queen doesn't fall, cash the
diamonds and exit with the 10 of trump. Someone will have to put you
in dummy, so you can finesse again in spades. So you try it.

You lead a diamond to the ace and the 9 of spades, floating it to
West's queen. West studies the position and suddenly gets a bright
idea. He returns a diamond instead of a club. You win in hand in this
position....

 South You
   A J 10 8
   K 10 6
   K Q 7
   —

South — 1 4

West pass pass all pass

North pass 2

East pass pass

Opening lead: K

Now if you cash the king of hearts and the queen does not fall, what
will happen? You will play the king of diamonds and exit with a
trump. But someone will win and then lead the queen of clubs, locking
you back in your hand. Any ideas?

 South You
   A J 10
   K 10 6
   K
   —

South — 1 4

West pass pass all pass

North pass 2

East pass pass

Opening lead: K

Yes, you must lead a low trump in this position. That way you are
sure to reach dummy for a second spade finesse. Suppose West, for
example, wins the queen of hearts and leads a club. You ruff with the
king of hearts and lead a heart to dummy for your spade finesse.

When you lead a low trump in this position, you assume that it's more
likely that the second spade finesse will work than the heart queen
will drop doubleton. This is a good assumption, because West has
shown up with the ace-king of clubs and is not likely to hold both
the king and queen of spades as well. Remember, West is a passed hand.

 South You
   A J 10
   K 10 6
   K
   —

South — 1 4

West pass pass all pass

North pass 2

East pass pass

Opening lead: K

Nicely played.

THE END

Archives of all back issues of all daily
columns are available with Bridgetoday.com
membership (which also includes 12 issues of
Bridge Today Magazine, 100 archive issues
of Bridge Today Digest Online, and one
Bridge Today University course).
Click here for further details.

 South You
   A J 10 8
   A K 10 6 4
   K Q 7
   2

eMAGAZINE | NOVICES | BRIDGE COURSES

COLUMNS | QUIZZES |

BACK TO HOMEPAGE

Copyright ©2002-2024 by BridgeToday
Click here to contact us: bridgetoday.com@gmail.com