IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny
While it is often correct to
pull trumps as soon as possible, there are times when you need to wait. Here is a hand where several of the declarers
did not follow this good advice.
Scoring: Matchpoints
(Pairs)
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BIDDING: North’s hand
was worth a jump raise in support of his partner’s hearts and South continued
on to game.
PLAY:
West led the ace of diamonds and, receiving encouragement from East, continued
with the king and jack. Declarer saw he
had a lot of work to do. If the club
finesse was successful, he could ruff one spade in dummy for his tenth trick.
That would give him: 2 spades, 1 spade ruff, 5 hearts, and 2 clubs. If the club finesse failed, he would need to
trump two spades in dummy. So, he ruffed
the third diamond and immediately took the club finesse. When the queen won, the contract was safe and
since this was a pairs contest, declarer looked for an overtrick. If trumps divided 2-2, he would have no
trouble ruffing both of his small spades.
However, a 3-1 break was more likely so declarer next played the king of
trumps followed by the ace of spades.
Now, he played ace and another club trumping in his hand. He followed with the king of spades and then
a small spade ruffed in dummy. He ruffed
one more club to his hand and claimed the last two tricks with a high
cross-ruff. Poor East had to follow with
smaller trumps on the last two tricks.
Making five was a very good result because many declarers drew trumps
and then looked around to see what to do next.
Making
a plan before playing to trick one is sound advice. Those who play too quickly often regret it.
Copyright ©2010 Larry
Matheny