IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

 

 

Defense if often difficult but sometimes it’s just common sense.  In this hand, one of the defenders knew what to do and his partner cooperated.

 

 

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

Hand#26

Dlr

W

Vul

N/S

S

J73

H

K1085

D

AK843

C

K

S

Q1098

H

J942

D

9

C

AQ107

  pad  

S

654

H

63

D

QJ6

C

J8632

 

S

AK2

H

AQ7

D

10752

C

954

West

North

East

South

   Pass

   1D

   Pass

   3NT

   Pass

  Pass

   Pass         

   

         

   

           

   

             

   

 

 

 

BIDDING:  South wasn’t sure what to bid but finally chose a call that showed a balanced hand with 13-15 high card points.  She was optimistic that the lack of a club stopper would not be a problem.

PLAY:  West led the ten of spades, declarer put up dummy’s jack, and East followed with the four to show count.  This made it clear to West that spades were no longer a source of tricks for the defense.  Declarer next started playing diamonds and West had to decide what to discard.  The least important cards in his hand were the spades so he discarded one on the second diamond and another on the third round.  East won the third diamond, shifted to a low club, and the defense quickly had six tricks. 

 

So many defenders routinely return their partner’s opening lead but here, with some discarding help from West, it became clear to East that attacking spades was no longer the best defense.

 

 

Copyright ©2010 Larry Matheny