For me, the highlight of the Hilton Head, SC regional was playing on the team that put my teammate, Mike Passell over 60,000 masterpoints.

Last month, we looked at the wild and wacky deals. This month we explore more serious, "lesson deals." We start with a display of psychology:

Vul:  Dlr:	J K 8 5 K J 9 8 3 A K 5 4
	A 9 8 7 6 5 3 A 10 2 5 8 7

West	North	East	South
			Larry Cohen
--	--	--	1
Pass	2	Pass	2
Pass	2NT	Pass	3
Pass	4	All Pass

 

At favorable vulnerability, I opened the South hand 1. What do you think?

My, my--opening bids are getting lighter and lighter! At favorable vulnerability, our preempts tend to show bad hands. Accordingly, this hand was too good for a 2 or 3 opening. It looked too good to pass, so I chose to start with 1. At least I had two aces (this is always nice in case partner ends up doubling the opponents).

After the 2-over-1 game force auction shown, we landed in 4 and received a heart lead. What should declarer be thinking?

As usual, I like to think about what tricks we will lose. To start, I'd presume only two trump losers (if they are 4-1, we have no chance). There is also a diamond to lose, and a heart loser looms.

You play low from dummy and capture East's heart jack with your ace. What next?

For several reasons, you should play a diamond at trick two. The trumps can wait. Meanwhile, you can put it to LHO by forcing him to make an early decision.

On your diamond play, he plays low smoothly. Will you play the jack or king?

A good rule of thumb is to play the jack in this situation. Many LHO's would grab the ace if they held it, or at the least, would think about grabbing the ace. When West plays low smoothly, you should assume he doesn't have the ace. If in fact, West has ducked smoothly, he's a tough opponent and deserves your respect in the future. (Even a top expert will often grab the ace--how can they know you aren't trying to sneak through a singleton.)

Unfortunately, dummy's J loses to the Q and a heart comes back. You try playing low, but LHO produces the 9 and you win dummy's K. And now?

Your only hope is to set up a discard for your heart loser. If the A ruffs out tripleton, you have a chance. Say you ruff a diamond, cross in clubs, and ruff another diamond. If the ace has fallen, you can go back to dummy in clubs to play the good K, throwing your heart loser. If the opponent who ruffs in started with 3 trumps, you still might make the contract (losing only 2 spade tricks and the diamond).

So, after winning dummy's K, you should continue to work on diamonds. This is what I did, but it couldn't hurt to play dummy's 9 (instead of a low one). East covered with the 10 and I ruffed. Now, I had an additional option in diamonds. Instead of trying to ruff out ace-tripleton, I could take a ruffing finesse, hoping RHO had begun with AQ10(x). I went to dummy's A and played the K. Sure enough, RHO produced the ace and I ruffed. Dummy's K provided the entry to play the now established 8. RHO followed low, I threw my heart loser as West ruffed. As you can see from the full deal below, that ruff was with a natural trump trick, and I soon was claiming 420 (West exited in hearts, I ruffed and played ace and a spade).

Vul: East West Dlr: South	J K 8 5 K J 9 8 3 A K 5 4
Q 10 4 Q 9 7 4 7 4 2 J 6 3		K 2 J 6 3 A Q 10 6 Q 10 9 2
	A 9 8 7 6 5 3 A 10 2 5 8 7

So, where is the psychology? Look carefully at the diamond suit. When I played the 5, the first lesson was to "always" put in dummy's jack, assuming West couldn't duck smoothly with the ace. Next, came the no-cost play of the 9 from dummy (as opposed to the 3). This gave East a chance to err. And, he did. It takes nerves of steel, but East needs to duck smoothly on dummy's 9 (he knows from partner's count signal that declarer did not start with a doubleton diamond). Now, I would go with my original plan to try to ruff out ace-tripleton with either opponent (more attractive than playing for AQ10x with RHO). So, I would ruff the 9 (not having x-ray vision) and would fail by a trick.

Now, consider what would happen if East began with Q10xx and West had brilliantly managed a smooth duck from Axx. Do you see it? East would have to cover the 9 with the 10 to provide declarer a losing option. If East plays the 10, declarer (as I did) could easily go back to dummy and take a ruffing finesse against the A. If East fails to play the 10 (from Q10xx), declarer will succeed when the ace does drop on the third round. Lots of bluff and counter-bluff.

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This next deal also involved some bluffing and had a sad ending for me:

Vul:  Dlr:	7 5 3 A J 4 2 K Q 10 5 10 6
	A Q 8 7 5 A 9 4 A Q 9 7 5

After a strong club opening, I ended up in 6 by South. How should I play on the J lead?

I started with a low heart to the jack, hoping for a doubleton king onside. If there was a heart loser (likely), I would need at the least, the K onside. The heart jack lost to the king and East played the K which I ruffed. Now, I would need 3-2 trumps, the K right, and a little something else. How should I proceed?

I decided to ruff dummy's last spade. Accordingly, I played a diamond to dummy, trumped the last spade and cashed my remaining heart, the queen.

 

This left:

Vul:  Dlr:	-- A 4 K 10 5 10 6
	-- -- A 9 A Q 9 7 5

I had to cross now to the K to draw the last trump. The J did not appear. Now what? On the A, RHO followed, LHO threw a spade. I played a club to the queen and it won. One hurdle solved, but there was one remaining. I could cash the A and if they were 3-3, I'd play A, ruff a club and take trick 13 with the long diamond in dummy. But, what if diamonds were 4-2? Then, I could make if clubs were 3-3 by retaining the A and instead playing 3 rounds of clubs, ruffing in dummy to set up the suit. I'd have the A in hand to get back.

On the club to the queen, one opponent lied about the count and one was honest (one of them showed an odd number, one an even number -- this was not possible). Incidentally, the same thing happened in diamonds (one showed an even number, one an odd number). You can't trust anybody these days. What about the high cards? RHO was known to have the KQ, the K and the K. Furthermore, she was a passed hand. She was unlikely to hold either jack.

Still, I had no sure clue. I played the A and LHO dropped the jack. Hmmm. Was this an honest card? If so, then clubs were 4-2, so I needed 3-3 diamonds. In general, I pay off to good plays. I decided my LHO (though a good player), might not have known to drop a smooth J as a falsecard. I presumed it was an honest card (For example, if you drop the J from Jxx and your partner started with Kx, you've set up the suit for declarer. On this deal, that couldn't be possible, but still, my philosophy is to never credit an opponent with a good play). So, I played for 3-3 diamonds. I cashed the A. No luck. This was the full deal:

Vul:  Dlr:	7 5 3 A J 4 2 K Q 10 5 10 6
J 10 9 2 10 6 J 8 7 2 J 8 3		K Q 8 6 4 K 9 3 6 3 K 4 2
	A Q 8 7 5 A 9 4 A Q 9 7 5

As you can see, West's J was a good falsecard. Without it, I would have ruffed a club in dummy (expecting West to hold the J since East didn't open the bidding) and made my contract. Full credit to Robert Gookin of Falls Church, Virginia.

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The next deal was written up by Phillip Alder in the New York Times. I held the South cards again, but for a change of pace, I got it right:

Vul:  Dlr:	10 9 8 4 A 9 4 3 J 8 5 A K
	K Q 6 5 2 Q 2 6 J 10 8 7 3

West	North	East	South
			Larry Cohen
1NT	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	Pass	2
Pass	3	Double	Pass*
Pass	4	All pass

 

First, some notes about the auction. What do you think East has? Obviously, not many HCP, but what shape? With 5 hearts, he'd have transferred, so he must have exactly 4 hearts (we know West doesn't have 4, due to the 2 reply). What else? He probably has short spades (0-1). Why? Because with a flat hand, such as 2=4=5=2, he wouldn't risk Stayman. Only a singleton or void would make him run from 1NT. Presumably if his partner answered 2, he was committed to bailing out in 3 (his partnership played that Stayman followed by 3-of-a-minor was sign-off). As to our bidding, my 2 balance seemed routine. David cue-bid to invite game, and my pass (after East's leaddirecting double) showed interest. With no interest, we revert directly to our trump suit (3).

West led the K (playing ace-from ace-king). Can you place the cards? I think so. As stated earlier, East rates to be something like 1=4=5=3 (in that order). From the lead and the double of 3, I mentally placed East with approximately: x xxxx A10xxx xxx.

Does that help you plan the play? If East's singleton spade is not the jack, you have two trump losers and a diamond loser. What about the hearts? Even if clubs are 3-3, and you set them up, you won't have enough discards for your hearts and will have to lose one. However, a careful plan should see you home. Watch:

Vul: East West Dlr: West	10 9 8 4 A 9 4 3 J 8 5 A K
A J 7 K J 7 K Q 7 4 Q 6 5		3 10 8 6 5 A 10 8 3 2 9 4 2
	K Q 6 5 2 Q 2 6 J 10 8 7 3

After the K lead (East might have overtaken to play a heart through, with decisive effect), West continued diamonds, ruffed by declarer. Before touching trumps, I played the top clubs from dummy (a key move). Now came a spade to the king and ace (it would not have helped West to duck). West played a third round of diamonds and I ruffed. Rather than lay down the Q, I ruffed a club in dummy (establishing the suit), and now came to the spade queen, East showing out. The timing as described was all necessary. The idea was to have the clubs established and be in hand in this end position:

 

Vul: East West Dlr: West	10 A 9 4 3 -- --
J K J 7 7 --		-- 10 8 6 5 3 --
	6 Q 2 -- J 10

West will get the J, but the heart loser is about to vanish into thin air. I led my good clubs, and West had no answer. If she ruffs in she is endplayed. Any red-suit play will eliminate the heart loser. So, she threw a heart. Next came the final club. Still no escape for West. She couldn't ruff in to endplay herself. She couldn't throw another heart, because the king would drop on the ace and the queen would be good. So, she threw her good diamond. No good. As described above, everybody's shape/hand was known. I threw her in with the J to lead from the K. After trick one (where East failed to overtake for a heart through), there was no escape for the defense. Really, it was just a good double-dummy problem. The key was to retain the Q entry to declarer's hand for the end game.

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Vul: North South Dlr: West	K 5 4 3 Q 6 3 Q J 7 6 4 3
8 7 Q J 9 6 J 10 8 5 K 5 2

West	North	East	South
Larry Cohen
Pass	Pass	1	1NT
Pass	3NT	All Pass

 Although it could be right to lead the Q (or maybe even the J) it pays to keep partner happy by leading his suit. Your 8 lead is won with dummy's king (partner plays a medium spade). Next comes dummy's Q, partner's 9, declarer's 10 and it is up to you.

Do you take this trick? You shouldn't. Declarer is trying to set up dummy's clubs. If he has ace-ten-low, by winning your king, you have set up the suit. After you duck, declarer plays a club to his ace (all following). So, declarer started with doubleton A10 in clubs. Next he plays a high diamond from hand and then a diamond to dummy's queen. On this second diamond, partner throws a heart. This is interesting. Declarer started with AK9xx and A10. He also seems to have the A (since the K won in dummy at trick one). What is going on?

Declarer took the club finesse, hoping to make sure of 2 club tricks. Then, if diamonds had split 3-2, he'd have 5 diamonds, 2 clubs and 2 spades. This bad diamond break has caused him troubles, but he is not giving up. He next plays a heart from dummy. Partner plays low and declarer wins the K. Then, he gives you a diamond trick. What are your thoughts?

Declarer seems to have started with the A, K, AK and A (a very nice 18-count). When you take your diamond winner, you know that declarer has 9 tricks ready to run. He has now established 4 diamond tricks. This will go nicely with his 2 clubs, 2 spades, and heart king. So, what should you do?

If you are with me, you realize that you must abandon spades and work on hearts. Partner surely has the A. Play the 9 to partner's ace and he will return a heart. This gives you 3 heart tricks and 1 in each minor to defeat the contract.

The full deal:

Vul: East West Dlr: South	K 5 4 3 Q 6 3 Q J 7 6 4 3
8 7 Q J 9 6 J 10 8 5 K 5 2		Q J 9 6 2 A 10 8 5 4 2 9 8
	A 10 3 K 7 2 A K 9 7 4 A 10

Let's review the play. On your spade lead, declarer planned on 2 spade tricks and hoped for 5 diamond tricks. In case the A was wrong (with West), he didn't want to play A and another club. This would let East in for a heart through declarer. Accordingly, declarer won the spade lead with dummy's K to advance the Q. If this had lost to the K, he'd be in business--he'd have 5 club tricks. But, you cleverly ducked your K. Now, declarer played to the A (in case the K fell). His next move was to test diamonds with the A then the Q. Bad news. With only 4 diamond tricks, he'd need to steal a heart trick and hope for a defensive error. He played a heart to his king and gave you a diamond trick. At this point, you had to work out to cash the 5 defensive winners (3 hearts, and one in each minor). If you had woodenly continued with spades, declarer would be back in business, making 4 diamonds, 2 clubs, 2 spades, and a heart for his contract. Good defensive principles and concentration should have let you defeat 3NT.