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Safely if you can.

Playing Pairs, you really want to make overtricks if you can. However, high up there among a declarer’s aims is to ensure they make their contract too. Can you ensure the safety of today’s 4S and then if you do, maybe there is a bonus for you?

 

West leads K against your freely bid game. What is your plan? What would you play at trick 2?

We are going to assume that you take A and discard a heart, saving any problems of having to ruff a heart in dummy. What next? You have 2 potential heart losers, a possible club loser and then there is the trump suit! No time to think of overtricks!

One’s plan is likely to depend on the location of the A. What is almost certain is that the defence will not play hearts when West holds A, unless East gains the lead!. One option could be to play J discarding a heart from hand, though West holds Q. You know that. Then, you would lose 2 red suit tricks for sure and would still have both black suits to handle for a maximum one loser.

Let’s rule that out and hope that A is with East. So, you play a small heart from dummy and East takes the trick with A, returning a small heart to your king. What now?

While this exact defence did not occur at all tables, more pairs failed to make their contract than succeeded. At this point, South had lost one trick to A. They could afford to lose to K as long as they avoided two trump tricks. Perhaps some of those declarers who reached this position did not recognise the 100% line to avoid two spade tricks, as long as there was not a 5-0 spade break.

No immediate finesse, at least, not the obvious one. The successful line, when you hold 9 but are missing both Q and 10, and have 8 trumps between the two hands is to cash A (the honour with J) and then lead low towards K9. Unless West produces 10 or Q, insert 9 from dummy. Nothing can go wrong….and on this occasion, it would go “very right”.

 

If West played 5 on the second round, 9 would score. Cash K and play a club towards…the finesse is safe  even when it loses while the A does bring in the overtrick!

Had West shown out on the second round, South plays K and leads low towards SJ8 reducing trump losers to 1. If East wins the trick with either T or Q, the trump break is 3-2 and trump losers are only 1.

Had East returned a diamond at trick 2, the safety play still applies and on the actual layout, South will have the same number of trumps as West. This means that South would need to play clubs for no loser and would probably take a losing finesse. A high diamond would force South to ruff but when declarer plays clubs, West can ruff but South still has K and will just lose a club, a club ruff and A.

If East returned a club at trick 3, South would still be in good shape as long as they took the trump safety play. However, they could afford 2 trump losers had they felled the singleton king. The same safety applies if East plays low on the heart at trick 2. 

So much for the simple trump finesse which would likely have produced 4 losers. So much for the overtrick. Of course, had West held A, there would be no safety play available as trumps had to be played without loss and the finesse of J is best. Safely does it should have been rewarded on this deal.

Richard Solomon

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