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Play Low, Joe!

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others! It’s Fri Day!

Remember that basic rule: second player plays low…except when they do not! Yes, there are exceptions to about every rule and guideline in bridge. Is today’s deal one of those exceptions?

 

After North showed their two suits, South bid 2, fourth suit forcing, looking for more information from their partner. With no diamond hold (2 neither promised nor denied a hold in that suit), and no support for hearts, North rebid their club suit. South ended the auction in 3NT.

With no liking for diamonds, you, West, led 7 (4^TH highest). Your partner’s A won trick 1 and they returned 10, South playing first 3   and then J. You won A but saw it would be dangerous continuing that suit as if South finessed, they would score 2 further spade tricks. So, you exited, safely, with 4. East played 3, low being they liked that suit.

Declarer played a diamond to their ace and then 2 ….and you played?

• ·       If you played Q, which club would South play from dummy?

• ·       If you played 4 , which card would they play from dummy?

• ·       What is a very significant card you cannot see in your hand or dummy?

• ·       Did you hesitate before playing your club, whichever one it was?

Let’s see all 4 hands:

 

The situation looked a bit grim from your point of view. If you had played Q, South would likely have let you win the trick. With spades still an unwise option, all you could do was play a second heart and hope.

East’s Q would draw K from South and South would play a second club, putting in J. They would very soon have 4 club  tricks, which along with 4 diamond tricks and AK (they did not need Q) would be 10 tricks made, a good result for North-South.

The answer to the second question is less clear. They might insert J and would then make the same 10 tricks. Yet, they might insert 9 and suddenly it would not be so rosy for South who had already lost 2 spade tricks. If they lost 2 club tricks as well, they would soon be one down as you West would be able to play the then high J when in with one of your high clubs. (Declarer could at this point still come to 9 tricks by setting up a third heart trick..Q, 3 hearts, 4 diamonds A...but they might not!)

Which club would South play had West played their low club? We do not know. J is the correct card on the actual lay-out. 9 is correct if you, West, held 10 and at least one of the top clubs. KQx is one holding. KTx or QTx are 2 different holdings for the West hand. South may well have played 9 on the first round. They may not come to 9 tricks.

The rule about covering honours, or in this case, securing a club trick by playing a high one, is that you play your high card when in doing so, it would or could benefit your side. Here, at best it would make no difference (if South was about to insert J on the first round). Otherwise, you will have just helped the declarer.

So, this is no exception to the rule/guideline: “second hand plays low.”

What is the key card you could not see? 10. If that was in declarer’s hand, there is little you could do to promote a second club trick for your side. Chances are it is not in declarer’s hand as they may have played it rather than a low club on the first round of the suit.

Boy Scouts’ Motto

That brings us to the fourth question. When South first saw dummy, they should be doing some thinking. Certainly, they will when they won the A at trick 3. While they were thinking, so should you as a defender. Look at the whole of dummy and in particular that club suit. A couple of questions which you should have asked yourself.

If South leads a low club, which club will you play?

If South leads 10, which club will you play?

If you are prepared, then you know which club to play when a club is played, as surely will happen at some point very soon.

Second player plays low, Jo
As you just do not know.
From dummy they too might play low
And down will the contract go. “

Richard Solomon  
p.s. It is not relevant to this discussion that South could have come to 9 tricks by setting up a third heart trick and not touching clubs. They did not see that option and did play on clubs. Of the 9 declarers who played 3NT in an Open tournament, only 3 made their contract. 

 

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