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The missing queen. Where is she?

You are not allowed to look at your opponents’ cards or even rearrange them to suit your purposes but you can play a board in such a manner that the opponents’ cards are sorted such that would suit you. In short, a safety play. The Q must only win if she is one opponent’s hand. Can she be in both or maybe neither?!

 

 

2 promises 5 spades and at least 5 cards in a minor and less than an opening hand. West leads 3 to East’s 8 and your J (just a little false-card…don’t tell them where 10 is!). Plan the play.

You rather drifted into 3NT after your partner’s overcall and you have avoided the lead that seems most threatening, a club. However, the 3 has created its own problems. It is barely possible that you could make this contract without needing to win more than two diamond tricks. Even if you scored 4 heart tricks, the spade trick already in the bag along with your three top minor suit cards, you would still need a ninth trick from either diamonds or spades. When one opponent has 10 cards in two suits, the chance of them having three in another is possible but not so likely. More of that in a minute.

The big danger, though, is that after going to set up tricks in diamonds and losing to the Q,as one usually seems to do, the defence can reel off four spade tricks to beat your contract before you can claim 9 tricks. Yet, that only can happen if you lose the lead to East. You still have a spade hold if West wins Q and cashes A but not if East plays their small spade first. So, you must prevent that happening. Apart from missing the queen, you have been dealt some really good diamonds. Use them.

You can actually take the diamond finesse both ways. Play as though East has three or four diamonds headed by the queen. Cross to dummy, using the K and play J…yes, even when West discards a club on that first round of hearts! It looks like West has three diamonds and East only two. If East has Q, they must not score it.

 

 

At the table, West scored their Q and laid down the A hoping that you had started with KT doubleton. Disappointment for the defence as you went on to score two spades, three hearts, four diamonds and A, an overtrick. West could have saved the overtrick by exiting any small minor card.

Disappointment for the declarer, too, when the diamond finesse failed. However, at that point the contract was safe for 9 tricks and the small false-card you had played at trick 1 helped to secure the overtrick.

Note that East could still have Qxx when West shows out of hearts since West could have started with five spades and six clubs.

The play would have been harder had West led a small club. It would be normal for South to duck the first two rounds of the suit, though you can win the second round as you know East no more. You do not want East to switch to spades. However, you must find that Q or else will lose at least 5 tricks…more clubs, a diamond and at least one spade.

Discovery Play

You can still afford to lay down A and discover the break in that suit. The odds now favour a successful finesse through West (who must have three diamonds to East’s two) though you still hold your breath as you play K and a second towards dummy, finessing. If you lose to doubleton queen, it just would be your unlucky day.

So, identify the danger hand. Depending on the lead, you can finesse to a hand that cannot harm you or through the hand which is known to have more cards in that suit. A finesse one way and a finesse the other way…and everyone makes their contract! Maybe the queen was in neither opponent’s hand!   

What to bid?

 

As usual, both sides are bidding furiously and unfortunately, you have the heart suit and the opponents the spades. What to do? It’s your bid.

Richard Solomon

 

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