All News

Damage Control.

Bridge is a fascinating game in that you can lose and yet win at the same time! This is especially true when playing for match-points. On the following deal, the declarer could hardly believe he had scored a 76% board when he failed to make his 2NT contract.

We often forget one of the joys of Duplicate Bridge is that if you suffer a bad break or a losing finesse at your table, others in your position are likely to see the same finesse lose, too! At times, good declarers can find alternative better lines but not always…

 

You are in the place you do not want to be…2NT. No good if you make an overtrick: no good if you make an undertrick.

West leads 3 attitude style with your J taking the first trick. You play a club to the queen and East’s ace, with West discarding a low spade.

East wins to return a heart and you will need to find three discards from your hand, two from dummy. What do you throw?

Should you be happy or unhappy at the way the board is developing? You are playing Pairs.

Let’s answer the second question first. “Ecstatic” would hardly be the right word to describe your feelings but, even though your chances of recording a positive score would seem almost non-existent, you should not feel that bad.

The opposition have been kind enough to give you a heart trick which with West holding AQT53 was not necessary. You know that setting up more than one club trick is just not going to happen…and because of that, finding discards will not be that hard….clubs. You do not need your long suit any more. There is also another kind of good news in that West has no club to exit after taking their heart tricks. We will see why that is good news shortly.

So, you could comfortably discard two spades from dummy and three clubs from your hand. After the end of the run of the hearts, West exited a small spade.

This is what you saw:

 

and so far you had won just one trick and lost five! Making your contract was impossible. One club, one spade and four diamond tricks would leave you one down. You could achieve that if diamonds broke 3-3 but not if either opponent had Jxxx. (Even if it was West and you finessed, the blockage causes you only to take 3 tricks.) There was one other chance and to take advantage of that, you had to win the A immediately or else East would win to play J and take out an important entry to your hand.

So, win and play diamonds from the top…and very soon, you would get some very good news:

 

 It may have been against the odds but playing diamonds that way gave South their best chance of avoiding the “dreaded” Pairs “-200”. Four diamond tricks, and one trick in each other suit…a triumph..one down!

Others failed by two, even by five tricks in no-trump contracts. South seemed very surprised at their good result. Down 2 would have been an average minus 40% result for North-South with a few East-West pairs recording a plus score in their heart contracts. Nothing flashy but another way to get a very good result at Pairs. It’s not always about getting a plus score.

All Right…You Win

It looks like a husband and wife battle! In a way, it was! Opener won, finally, with clubs being trumps. Dummy had shown a strong hand with diamonds….and diamonds…and more diamonds!

 

West led 8 which declarer won in dummy with the ace while you contributed an “I don’t really like 9”. Next came 8 from dummy. Are you planning the defence? I hope so….

Richard Solomon

 

Go Back View All News Items