SpadeHeart 
Chichester Bridge Club
 DiamondClub
0 0 0 0 0 0
Pages viewed in 2023
Trying to find the Minutes of our Meetings? Who is on the Committee? When and where does play start?

Press the information button above for the answer to all of these.

Release 2.19q
Monday Sept 30th - Board 6

South plays in 3NT and West leads the SK, East discarding a heart.

 

On this board communication between the hands will be a problem.

Declarer has 7 top tricks (1 spade, 3 hearts, 2 diamonds and 1 club), so needs to develop 2 more. If diamonds are 3-3, then there are 2 more tricks there, but 2 entries are needed - one to play the 3rd round and another to cash the established diamonds. Clubs could also yield 2 extra tricks, but this would probably involve losing 3 club tricks, or maybe more, and 4 entries are needed. 

 

Partly to preserve an entry to hand, Declarer must duck the first spade. West will switch, and Declarer retains 2 entries - a heart and a spade.

(It is interesting that this entry to hand cannot be dislodged by West without giving Declarer the contract.)

 

In the unlikely event that West switches to a club, it is best for Declarer to duck, hoping for a continuation, which should lead to 2 extra tricks being established.

However, West is more likely to switch to a heart or diamond, and it is best now to try for a 3-3 diamond split. Even if diamonds are 4-2, there might be chances for Declarer to make 9 tricks.

 

Declarer plays DA, DK, HQ, HK, D7. Declarer now is cut off from the CA. But this is not really a problem. On the actual hand West has to return a club or a spade, either giving the 9th trick. But even with East having the DQ, and a different distribution of the hearts, it will normally be possible to throw West in to lead a spade or a club, without losing more than 4 tricks in total.