12 Hare and tortoise

Following my recent advice to maximise the power of your picture cards, you will realise that both declarer and defence play can benefit from a dose of patience. If you can’t see a sound attacking ploy, then exit gracefully and let the opposition make all the mistakes. So a passive strategy prevails until it is time to attack. One great motto to comfort you is this: Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. This means let the opponent have a trick which he was going to make anyway, such as a bare ace on the table, though other such opportunities usually abound. Keep in mind that yielding a trick is not giving a trick. Over-hastiness in cashing winners can be the undoing of the hare who gallops through the first run of tricks towards his goal.  When he runs out of steam he has to lose the lead to the patient tortoise who has kept his nerve all this time, and now claims his due, trick by trick to the surprise of the hare. “Down one, partner,” says the hare, “Must have been the wrong contract.”

Such hasty behaviour may be down to a common misapprehension, that whatever number of tricks you are aiming at must be taken NOW. In a row? Or that whenever it’s your lead, your side  are supposed to take the next trick? Even if you take it you are again on lead.. Bridge isn’t like that, it’s a mixture of winning and losing, and if you have to lose some tricks, it is usually best to lose them early. When I’m declarer I love it when the opening leader bangs down a couple of aces. That’s my problems solved, I’m thinking. (Er…. most of the time.)

An example How do you play this combination at NT?

Dummy. Axxxx.     Hand  xxx   with no other clear entries to dummy but that ace.

Don’t be a hare, duck two rounds completely, Caesar gets them. On the third round play to your ace and with a bit of luck you now have three tricks.