39 Holding up ace (part 2)
- Now for the most common situation: you are declarer in a NT contract and the opponents lead a suit in which you hold the ace and nothing else but low cards. Should you take your ace immediately or hold up, and if so how many times? The standard rule is With a total of 6 cards between you and dummy, hold up once; with a total of 5, hold up twice if you can. The theory behind this rule (known as the rule of seven) is that by playing your ace at the right moment, the leader’s partner will now have no more, and so cannot lead the suit if he gets in, or if he does hold one more, than that is one less in leader’s hand and so you don’t lose too many tricks. Sound good? Yes, it is good in emergency hands but what if you have a better hand than usual? What if, counting your tricks when dummy goes down before playing anything, as I’m sure you do, what if you can see your contract if you take your ace immediately? Even if your target is overtricks, don’t forget that every time you hold up, you are losing one trick, whereas taking the ace puts you in the driving seat. But, be sure that once you take your ace you are not going to lose the lead, because if you do you are going to make the original leader a very happy person. So, if the nine 3NT tricks are staring you in the face, get in and play the hare for once. In a 1NT contract, the hold-up issue is not so pressing because you can afford to lose six tricks in total and still get home.
- Here are two chances for some crafty deception:
1) You are declarer in any contract and hold AJx in a suit, and LHO leads the king. Suppress your knee-jerk desire to ace it and reflect that that king lead must/should be from KQ. If you duck the trick, keeping LHO on lead, nine times out of ten she will follow with the queen, or any card of that suit for that matter. Now you make two tricks instead of one. This is called the Bath Coup. But if the nature of the hand calls for immediate control, take your ace and get on with your plan.
2) If you have say AK or AKQ in dummy and you are taking the trick there, you’ll take with the lowest card – as we do, but if the defence have led the suit to these same combinations in your hand, remember that the defenders cannot see your cards. Take with the ace, change the suit, and next time they get in they’ll likely lead again to your KQ, thinking you haven’t got them or you would have….etc. Works a treat, and it’s called The Declarer’s Mask.
- One more situation which is not so much “Shall I hold-up” as “Shall I dive in?” You are defending a NT contract as RHO and your partner has led a good suit which she hopes you will lead back. OK, you know what suit she wants. Declarer now leads from dummy a suit of which you hold the ace: rise immediately every time, and lead your partner’s suit. Job done.
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