Count Your Chickens
The saying is the one should not count ones chickens, but I’d argue that at the bridge table you should count anything in sight even chickens.
Board: 2
Dealer East
Vul: N/S
Teams
North
♠ AJ9
♥ J1087
♦ 105
♣ QJ83
West East
♠ KQ864 ♠ 532
♥ - ♥ AK962
♦ Q93 ♦ A76
♣ A7642 ♣ K9
South
♠ 107
♥ Q543
♦ KJ842
♣ 105
South West North East
1NT
Pass 2♥ pass 2♠
Pass 3♣ pass 4♠
You have landed in a thin game and South leads the ♥4. You can count 5 tricks outside of the S suit so you need to get 5 from the trump suit or 4 from Spade and 1 from an established trick in clubs or hearts. You ask the opponents about their leads, and they inform you they use 3rd and 5th. You discard a ♦, North plays the Jack and you win with the Ace.
As you did not get a ♦ lead you don’t need to rush to make your ♦ discard so you play a ♠ to the King and let’s say North wins. North can’t see Souths Spade 10 so North plays the ♥ 7 - count from remaining and declarer wins and discards the last ♦ loser in dummy. The opponents now only have 3 trumps between them and you are happy for them to get those tricks as long s they don't hatch any more.
East can now see - if the opponents can be trusted in their discards - that the Heart suit splits 4-4. Therefore East ruffs a ♥ in Dummy. The hand is re-entered with a ♦ and another Heart is ruffed. Enter the hand again with the ♣ K and ruff a Diaamond. Cash the ♠Queen and the ♣ Ace. When you now play the last Club, Easts little spade pip becomes the 10th trick.
Let’s say that North ducks the first round of Spade. Again they have only 3 spades left and you are happy for thm to win as long as thats all they win.
You have to abandon the trump suit. Enter your hand with a Diamond to the Ace and notice the opponents discards on the ♥ King. Again, assuming you trust their discards, you ruff the 3rd round of Herts. Enter your hand with the Club King and ruff another Heart. You now cash the club Ace and another club ruffed and over ruffed.
South has to play a diamond and you ruff in dummy and ruff a club for your 10th trick. The opponents only getting 3 spade tricks.
It’s a text book hand in counting and timing. And one cannot, as one says in Norway, sell the skin before the bear has been shot.
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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