| Hand of the Month (January 2013) |
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Here was a slam hand from a recent session (10/Jan/2013 board 15), bid at one table as shown.
East leads a low spade to partner's ace, and a spade is returned, taken by declarer's king.
The question is, how do you play the hand? Obviously, you need to avoid losing a trick to the queen of trumps. How do you maximise your chances?
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| Show Answer |
Many players always play for the drop, missing 4 trumps including the queen, but there are ways to improve your chances.
An alternative approach in this case is to lead the jack of hearts from hand, trying to tempt a cover. If East covers... then problem over. If East plays low without concern, perhaps it's worth going up with ace, and finessing on the way back. Of course, if East then turns up with the queen doubleton, you have to congratulate him through gritted teeth on playing low without a tremor!
As the cards lie, it's academic. The "Show All Hands" button reveals that the queen was singleton all along, so 12 tricks makes either way. |
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