In this episode, responder correctly invites a major suit game (3 level jump with 10-12 HCP) and smartly avoids initially wandering to another suit (i.e., 1 Heart – 1 Spade…) Okay, so far so good and when opener has more than a minimum 12-14 point hand, its time to bid game with a combined 25+ points. In fact after responder tables a handsome dummy with four trump including a top honor plus a few more primary honors in side suits, the sweet smell of a major suit game bonus is right around the corner.
Yet when missing the Queen-Jack and two small in trump, perhaps the declarer should pause for a moment to consider the best line of play should the trumps split badly. Sure, plunking down the Ace and King of trump seems automatic but as we will soon discover when trumps split 4-0 with the opponents, there’s a time and place to consider making a safety play. In our first play scenario we witness our declarer getting a bit lax. Hopefully, using a fall-back tactic will help our optimistic declarer bring home a game contract. As Winston Churchill espoused, “We will fight in the …, we will never surrender!” At our BridgeHands virtual table, we will tweak the opponents trump distribution and try different lines of play, followed with a critique. So sit right up and tune in to our BridgeHands videos!
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BridgeHands
I think all of your bridge lessons are great and I even enjoy the social lessons. My question on the social bridge lesson #6 is “how do you know which defensive side the four card trump suit is on? You show QJxx on both sides with different leads depending on which side they are on. With nine cards in the trump suit, are the leads just guesses? Do you lead a card and then say “Oh No! a 4-0 split and then start to scramble up a way to make the most tricks that you can. Is there some guidance as to what to lead when the opponents have not bid?
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Thank you for your great question. As I was finishing the video, I realize I probably should have made it clear that no matter which side holds the QJxx, the best line of declarer play was a low trump to an intermediate card. Probably most players find themselves playing a high trump – either beginning with the top or playing low to a topper on the other side. In the first example, all is not necessarily lost when East can be endplayed. And as we saw in our fourth scenario, the deep finesse certainly works with when West has all four trump. For astute players like yourself, I should have stated that playing a spot card (10, 9 or 8) also works when East has all four trump. Thank you for the opportunity to clarify this point.
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Happy Bridge Trails,
Michael