Chapter 10
Timing is Everything
© 2004 - Marty Bergen
Page 105
Timing is Everything
Maximizing
Communication
West North East
South
-- 1
-- 1
Pass
2
Pass 4
All Pass
Question 1:
Is
this the time to "lose your losers early?"
Question 2:
If
East has the
 K
and West has the
A,
how
many tricks do you expect to lose?
Question 3:
If
the opponent’s trumps divide 3-1, how many rounds of trumps will
you draw immediately?
© 2004 - Marty Bergen
Page 106
Timing is Everything
Question 1:
Is
this the time to "lose your losers early?"
Answer:
Absolutely not. If you play second hand low, East will win the
 Q
and fire back the
Q,
and you will lose the first four tricks before you get started.
Question 2:
If
East has the
K
and West has the
A,
how
many tricks do you expect to lose?
Answer:
Five. 3 club tricks, 1 diamond, and 1 heart, and there’s
absolutely nothing you can do about it.
Question 3:
If
the opponent’s trumps divide 3-1, how many rounds of trumps will
you draw immediately?
Answer:
Only
one! If West has the
K,
you want to win four heart tricks so you can discard a loser on
the fourth heart. This could require three finesses. The
necessary three entries are available with your
AKQ
as long as you use each
one to finesse.
It
would be a shame to find West with the
K,
and not be able to take three finesses because you wasted your
entries.
Therefore, the
drawing of trumps must be postponed. Because the opponents are
not likely to ruff anything, this is not a problem. Now that
you’ve finished planning, you’re ready to play.
Win the diamond
lead and lead a spade to your ace. Take the heart finesse. It
wins. All right. You lead a second trump to your king as West
shows out. Ignore East’s last trump and take a second heart
finesse.
© 2004 - Marty Bergen
Page 107
Timing is Everything
When the finesse
wins, it is easy to return to your hand with the
Q,
which draws the last trump. You’re now in your hand to take a
third winning heart finesse. Cash the
A
and discard your last diamond.
Because the
A
is offside, you will lose three club tricks, but the rest are
yours.
A successful
finesse is always nice, but good timing is the name of the game.
Here
is the entire deal:
Contract: 4
Lead:
10 |
|
North
10 9 8 6
A Q J 10
A J
8 6 4 |
|
| |
West
5
K 6 4 3
10 9 8 7 5
A 7 5 |
|
East
J
7 2
7
5
K Q 6 3
Q J 10 9 |
| |
|
South
A
K Q 4 3
9
8 2
4 2
K 3 2 |
|
© 2004 - Marty Bergen
Chapter 11 : Counting Winners in
Suit Contracts ......... 113
|
