Some hands in bridge are tough nuts to crack. Here you not only need a little bit of luck in placing some favourable distribution of the cards but you also need to plan well and have the vision and bridge technique of utilising your assets in a manner, which stymies the defence and gives you a fillip in the timing of your play for the contract bid. It is not easy to for see how things would turn out.
But precaution in bridge is necessary and the fluidity in handling the side suits that can ultimately be your saviour once your trump suit gets bogged down under the ruffing pressure put up by the opponents.
Of all the difficult hands in bridge the one that threatens to short ruff your long trumps is the most difficult of all for once you lose control in trumps, you lose the grip on your contract. Let us place you in the south seat on the following hand and see how you fare in the contract of 4H bid as under:
The opening lead is the AC from west. Take it from there. It seems that the clubs forced would definitely weaken you in your 5 carder trump holding with the top control in trumps with the opponents for which you need timing and correct placement of the cards and distribution of the side suits. Let us analyse the prospects of 4H making by a look at the opening lead of AC.
First of all even if spades break 3-3, it may not be enough, you need the diamond suit to run as well. But its here, in the setting up of the diamonds, that you might lose control.
Thus for the contract to make you need to assume that the red suits will break normally as 3-2. But would that be enough? Or do you need the diamond queen onside, which is almost crucial for the contract to make and in the light of the bidding most likely to be with east favourably placed for you.
It is a difficult proposition no doubt. But unless you have clarity of plan for your side suit - diamonds, you will fail. You must assume diamond to be 3-3 along with doubleton trumps in the east hand for you to succeed.
Let us now play the hand with correct timing. Cross to dummy with spade queen as an entry to run JD, repeating the finesse if necessary. The east west hands can now be revealed.
If east rises with AD on the first round to force you in clubs, ruff and play KD followed by a third round. When west shows out, you need to find him with the long defensive trumps (3).
The position boils down as under:
Suppose west discards a club instead of ruffing. You trump in dummy and play a heart. East can rise and force in clubs. You ruff and play your last trump and the winning diamond. If west ruffs, the KS is an entry to the other winners with west out of clubs. In case west had kept both clubs, discarding a spade as you ruff the diamond in dummy you play a trump from dummy. If east rises with ace and forces clubs, you discard. Dummy's remaining trumps take care of further clubs with KS as an entry to draw trumps. And finally even if east ducks the trump, diamond leads will restrict your trump losers to only 2 and no more. Well the play was difficult but a lesson to rely on side suit when threatened with losing trump control.
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West East
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J1062 73
J95 A10
86 AQ4
AK84 Q97532
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North South
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AQ985 K4
432 KQ876
J9 K107532
J106 -
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North West East South
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A985 J106 7 8
432 595 A10 K
- - Q K8
J K8 Q975 10753
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South West North East
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- - - 1C
1H 2H 3H 3 NT
4H ALL PASS
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