A designed hand

How do you feel as defender when facing a hand that's designed for declarer to land his/her contract? I found it many times and holding quite a bunch of high cards, I was threw in every time I won a trick. But this case, I was in dummy and saw my partner bring home the contract. Here are the complete distribution. For your information, the hand was shuffled manually.

	Dummy
	♠ J 9 7 6 2
	♥ Q 8 7 2
	♦ 6 5
	♣ 10 6
West		East
♠ Q 5		♠ 10 8 4 3
♥ K 6 5		♥ 10 9 3
♦ K 10 8 3		♦ Q 7 4
♣ A 8 7 4		♣ J 5 2
	Declarer
	♠ A K
	♥ A J 4
	♦ A J 9 2
	♣ K Q 9 3

Contract 3NT.

How do you bring the contract if ♦3 is the opening lead? In executing any contract, you have to make a plan. When you find out a difficult situation, you need to make some assumptions of card and be optimistic.

Seven tricks are in sight, 2 from spade, 2 from heart, 1 from diamond and 2 from clubs. What is your assumption on this lay out? First, west should have many high points so that east cannot attack you. Here are the assumptions: ♥ K should be with west (max 3 cards) as well as ♣ K. But the ♣ J shall be with east. Because your 4th club is too small then you need to pray the ♠ Q to drop in second round. Otherwise you need a defensive error.

So, you win ♦ Q with Ace and play two rounds of spade and see west's ♠ Q drop. Then play ♥ A and small heart (♥ J also okay, but I prefer small one). Best defense west plays small and declarer win ♥ Q and cash the ♠ J for a heart discard, west will have difficulties in finding discard. If west discard his "meaningless" club, he presents the contract to declarer. Next play the ♣ 10 for a finesse. West can't escape from end play.

First question: Why small heart at trick 4? By playing small heart you are intending to play the queen from dummy. If you play the jack, then you are not confidence enough to overtake it. If west play low on ♥ J and you play small from dummy, you bound to fail with best defense. Can you see it?

Second question: can you fulfill the contract without diamond lead? I leave it to you.

Another Interesting Hand

In favorable vulnerability, right hand opponent open with strong NT (15-17), I hold ♠ 3 ♥Q 3 ♦AKJ873 ♣ 9763 and overcall 3D. All pass. West started with ♥5. Plan your play!

	Dummy
	♠ Q J 7 2
	♥ 10 8 7 2
	♦ 6 5
	♣ A Q J
	Declarer
	♠ 3
	♥ Q 3
	♦ AKJ873
	♣ 9763

East won with the ♥ K and switch to a small diamond. Not knowing the position of high cards yet, I chose to play the Ace and continue with club finesse. East won with the King and return a small spade. This return will bring home the contract. Won with the ♠ A, West return another club. Here the position after 5 tricks and defender has won 3 tricks.

	Dummy
	♠ Q J 7
	♥ 10 8 7
	♦ 6
	♣ A
	Declarer
	♠
	♥ Q
	♦ KJ873
	♣ 97

How do you continue? Ruffing finesse spade for club discard? Not logic. If you want to do that it means club divided evenly. So finesse diamond, draw one more round of trump and play heart. East was end-play. Here are the complete hand

	Dummy
	♠ Q J 7 2
	♥ 10 8 72
	♦ 6 5
	♣ A Q J
West		East
♠ A 10 6 5		♠ K x x x
♥ J 6 5		♥ A K 9 x-
♦ x x		♦ Q x x
♣ 10 x x x		♣ K x
	Declarer
	♠ 3
	♥ Q 3
	♦ AKJ873
	♣ 9 7 6 3

The interesting aspect is when East return club at trick 4. Won in dummy, finesse a diamond then declarer play a spade. If West follows the rule of second hand low, he gives declarer the contract. West will be squeezed in 3 suits: club, heart and spade.

Many ways to bring home the contract

Last night I played online bridge in Bridge Base, famous with BBO. I found out an interesting board as below. You West Partner East

You	North	Partner	South
1H	pass	2H	pass
4H	pass	pass	pass

Here are the complete deal.

	Dummy
	♠ K 7 5 2
	♥ J 8 7 2
	♦ Q J 7
	♣ 8 2
West		East
♠ AJ109		♠ 8 6 3
♥ Q 10 5		♥ K
♦ A1065		♦ K9832
♣ 7 6		♣ KJ54
	Declarer
	♠ Q4
	♥ A 9 6 4 3
	♦ 4
	♣ A Q 10 9 3

I have to bring the game contract in heart. West start with ♣ 7. After winning East' ♣ K, I play Ace of trump and continue. West win the 2nd round and play a third heart. I won in dummy and finesse club to bring home the contract. On the other table, West start with ♦ A and continue. South ruffs and then play the Ace of trump. When the King drops from East, South continues with a small spade. West is in dilemma. If he plays the Ace, then declarer just need a club finesse to land the contract. Because 2 more club loosers can be discarded from diamond and ♠ K. So, West plays small spade. Won with the King, declarer then plays the ♦Q to discard his ♠ Q. Finesse club and cross ruff club and spade and West discards all his spade during the process. Declarer has 9 tricks so far and just need 1 more trick. Here are the 3 cards ending when declarer play spade from dummy.

	Dummy
	♠ 7 5
	♥ J
	♦ -
	♣ -
West		East
♠ -		♠ 8
♥ Q 10		♥ -
♦ 10		♦ 9 2
♣ -		♣ -
	Declarer
	♠ -
	♥ 9 6
	♦ -
	♣ 10

When East play ♠ 8, declarer knows that the 8 is the highest spade. If he ruffs, west will overruff and draw his trumps, so he discards his club winner. If trump was 2-2, then he is safe as he will get his 10th trick. If East started with his lonely ♥K, then by discarding his ♥J will win en-passan. So, there are many ways to land the contract.

It's not a Match Point Game

There are two main types of scoring in bridge, an imp and match point game. In the former type, you can play safely to bring home the contract while in the latter you should play for overtricks, bidding aggressively such as making a penalty double on a thin contract. I found out such player characteristic on a team event. I was first to speak and opened 1S (precision), LHO overcalled 2H, partner raised, RHO made an information double, I passed. LHO bid 3D(natural), all passed, and back to me and reopen with 3S. RHO made a penalty double.

South	LHO	Partner	RHO
1S	2H!	2S	X
pass	3D	pass	pass
3S	pass	pass	X

West started with a small diamond. Here's the hands.

	Dummy
	♠ J 8 2
	♥ Q 8 7 2
	♦ K86
	♣ 865
	Declarer
	♠ A 10 9 4 3
	♥ K 4
	♦ J 4
	♣ AJ32

How do you plan the play? There is a danger you will go down more than 1 trick. You can see that 3D is a good contract. So, you have to play for 1 down at maximum. I play low on dummy, East win with the ♦A. He returns a small club. To have a better chance, I play the Jack, but it loses to ♣K. Next club I win with the Ace on East ♣Q and I play a third round of club, East win and all follow. A diamond return is won in dummy, diamond ruff and I play a small heart to Queen. Next a heart (East play the Jack) to a stiff King. West win and return the heart. I ruff. Here's the position on 4 card ending.

	Dummy
	♠ J 8 2
	♥ 8
	♦
	♣
	Declarer
	♠ A 10 9
	♥
	♦
	♣ 2

I calculate west's distribution. 5 cards heart along with 4 cards diamond and he has shown 3 cards club, hence he has 1 card spade at maximum. He has shown ♥A, ♣ K and ♦Q. So, west should begin with a stiff honor in spade. So, I lay down the ♠A and see west follow with ♠Q. I ruff my last club with ♠J with result in with just 1 down, just a flat board as 3D just books in other room. Did you recognize that West made an overcall with just 11 high card point and a stiff honor in opponent suit? It's not a match point.

Double Dummy Defense

On the last session in the swiss event, you need to win as many victory point as possible to grab the championship title. However, when you are on the high ranking table, your opponent is also a good team. So, you need to play very carefully especially in the defense. I found it in recent tournament. I was first to speak and opened 1D (precision), LHO pass, partner bid 1NT, RHO pass as well as you. LHO bid 2D (majors), partner passed, RHO bid 2H. As partner was on the balancing position, he doubled for take out, I passed with: ♠ K1095 ♥ KJ105 ♦ 865; ♣ AJ.

You	North	Partner	South
		1D	pass
1NT	pass	pass	2D(*)
pass	2H	pass	pass
X	all pass

The first decision is the opening lead. Which card do you start with? The choices are ♠9, ♥10, ♦6. Club is not my choice with this holding. I chosed to start with with ♦6, declarer play the ♦Q, partner played low. Next comes the the ♣9. You win with ♣J. What next? This card will determine your team success. If you find the correct card, then your team at least will be in the second, you will be the 5th otherwise.

	Dummy
	♠ A J 8 2
	♥ Q 8 72
	♦ J107
	♣
You
♠ K1095
♥ KJ105
♦ 85
♣ A

What will play next? Spade? Heart? or another diamond? Let's make some calculation. What inference do you get with the way declarer handle the contract? It seems that declarer does not have 2 honors in club along with ♦A. Then, partner hold the ♦K. So, partner already shown ♦K with either ♣Q or ♣K. The missing honors are ♥A and ♠Q. Which one is in partner hand? If he just has ♠Q, partner will not double in balancing position. So partner must have the ♥A doubleton or singleton. As he bid 1NT, most probably he had 2 cards in heart. So, you have a double dummy defense now to beat the contract. What card will you return?

	Dummy
	♠ A J 8 2
	♥ Q 8 7 2
	♦ QJ10 7
	♣ 9
West		East
♠ K1095		♠ 7 6 3
♥ KJ105		♥ A3
♦ 865		♦ K93
♣ AJ		♣ K8764
	Declarer
	♠ Q4
	♥ 9 6 4
	♦ A74
	♣ Q10532

The best return is ♥J. If declarer cover, defender will play for 4 rounds of heart. So, declarer will only have 4 diamond tricks, 1 heart trick and 2 spade tricks, total 7. If declarer ducks in dummy, a second heart will be won by East (partner). East will return the diamond, declarer will win in dummy. A diamond to the Ace will win result in the following distribution.

	Dummy
	♠ A J 8 2
	♥ Q 8
	♦ 7
	♣
West		East
♠ K1095		♠ 7 6 3
♥ K 10		♥
♦ -		♦ -
♣ A		♣ K876
	Declarer
	♠ Q4
	♥ 9
	♦ -
	♣ Q1053

So far, declarer just had 3 diamond trick. He was in dilemma. If he ruffed a club, then play the last diamond, West will ruff and draw last trump. Although he was throw-in, declarer just collect 7 trick, 3 diamond, 1 club ruff and 2 spade trick. However, West should return ♠K!!! On the other hand, if declarer finesse spade and ruff the third round, ruff club, there is no entry to ruff another club. Either way will end with 7 tricks only. A very difficult defense. I failed to find the best defense, so our team was in 5th place.

Watch Out the Card Played on the First Trick

When a defender makes an opening lead, and dummy cards are displayed, you have to take a careful action in managing the contract. Inspect the dummy carefully and think for some times before playing the first card from dummy. In the following deal, you can elimate the guess if you play carefully for the first trick. Below is the bidding:

South	West	North	East
1S	pass	2D	pass
2S	pass	3S	pass
4C	pass	4NT	pass
5S	pass	6S	all pass

West started with ♥7 and East suprises you with a ruff. Your contract is in danger when East return a club. Here are the complete distribution.

	Dummy
	♠A J
	♥A J 10 5
	♦A Q 10 4 2
	♣J 3
West		East
♠ 5		♠10 7 6 3
♥ K98753		♥ void
♦ J62		♦ K9843
♣ K75		♣ Q984
	Selatan
	♠ KQ9842
	♥Q 4 2
	♦ void
	♣ A1062

Several declarers will play the Ace on club return and play a spade to Jack followed by a small diamond ruff. Then play a second trump to dummy. When West discard his heart, declarer then assumes West is 1633. So he plays the ♦A and he has to assume that is West holding in the diamond, Jack or King. Declarer has to assume West hold an honour in diamond in order to fulfill the contract. As the cards lie, if he choose to play the ♦Q, pinning the Jack, he will succeed. He will fail otherwise. Did you notice that declarer can easily land the contract as long as he throw his ♥Q on the first trick. So, he may ruff a second diamond, draw trumps and use his heart entry to play the ♦A. When ♦J appears, he can finnese East King. So, be careful with your card play on the first trick. If declarer fail to unblock the ♥Q, West can refuse to cover the Queen. Then, declarer will be short of entry to play the diamond.

Second Hand High

One of the basic lesson in bridge defense is to play second hand low. However, bridge is a game with full of exceptions. This is why bridge become an interesting game. Frequently, you have to play in a different manner, as in the diagram below. At love all, the bidding is as below:

West	North	East	South
1D	pass	1S	2H
X	2S	pass	4H
allpass

West started with ♠5 and declarer immediately play ♠J which held the trick. Declarer then play the spade to the King at the second trick. At trick 3, he continues with ♥2, plan your defence!

	Dummy
	♠ A J 8 2
	♥ A J 5
	♦ 10 9 7
	♣ 8 6 3
You
♠ Q95
♥ K5
♦ AJ62
♣ K975

If you play according to the rule second hand low, you give a chance for declare to fulfill their contract. Below are the complete distribution.

	Dummy
	♠A J 8 2
	♥A J 5
	♦10 9 7
	♣8 6 3
West		East
♠ Q95		♠ 10 7 6 3
♥ K5		♥ Q8
♦ AJ62		♦ Q843
♣ K975		♣ J104
	Declarer
	♠ K4
	♥10 9 7 4 3 2
	♦ K5
	♣ AQ2

Declarer will play the Ace, cash the ♠A, then exit with the heart, throw you in. So, before playing any card you have, please take several considerations!!!.

SUPER 1NT

Board 7 (Dealer: S, Vul: all) from mixed pair 17th Indonesian National Games leaved a good story. Let's see them all.

	North
	♠ Q J 6 2
	♥ K 6 3
	♦ Q 9 4
	♣ Q J 9
West		East
♠ K 874		♠ 10 9 5
♥ Q 7 2		♥ 9 4
♦ K 8 7		♦ A J 2
♣ A 7 2		♣ K 10 8 6 4
	Declarer
	♠ A 3
	♥ A J 10 8 5
	♦ 10 6 5 3
	♣ 5 3

After South pass, West open a weak (12-14) 1NT and play there. This contract is very superior as it can't be beaten!. As seen in the vugraph, North started with ♠2 and South won with the Ace. He switched to ♥10. The critical point is in this trick. West should cover this and save the contract. If South cashes 5 times hearts, then it will squeeze North in spade and club. Please look at the position after 6 tricks below.

	North
	♠ Q J
	♥ -
	♦ Q 9
	♣ Q J 9
West		East
♠ K 8		♠ 5
♥ -		♥ -
♦ K 8		♦ A J 2
♣ A 7 2		♣ K 10 8
	Declarer
	♠ 3
	♥ -
	♦ 10 6 5 3
	♣ 5 3

Now, South returns a spade. West wins and plays 3 times diamond and West discards his small club. North is being squeezed. Spade discard will make declarer home, while club discards will have the same effect. The interesting point: Is it possible to beat the contract? The contract will be beaten if West fail to cover the ♥10. South will return &spades and declarer only has 6 tricks. If West cover with ♥Q, North is entryless. For instance, after winning with ♥K, North play ♠Q. West won and play the heart to 9 to rectify the count. South club returned won in West hand to play another heart. Now if South cashes his remaining hearts, the similar position as above happened. If South switch, then South can revert back to club for his 7th trick.

Be Careful with Signalling card

The Six of Diamond On the quarter final of National Club Championship 2006 in Point Square Jakarta, Geologi as a dependent champion meet Djarum Semarang. Djarum consists of Franky Karwur - Santje Panelewen and Supeno-Anhar Haitani. We bet them just 1 imp after loosing 16 imps on first 10 boards, 13-29. One imp that we collected is from the following board.

	Dummy
	♠ 876
	♥ K8
	♦ KJ54
	♣ J1065
West		East
♠ Q543		♠ KJ2
♥ J3		♥ Q109765
♦ 10962		♦ Q
♣ Q72		♣ K93
	Declarer
	♠ A109
	♥ A42
	♦ A873
	♣ A84

South open 1NT, when North invites with 2NT, South rejects and plays there. West leads Spade. After hold up spade for 1 round, I play the ♦A, West in order to give signal to his partner, play the ♦6. When East drops his Queen, declarer then collected 4 tricks in diamond. Not only that, declarer managed to collect 9 trick by running the ♣J from dummy. East is the victim of the squeeze in club and heart. -- Jakarta, 3 July 2006

Percentage Play in Grand (2)

I found another grand slam board in the local game. I arrived in the grandslam with the following auction:

North	East	South	West
1H	2S	3C	pass
3S	pass	3NT	pass
4C	pass	4D	pass
4NT	pass	5NT	pass
7C	pass	pass	pass

West started with ♦K, plan your play!.

Dummy

♠ J85

♥ AKQ972

♦ void

♣ A765

Declarer

♠ A43

♥ 10

♦ A987

♣ KQ964

How do you proceed? Below are the choice: -Finesse heart, but I think no one will choose this as its percentage is only 50%. -Ruff out the diamond 3 times, but you sort of entries to do this. -Draw trumps, if 2-2, then you ruff out heart to establish it. 4 heart tricks will bring you home. -Draw trumps, if 3-1, then you have to pray to get 5 tricks heart. There is a small variation, when the trumps divide 3-1, when you are in the South, you can finesse the heart. You have better percentage if East had 3 trumps (vacant places). If, West who has long spade, then you have to pray that heart no worse than 4-2. I failed to bring home the contract when trumps divide 3(west)-1(east) and west has 5 heart to the Jack and East has a singleton ♥8. Anyway I have executed the best percentage play.

Percentage Play in Grand

Bridge is a game of percentage play. You will win most of the time if you bid, play and defense with the best percentage one. At love all, the biddings (precision style) are as below:

South	West	North	East
1C	pass	1H	pass
1S	pass	2H	pass
4C	pass	4NT	pass
5S	pass	5NT	pass
6H	pass	7H	all pass

West started with ♦6 and East play ♦Q. Here are the cards.

Dummy

♠ AKJ105

♥ AQ6

♦ 10432

♣ Q

Declarer

♠ 43

♥ KJ8754

♦ A8

♣ A93

How do you proceed? Truthfully this is a good grand with several chances to fulfill it. There are many ways to bring home the contract. First, to play for 5 cards tricks in spade by direct finesse to the 10 and then to the Jack (percentage play for 5 tricks). Other way is to ruff a club and grab 4 tricks spade only. This play needs a good distribution of outside trump, 2-2. The better way is to combine these two lines. Draw two round of trump ending in declarer hand (South). If trump breaks 3-1, you are in right hand to finesse spade for 5 tricks. If trump break evenly, then you can play spade for 4 tricks only. The better percentage play is to make a ruffing finesse. You will succeed if East hold the ♠Q or West has a singleton or doubleton ♠Q. Or you may change your plan if you think that spade is divided 3-3 outside. So, always combine your chances.

Doom to Fail

Without any opposition bidding, you arrive at 3NT.

South	West	North	East
1D	pass	1S	pass
1NT	pass	3NT	all pass

West lead ♥6, most likely from 5 cards. How do you manage to bring home the contract? Here are the cards.

Dummy

♠ Q852

♥ KQ5

♦ AK

♣ 10864

Declarer

♠ K96

♥ J10

♦ QJ986

♣ A93

How do you proceed? As usual, you have to count your total tricks in notrump contract. You already have 7 triks, 1 from heart, 5 from diamond and 1 from club. The 8th trick can be easily establish, either from spade or from heart. How about the 9th tricks? Say, you play spade to Queen, won by East with Ace. Best defense is attacking the club. Won the 2nd club, you switch to heart for 9th tricks. West will win with &heart;A, play club and attack your entry in spade. If the ♠Q win, you will play heart. West will win and attack club to cut your 'bridge'. You eventually fail to book your contract, as West with long heart and spade Ace will prevent you to enter your hand. How about play heart directly at trick 2? Best defense, west will win with ♥A and return club. You may hold up and win the second club. Cash all winners in dummy and play spade to King. You will succeed if east has &spade;A along with club honor. Although this play only 50% chance with best defense, I think this is the best way to handle this contract. What's your opinion?

Great Defense

Playing with or against world class players creates interesting moment and feeling. I had an opportunity to play with Indonesian national player, Taufik Asbi in Alex Frans Memorial Invitation Pair on April 2006. Previously, we played together when Taufik was still a student in Bandung, a nice city around 180 km east Jakarta.

This board will show the interesting moments, both in defensive play, the hardest part of bridge game because of both defensive player are involved.

The role play on this board was Ferdy Waluyan, previous famous Indonesian national player. This board showed Ferdy's capability in defense to make life difficult for declarer.

Contact died at low level 2H with no opposition bidding, North 1D, South 1H and North raised it. West opening lead was ♣3. Below are the complete distribution.

	Dummy
	♠ A1043
	♥ K854
	♦ A94
	♣ Q4
West		East/Ferdy
♠ K86		♠ J972
♥ 32		♥ Q96
♦ KJ75		♦ 10863
♣ K1083		♣ A2
	Declarer
	♠ Q5
	♥ AJ107
	♦ Q2
	♣ J9765

East, Ferdy won the first club, and switched to ♦8, ♦Q, ♦K and ♦A. Next club won by west who cashed the ♦J and continued diamond. Declarer ruff and run ♥J, but East won with ♥Q. A critical moment arrived. Let's think for a while. Knowing that declarer hold 2425 along with bad spade position for defenders, Ferdy returned a killing defense double void diamond. This is the only defense which might defeat the contract.

Declarer will setup club on heart attack. Spade return, playing the correct card will make 9 tricks. Event when declarer played the wrong spade, declarer will still land their contract by setup his long club and used their trump as entry.

With diamond return, declarer lost his control. He can not setup club anymore. It needs a careful play to fulfill the contract. There are two ways, correct placing the ♠K or the ♥9. If you placed ♠K in East, after discard club in the hand, ruff in dummy, you may play spade to Queen. As the cards lie, this plan was fail. If you place the ♠K with West, after ruffing the diamond in dummy, draw all trumps and play ♣J and club, throw West in. For all declarer who count the high card point on both defenders, you may find that both of them may have the ♠K.

There is another way to land the contact by placing the ♥9 in the West. After ruffing the diamond in dummy, discarding spade in his own hand, Taufik played ♠A and spade ruff. club ruff with ♥K and another spade ruff. He continued with club to be ruffed with ♥8, en-passan. Unfortunately, East hold the ♥9 so contract failed. Congratulation for defenders.

Second Degree Assumption

Second degree assumption was popularized by Terence Reese, a great author of bridge book. I found out this theme during the Frans Waleleng Invitation Pairs last week in Jakarta. At love all, the bidding run as below:

South	West	North	East
1H	2D	3H (weak)	pass
4H	X	all pass

West started with ♦A and continue with ♦K when East signal with ♦10. Here are the cards.

Dummy

♠ 105

♥ Q986

♦ 432

♣ J954

Declarer

♠ AJ43

♥ A10754

♦ 8

♣ AQ3

How do you proceed? In order to succeed you need to place the ♣K on East. When West make a double on his own hand, you shall place all of high cards in his hand. Another assumption is ♣10 shall be with West, you will fail otherwise. When you ruff the second diamond and lay down the ♥A, West follows with ♥K. What next? A small heart to Queen, followed by diamond ruff, close the exit card. Then you play a small spade. West will win and end-played. Below are the complete distribution.

	Dummy
	♠ 102
	♥ Q986
	♦ 432
	♣ J954
West		East
♠ KQ97		♠ 865
♥ K		♥ J32
♦ AKJ76		♦ Q1095
♣ 1065		♣ K87
	Declarer
	♠ AJ43
	♥ A10754
	♦ 8
	♣ AQ3

Club return will solve declarer problem, then West return spade. Assume West return ♠K. Declarer win with ♠A and cash ♠J to discard a club. Spade ruff. East may be overruff but he will be end played. If he discard club, then declarer will land his contract with 3 club tricks. If he parts with diamond, he will throw-in with heart. A nice board.