Town&Style

Bridge with Bland: May

Bridge is an easy game, right? All we have to do is bid, play and defend. This month’s hand has an add-on—bid, play and defend logically.

The bidding:

N
1NT
Pass

E
Pass
Pass

S
4

W
Pass

« Opening lead: Ace
« Cover the East/West hands, and see if you can make the contract.

NORTH
A Q 4
J 7 3
J 10 9 6
K Q 10

WEST
10 7 5
A K 6
5 3 2
A J 4 2

EAST
9
Q 9 5 2
8 7 4
9 8 7 6 3

SOUTH
K J 8 6 3 2
10 8 4
A K Q
5

[the play]
1. North/South did not use transfers, which put West on lead.
2. West led the Ace, dummy the 3, East signals with the 9, and declarer follows with the 4.
3. West continues with the King, dummy the 7, East the 2, and declarer the 8.
4. Excited that their partner was going to win the next trick, either with the Queen or a ruff, West continued the suit.
5. East, in with the Queen, much to the chagrin of their partner, started thinking.
6. The suit in the North with K Q 10 was ominous. East reasoned the most likely suit to take another trick was s.
7. Out came the 4.
8. South won the lead, drew trump, and played three more rounds of s, discarding a and making the contract.
9. Obviously, West should cash the Ace of s before continuing s.
10. Knowing East was a thinking partner, West could foresee East thinking logically that the suit was most likely to produce the setting trick.
11. When playing, take out ‘insurance.’ Help your partner whenever possible.

[tip of the day]
Q. Signaling is complicated. Do you have any agreements with your partners to simplify it?
A. My signaling mantra is KISS. High cards are come-ons. Low cards are discouraging. High/low with an even number of cards and low/high with an odd number. The simpler the action, the more accurate the logic.

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