An Extra Chance

 

Good Declarers don't like to commit to a single line of play, they are constantly looking for that second string to their bow, that extra chance to make the contract if the obvious chance does not work out.  See also Combining Chances.

 

Related Play Problems        Play Problem 16

                                              Play Problem 138

                                              Play Problem 146

                                              Play Problem 165

                                              Play Problem 215

 

Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games

 

31	♠ JT32 ♥ J643 ♦ 3 ♣ T865	From 7th June, 2006
♠ Q7 ♥ 87 ♦ AK642 ♣ K743	North    West            East              South	♠ K9 ♥ AKQT92 ♦ 5 ♣ AJ92	Dlr     South Vul     N-S
© BES, Inc  All Rights Reserved	♠ A8654 ♥ 5 ♦ QJT987 ♣ Q	West   North   East     South                                           Pass    1♦       Pass     1♥        Pass    1NT    Pass    2♣        Pass    2♦      Pass      3♥        Pass    4♥      Pass     4NT      Pass    5♣      Pass     6♥      All Pass

 

6♥ is the place to be, perhaps by the above auction, but it's an unlucky contract.  Did anyone get to 6♣?  In theory, it's an inferior contract to 6♥, but on the actual lie of the cards it's the only slam that is likely to make.  North will probably lead the J♠, won by the Ace, and now South will shift to the Q♦, for lack of a better alternative.  Declarer will win the Ace, play the K♣, dropping South's Queen.  At this point, Declarer could just draw trumps and hope for a 3-2 Heart break, but he can do better than that ... he finesses the Club 9, and plays AK♥ ... if Hearts are 3-2, he reverts to drawing trumps and his hand is now good ... but, if Hearts are 4-1, he has given himself the extra chance that the long trumps are in the hand with the long Hearts ... on the actual layout, this extra chance is the only way that Declarer can make his contract.  Nice play if you made 6♣, but maybe not such nice bidding (you really belong in 6♥)!

 

 

20	♠ KT7642 ♥ AT7 ♦ A94 ♣ 7	17th October, 2007
♠ 53 ♥ 52 ♦ QT7653 ♣ Q95	North West             East           South	♠ J98 ♥ J94 ♦ J2 ♣ KT643	Dlr     West Vul     Both
© BES, Inc  All Rights Reserved	♠ AQ ♥ KQ863 ♦ K8 ♣ AJ82	West    North   East     South Pass    1♠        Pass    2♥ Pass    3♥        Pass    4NT Pass    5♥        Pass    5NT Pass    6♠        Pass    7♥ Pass    Pass    Pass

  

Dummy was no doubt a disappointment to South, it was the worst hand imaginable, it would have been nice if she had had a major suit Jack or another Heart.  Nonetheless, 13 tricks roll in when both majors split 3-2 (or there is a singleton major Jack somewhere), working out to no better than about a 50% grand.  Actually, it’s better than that, there is a small point in the play which raises the odds … West leads a minor suit, won by Declarer, now the right sequence of plays is K♥, Q♥, A♠, Q♠, and a Heart to the Ace.  This line gives Declarer an extra chance, namely if one defender started with one Spade and two Hearts, improving the chances up to about 55% according to our (rough) calculations.

 

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