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Cross Ruffing
When embarking upon a cross-ruff Declarer's goal is to score his trumps separately by ruffing back and forth without drawing trumps. Side-suit tricks are usually cashed early in the play. The defensive counter to an impending cross-ruff is to lead trumps at every opportunity.
Related Play Problems Play Problem 25
Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games
It’s often said the five-level belongs to the opponents, but in this case N-S have an excellent 5♠ save against their opponents’ vulnerable game. South can escape for down two and -300 as follows: Heart ruff Lose to the ♦J ♠A is cashed Spade won by Declarer Diamond ruff Finesse ♣T, losing to West’s King Now Declarer has two Club winners, and can merrily cross-ruff away. East can take his trump at some point, but four tricks are all that the defense can manage.
As it happens, there are 13 tricks available. Let’s say that North finds the best opening lead of a low Heart, knocking out a Dummy entry. Even so, Declarer can win Dummy’s ♥A, finesse the ♠J, finesse the Diamond Queen, cross back on a Spade, draw the last trump, run the Diamonds and claim all the tricks. But that is a dangerous way to play the hand and could result in defeat if the ♠Q and one of the Diamonds were offside. A far safer line would be to cross-ruff as follows: Win the ♥A Ruff a Heart Cash ♣A Finesse the ♦Q Cash the ♦A Ruff a Heart Ruff a Club Ruff a Heart Ruff a Club Ruff a Diamond (North pitches a Club) Declarer has 10 tricks under his belt, with a high Spade still to come. He now leads another Club and gets lucky when South turns out to have the missing Club and the ♠Q. Making 12 tricks!
We confess that we would have bid 3NT with the South hand but 5♣ is not unreasonable and it has the added benefit of being cold.
The Play in 3NT: If West leads a Spade (which seems most likely), then Declarer has an easy route to 9 tricks. The killing lead is a Heart after which the defense gets the Hearts going before Declarer establishes the Clubs … that’s down two.
The Play in 5♣: This contract always makes when Declarer plays on cross-ruff lines. For example: Spade lead to the Queen and Ace Q♥ (trying to tempt a cover) to the Ace when West craftily plays low Diamond ruff Cash A♠ (pitching a Heart) Ruff a Spade (setting up Declarer’s Ten) Cash A♥ Diamond ruff Now Declarer leads the 10♠ and, whether or not West ruffs in with his King, Declarer can merrily scramble her way to 11 tricks.
If East leads a Heart against 4♠ then the defense has three obvious tricks. But the Heart lead is far from appealing, and he’ll probably start out with the ♣K or a low Diamond. It makes little difference, so let’s assume a Diamond lead. How would you play the hand? You could take the trump finesse, here’s what could happen: - If the finesse loses (45%) then it’s 10 tricks when the defense promptly cashes its Hearts. - If the ♠K is offside and 4-0 (5%) then there will be no finesse and Declarer will probably make 10 tricks. - If the finesse wins and the suit if 4-0 (5%) then it’s probably 10 tricks - If the finesse wins and the suit is 3-1 (19%) then it’s 11 tricks - If the finesse wins and the suit is 2-2 (20%) then it’s 12 tricks
Can these odds be improved by playing first on Diamonds, trying to get the Hearts away? Indeed they can, especially if the opening Diamond lead suggests a 4-3 break in the suit. If that is the case then four rounds of Diamonds are played, Declarer pitching two Hearts. The defense will ruff the 4th Diamond in one hand or the other but now Declarer has 11 tricks by cross-ruffing (he won’t finesse the Spade), and 12 tricks under some circumstances (for example if East has 3 Diamonds and ♠Kx). Definitely a better line!
3NT and 5♦ both turn out to be reasonable contracts, each one requiring that Declarer hold her Diamond losers to just one. What’s the percentage play in that suit? The three ways to play this suit combination are: - Cash the Ace: Here the hope is that the suit is 2-2 or that someone has a singleton honor. The chance of success (for one loser) is 66%. - Finesse, and if that loses, play the Ace on the second round: This wins when trumps are 2-2 or when East has KQ. A 70% chance. - Finesse, and if that loses, finesse again: This wins whenever East has at least one honor, and gives the best odds, 76%. The better percentage is also the winning line on the actual hand. Playing in Diamonds, the Spade opening lead is won in Dummy, the Diamond finessed, and when that wins Declarer cashes the ♦A and cross-ruffs the hand.
We are not saying that East should split his Diamond honors on the first round (that would look very foolish if West held the singleton Jack or Ace!), but on this hand he’ll make Declarer’s life more difficult. She could win the Ace and lead another trump, hoping that the suit is 2-2, but that’s only 10 tricks when East wins and plays a third round of trumps. A more successful line is to leave both missing trumps at large, cash the side-suit winners and try for a cross-ruff. But the timing must be just right: Win ♠A Trump to the Queen and Ace Cash ♣A and ruff a Club Back to the ♥A and ruff another Club Cash ♠A and ruff a Spade Cross to the ♥K Now, when the last Spade is led from Dummy, East is helpless. 11 tricks!
East has a classic Rule of 20 opener, with 10 HCP and 5-5 distribution. And a decent hand, wouldn’t you say, with all the HCP in the long suits. That propels E-W into a difficult 4♥ contract, and let’s suppose that South leads a Spade, won by North, who shifts to a low Heart. That’s a nasty shift, but Declarer can still prevail by cross-ruffing. Here’s how the play could develop: Spade won by North’s King Heart shift won by ♥A Club to the Ace Spade ruff Cash ♣K Club ruff Spade ruff Club ruff Spade ruff Cash ♥K Cash ♦A South claims the last two tricks with her good trumps, but Declarer has his 10 tricks. It was fortunate that the ♥Q was in the hand with the long Clubs, so that there was no overruff on the 4th round of Clubs. But even if there had been an overruff, Declarer still had the Diamond finesse to fall back on for his 10th trick.
Against 3♣, East will surely lead the K♥ after which Declarer can scamper to 10 tricks via a cross-ruff: K♥ lead won by Declarer’s Ace Concede a Diamond Q♥ is cashed Trump shift, won by Declarer A♠ is cashed Now, Declarer can merrily cross-ruff, scoring 3 side-suit tricks, a natural trump trick, and 6 ruffs.
Against 4♠, let’s say that West starts out with a trump. 11 tricks will now follow with a cross-ruff: Declarer wins the A♠ A♦ and a Diamond ruff Heart ruff Diamond ruff Heart ruff, and so on Declarer scores 5 trumps in her hand, three Diamond ruffs on the board, A♣, A♦, and the K♥ is a surprise 11th trick when the A♥ comes down in 3 rounds and when East cannot ruff the established K♥.
2♦ was DONT, treating the hand as a two-suiter in Diamonds and an undisclosed major, simultaneously bidding her best suit and giving her side a chance to play in the better-scoring major.
Playing in 2♠, Declarer can scramble her way to 10 tricks in this fashion: Heart ruffed by Declarer Cross to Dummy’s A♣ Finesse the Q♦ (a certainty to win on the bidding) Cash A♦ Ruff a Diamond Ruff a Heart Cash K♣ Ruff a Diamond with the Ace Ruff a Heart Declarer has the first 9 tricks and is down the just two trumps, one in each hand. She leads a Diamond winner ruffing on the board with the Ten. East can overruff but that just promotes the 10th trick for Declarer’s Queen. Nicely timed play by Declarer!
Against 4♠, South might well lead a trump, after which Declarer can score 12 tricks this way: Win the A♠ Club finesse Cash A♥ Ruff two Clubs and two Hearts Q♠ losing to North’s King Win the return in hand, draw the last trump, enjoy the Hearts What do you think of that line of play? Pretty optimistic we would say! If the Club finesse loses the defense will play two rounds of trumps, holding Declarer to a paltry 8 tricks! Here’s a more sensible line where Declarer sets his sights lower: Win the A♠ Cross to the A♣ Cash the A♥ Ruff a Club, ruff a Heart, ruff a Club Cash A♦ and K♦ Ruff a Heart high Exit with the Q♣, hoping that the K♠ is with North or that South is end-played The cross-ruff is safer but it ends up providing only 10 tricks.
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