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Entry Management Here we look at hands where the object of the exercise is to be in the right place at the right time. Typically, we have a source of tricks in one hand or the other and must organize a sequence of plays where not only do we manage to set up that suit, but we also must have an entry which will allow us to enjoy it. See also Establishing Side-Suits.
Related Play Problems Play Problem 32
Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games
A routine auction to the normal spot. West leads the Club Four, and the spots tell us that, as this is his lowest Club, he is probably leading from a 4-card suit … a 3-card suit is possible, but surely not a 5-card suit unless West is renowned for his trickery. It seems reasonable to win the first Club on the board and knock out the A♦. A Club comes back. Should Declarer duck this? No, there are two reasons not to: (a) We have to finesse the Spade into the East hand, and that is the hand which might have 5 Clubs; (b) If we duck a Club they might shift to Hearts … then, after a losing Spade finesse, a Heart back will put us to an awkward guess.
So, Declarer wins the second Club immediately, rattles off her Diamonds, loses the Spade finesse, and has 9 tricks. But not so fast! After the Spade finesse loses and they cash their two Club winners, a Heart shift will knock out Declarer’s entry before the Spade suit is unblocked. No, if Diamonds are to be rattled we must take care to rattle only four of them, winning the 4th in our hand, and also keeping the high Diamond in our hand as a later entry. Now, when the Spade finesse fails, we can handle the Spade blockage.
South showed super-human restraint in not doubling 4♥, which was just as well because the contract turns out to be cold! Here is a possible line of play: Q♠ opening lead, won by Declarer Heart to the Ace Heart Eight overtaken by the Nine (necessary play!) Q♥ won by South’s King Club, ruffed by Declarer Cash J♥ Diamond to North’s Ace A♣, ruffed by Declarer’s last trump Now, South has the last outstanding trump, but Declarer has Diamond winners with both black suits under control. Note the importance of overtaking the Heart Eight. If Declarer neglects to do this, he’ll be short of entries back to his hand … he’ll have to use up the K♠, and will eventually lose control of the hand.
North’s 2♣ was DONT.
Against 2♠ East leads the K♦, so, if Declarer reasonably assumes that this is backed up by the Queen, she can be sure that West (for his 15-17 1NT) has the remainder of the HCP’s with the possible exception of a minor suit Jack. Therefore there is no possibility of misguessing the Q♠ on this board! But there is a trap for the unwary, as illustrated in this rather careless line of play: Defense cashes two Diamonds Declarer ruffs the third round of Diamonds Cross to the A♠ Spade to the Queen and King Cross to the A♥ Club finesse Cash A♣ Club ruff Oops! Declarer is stuck on the board and needs to get back to her hand in order to draw that last trump. She has to concede a Heart to West, who now cashes a Club, and gives Partner a trump promotion by leading the third round of Hearts. Making just 8 tricks when 9 were there for the taking. Declarer messed up her communications … the correct line is to take care of the Club ruff first, and use the trump suit for getting back to her hand. Let’s try again: Defense cashes two Diamonds Declarer ruffs the third round of Diamonds Cross to the A♠ Club finesse Cash A♣ Club ruff Spade back to Declarer’s hand Yes, that’s the ticket, 9 easy tricks.
It’s great fun, especially when non-vulnerable, to push around the opponents with bold preempts, but sometimes it rebounds and the opponents are pushed into a game they might otherwise not reach. Here is a case in point, East’s jump to 4♣ put South on the spot and she guessed to bid 4♥, going to game with slender values in the absence of a good alternative.
4♥ should be made, but not if Declarer adopts this careless line of play: Club won by Dummy’s Ace Spade to Declarer’s King Heart finesse losing to East’s Queen Spade won by Dummy’s Ace Heart won by West’s Ace Spade, ruffed on the board Diamond to Declarer’s King and West’s Ace Heart return Oops! Dummy is out of entries, with the Diamond suit still blocked. As a result, Declarer will be stuck in his hand with two black suit losers, and that will be down two.
The problem with the previous line of play was that Declarer did not play on Diamonds early enough. Let’s try again: Club won by Dummy’s Ace Diamond lost to West’s Ace Diamond return Heart misguessed, losing to East’s Queen Diamond return ruffed high by Declarer Now, thanks to better entry management by Declarer, it’s an easy 10 tricks.
On opening lead, East (a notorious dreamer), leads a Spade, hoping that Partner has Axx, and that the enemy Spades are 2-2, and that Partner also has another Ace up his sleeve. This turns out not to be the case, and Declarer can make 11 tricks if she can pick up the Diamonds and also untangle the Spades. Here are three lines: - Declarer wins the A♠, cashes the K♠, crosses to the K♦, cashes the Q♠, and runs the T♦. This works fine, 11 tricks result. But it’s a bizarre line of play, very much against the odds and risking defeat. Although this one works like a charm, let us scratch it off our list, it’s straight out of the Twilight Zone. - Take Two. Declarer wins the A♠, plays the Diamonds from the top, has to lose a Diamond, and ends up with 9 tricks. A variation would be to guess the Diamond correctly and make 10 tricks. - Take Three. An enlightened Declarer wins the A♠, cashes the K♠, and takes an immediate finesse of the T♦. Nice play! If the finesse works, Declarer can cash the Q♠, and wind up with 11 tricks the safe way. If the finesse loses (as it does), then it’s just 10 tricks.
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