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Card Reading
The art of card reading involves assembling all the pieces of the puzzle and figuring out what layout of the missing hands is consistent with all that information. Easier said than done, the clues are numerous and sometimes conflicting, and there are negative inferences which are easy to miss (in other words, not just what was done, but also what was not done).
Related Play Problems Play Problem 13
Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games
North’s 3♠ was preemptive, and South had an easy 4♠ sacrifice. Neither East nor West have a compelling reason to push on to 5♥, so N-S take their obvious five defensive tricks for +500.
What happens if E-W do push on to 5♥? With normal play there are two trumps and a Spade to be lost. How about some abnormal play? Declarer may conclude the following from the auction: - South appears to have six Spades and did not preempt, perhaps she has Heart values. - North did preempt and has next to nothing in high cards, perhaps Heart shortness is her excuse for that vulnerable three-level bid. Declarer will further conclude that if Hearts are 2-2 then how he plays the suit does not matter. But if they are 3-1, and if South does have the length, then he might as well lead the ♥J from Dummy. One of two good things might happen: - North might have the singleton ♥T, holding the trump losers to just one. - South might have ♥QTx or ♥KTx and might make the (big) mistake of covering the Jack. Much jollity will ensue when this crashes North’s honor, again holding the trump losers to one.
3NT is a truly miserable contract, but it may make with a bit of luck and some good guessing. South leads a Heart, low from Dummy, after which North must insert the Nine. Declarer wins that trick and plays A♣ and out with the 8♣. North’s 9♣ wins that trick, after which she exits a Diamond. Declarer wins that and must now guess the Club suit correctly to make her contract. Should he play one or other of the defenders to have started with Kxx (in which case he exits with a low Club), or should he play for Jxx somewhere (in which case he exits with the Q♣, squashing the Jack)? We like the squashing play, not because it is more likely to succeed but because somehow it just seems like so much more fun! On the actual deal, the squashers have their fun and they also get a top board.
East sensibly decided that his anemic suit was not worth a Red vs White Weak Two. But the vulnerability did not stop West from overcalling 2♣ (which in this case was DONT, showing Clubs and another suit). In this situation, many N-S pairs would play that a Double of 2♣ is Stayman and that the rest of their No Trump system is on. That being the case, North’s 2♦ was a transfer to Hearts. West’s 2♠ looks risky to us, considering that his Partner has just shown some values in his void suit. And after all that bidding by West, East must have been sorely tempted to compete to 3♠.
The Play in Hearts: After a Spade lead the defense scores two Spades, a Diamond ruff and the ♥A. But that’s all, and it’s 9 tricks for Declarer. Surely, though, West is more likely to lead a Club after which Declarer cashes three Clubs (pitching a Spade). How will he play the trump suit? Declarer might reasonably deduce that West has the ♥AQ. Why? The clues are (a) West didn’t lead a Spade so presumably does not have both the ♠A and ♠K, (b) West doesn’t have the ♦K (East doubled 2♦). So, it seems that West must have one high Spade and the ♥AQ for his vulnerable bidding. That being so, the correct Heart play is to lead the ♥J, hoping to squash a singleton Ten in the East hand. The good news is that East does indeed have the singleton ♥T. The bad news is that West rises with the ♥A on the first round, and plays on Spades, after which Declarer cannot get back to her hand (for the second Heart finesse) without running into a Diamond ruff. 9 tricks, nonetheless.
South leads a low Spade won by Declarer’s Ace. The AK♥ are cashed, and when the Queen does not come down, Declarer is in dire straits, he needs some luck in Clubs. He leads a low Club towards the board and South must fly with the Ace (not an obvious play), cash a Spade and the Q♥ and exit a Spade, ruffed by Declarer. Now, Declarer must guess the Club situation, by figuring out whether South started life with 3-3-5-2 or 3-3-4-3 distribution. He'll cash the remaining trumps, and hope that he can figure out the 3-card ending. North may well give away the game by pitching the Eight and then the Two of Diamonds, marking her with an initial holding of K8xx. Now, Declarer will play South for 3-3-4-3 distribution, including the Q♣, and will lead the J♣ at Trick 11, pinning North's Ten. Nice card reading!
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