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Deceptive Defense
Here we see some deceptive and downright sneaky defensive maneuvers.
Related Play Problems Play Problem 9
Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games
Nothing to the auction. In the play, just as in the previous hand, a minor side-suit is AQ doubleton on-side in the South hand, and an unexpectedly large number of tricks materialize for E-W. Playing in his Heart part-score, the fortunate lie of the cards means that West need only lose 3 tricks in the side-suits. But what about the trump suit? With X-Ray vision there are no trump losers, of course, but try to forget about the actual hand and consider your line of play when you lead a trump towards Dummy’s Ace. Here are the 3 cases: Case A: North plays a low card Case B: North plays the Ten Case C: North plays the Queen.
Case A is straightforward enough, you’ll finesse against the Queen on the second round of trumps. Case B is not so tough, either. Does North have Ten singleton? Or QT doubleton? Well, if it’s Ten singleton, that means that South has Qxxx, and the Queen cannot be picked up. So, there’s something to be said for playing the King on the second round of the suit, hoping for the QT doubleton case. Case C seems like a no-brainer, does it not? Once the Queen has dropped, how could you not finesse against the Ten on the second round of the suit?
Now, if you can trust your opponents to play straight down the middle, the above analysis is irrefutable. But opponents have been known to be quite devious, sometimes they try to trick us. No, really, they do, we’ve seen it happen. For example, if, as North, you hold QT doubleton of trumps, knowing (almost for sure) that Declarer has a 6-2 fit, how can it be wrong to drop the Queen on the first round? Imagine your glee when your T♥ wins that second Heart trick! Yes, you'll need Declarer to have the Nine to get away with this one.
Even better, picture yourself as North, and you hold T3 in the trump suit. Declarer leads a trump and you play the Ten! This play presents a losing option to Declarer, he may decide to play you for QT doubleton, much to his chagrin!
Aah, yes … false-carding! … one of the game’s great pleasures! But, in the above situation, as Declarer, don’t give your opponent too much credit for false-carding unless you know him well … but, do, by all means, next time this situation comes up, remember as North to play the Ten from Tx, and the Queen from QT. Can’t hurt, may help. Well, let’s amend that to “won’t usually hurt” … it would provide much mirth at the table if you craftily played the Queen from QT (under Dummy’s Ace), only to find later that Partner held Kxx, and that Declarer had based his Weak Two on Jxxxxx! If this happens, then hopefully your Partner has a good sense of the ridiculous.
With West on lead, the J♠ seems like a reasonable way to kick things off, and this will be 10 tricks with careful play … the K♠ provides a pitch for the Diamond loser, and correct play in Hearts holds the losers in that suit to just two.
A Tricky False-Card: What exactly is the “correct play in Hearts”? We would run the 8-spot around, and if this loses to the Queen or Jack, we’d finesse the Ten on the second round … this line gains whenever East has the Nine and either or both of the Queen and Jack. Of course, if the Nine is with West and it wins the first trick, then Declarer must hope that the A♥ is onside. However, this line of play opens West up to the possibility of a delicious false-card from West. Consider this layout:
North 8762 West East QJ9 A53 South KT4
North leads the 8♥, low from East and South, and West produces the Queen (or Jack)! Now, the “correct play” will result in 3 Hearts losers when Declarer takes a second Heart finesse. Had West prosaically won the first round with the Nine, Declarer would have no option but to play East for the Ace.
Against 4♥, North leads the A♣, then the K♣, and that should be it for the defense. When Declarer gets in, he’ll lay down the A♥ first, catering for a 4-0 split either way. His careful play pays dividends when South shows out of trumps and the J♥ can be picked up. Making 11 tricks.
Not so fast! South has the chance for a delicious swindle! Look at what might happen if South plays the Club Seven at Trick One. Then on the second round of Clubs South completes her fake high-low, and North perseveres with a third round. Who could blame Declarer if he fell for this hook, line and sinker? He’ll probably ruff high, wouldn’t you? Nice defense, Ms South!
Against 3NT, let’s say that West leads Diamonds, the unbid suit. That gives Declarer a second Diamond trick and a total of 9. Of course, matchpoint players aren’t satisfied with merely making their contract, and the only source of overtricks is in Spades. It would be nice if the Q♠ were onside, that would provide two overtricks. Declarer needs the Clubs for communication, so she leads a Spade at Trick Two and the Jack forces the Ace. The defense clears the Diamonds, but now Declarer can count 2 Spades, 2 Hearts, 2 Diamonds and 5 Clubs for a total of 11 tricks. Of course, if West finds an opening lead of the Q♥ then it will be just 10 tricks.
A Classic Deception Let’s revisit the play of the hand, but with the Q♠ in the East hand. Now, when the Spade finesse loses at Trick Two, Declarer must be satisfied with just 9 tricks. So what, you say? Well, suppose that the Q♠ is with East, but when Declarer takes the Spade finesse East false-cards with the Ace! Now, as before, Diamonds are cleared, then Declarer gullibly repeats the “winning” Spade finesse for her 11th trick. Oops! The Queen wins the trick, three Diamonds are cashed and it’s down one!
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